The GTI Rattle and solution thread

my passenger seat rattle like crazy unless someone sits in it

had a look and there is a white plastic clip which vibrates which I'm going to tape up later today to see if solves it


also my drivers door creaks. if i push the interior panel in the rear corner it stops. hopefully a squirt of spray grease behind the panel will cure it

MKVInce said:

I have this annoying rattle/buzzing on the passenger door somewhere near the window control button. On rough highway surfaces it rattles nonstop. I'm thinking of opening the door panels to see if there is anything loose in there. Or should I bring it to the dealership?

Click to expand...

i have the same one and its Def. the door. I had someone put their ear to the panel when i was driving. Mine buzzes even on city streets and it will come and go seemingly at random.

Didnt notice it until i got my windows tinted.

Halvie said:

Anyone have rattles coming from the dome lights? Any clue how to go about getting rid of them? Extremely annoying.

Click to expand...

This isn't meant to insult intelligence or anything, but I had a rattle coming from that area for a while too. Realized it was the sunglasses vibrating against the plastic holder... Might be that simple??

Kyle Butler said:

i have the same one and its Def. the door. I had someone put their ear to the panel when i was driving. Mine buzzes even on city streets and it will come and go seemingly at random.

Didnt notice it until i got my windows tinted.

Click to expand...

I did a test banging my hand on the door and can't hear anything. The buzzing/rattling only happens when I go over rough surfaces or hit a cracks on the road. On big bumps, there's no rattle/buzz. Soo hard to to find out the cause. I don't want to open up the panel and later on get more rattles.

Alright, brought it in today w/my 'regional VW of America' case and took a drive with a tech. Turns out he was the guy that replaced my window seals and channels a year ago. He was like "I remember". We took a drive, he drove, drove the shit out of it, and said "I don't hear anything out of the ordinary for these cars. Is this your first GTI?" I said yes. He said "get used to little rattles here and there. Stiff suspension, 18" wheels, etc. stiff ride. Just the way it is." He continued "I consider myself an honest guy, and its not that I don't want to take the time to fix the problem, but I just don't think there is a problem to fix." He noticed that the rattles only happen on rough roads which he said is normal and he said the window switches were fine and not loose. When I mentioned how many others had reported similar problems on the forums, he rolled his eyes and said "I pay no attention to what anyone says on the forums. They don't know what they are talking about. Half the stuff on there is BS written by guys who have way too much time on their hands. I've been a VW tech for years, know the cars inside and out, drive them all the time, work on them all the time, and your car is fine."

I mentioned that the forums, where no one knows what they are talking about, is where I found out about the felt tape that has since silenced the loud creaking and flexing of the rubber seals against the frame. I showed him. He wasn't impressed.

I left. I'm over it. Maybe I am too anal or sensitive or something. My wife rides in it and says it feels like a limo compared to her car. She thinks I'm crazy. So does VW apparently. So whatever. I came home, washed it, waxed it and I'm just gonna deal, for now. I just can't be bothered with this petty shit with it anymore. All in all, its a great car, so I'll live.

Basically, you were told similar to what I was told by the director of service for my dealership.

Hilfloskind said:

Basically, you were told similar to what I was told by the director of service for my dealership.

Click to expand...

Yup. He heard what I was talking about but didn't care. He said "lets take a test drive in a new one from the lot right now and we'll hear similar things." He was like "what do you think, your car is going to be like a tomb inside, totally silent and floating on air with no noise whatsoever?"

And I agree with that sentiment about expectations. At the same time, I think the problem is that despite the expectation that these cars aren't going to be silent by nature, there is a serious oversight when it comes to defects and poor design which results in noises that should NOT be expected. Far too often there is an assumption by the people in these service departments that any rattles must fall not into the defect category but into the normal category. The door seal creaking/popping, for example, is clearly not something you should expect in any car.

He is right about the stiff suspension and 18s.


Still though.

McQueen77 said:

Yup. He heard what I was talking about but didn't care. He said "lets take a test drive in a new one from the lot right now and we'll hear similar things." He was like "what do you think, your car is going to be like a tomb inside, totally silent and floating on air with no noise whatsoever?"

Click to expand...

Yeah, actually I do want it to be silent. Cuz thats what I've received from my other cars. Stiff suspension is not an excuse. Like I said, I love the car, but it will probably be my last GTI. I don't usually buy the same car again anyways, as I like to have a change of pace, but still. Until then, I'm going to drive the crap out of it and enjoy it all the way to its grave.

Not sure if other VW cars experience the same problem with rattles, etc...

Actually, as one of those forum posters who has "too much time on his hands" myself, I can say with certainty that you don't have to accept a rattling, clanking, janky GTI.

Why? Because mine was really rattling all over the place. I had hatch rattles, spare tire rattles, a metallic rattle, and it was all over the place.

I tackled each rattle one by one, and I was able to eliminate most of the annoying ones. The metal rattle was my e-brake button, the hatch was the spare tire - I put a towel under there and it helped.

So you can definitely reduce your rattle, but it takes a lot of time to diagnose them. These techs rather work on the actual car and not be looking for rattles most likely.

Yeah, I'm gonna drive it into the ground up til its 72k mile/2017 cutoff, just before my warranty runs out and up to a 335i or S4 or even A4.. German all the way, despite the guys or robots who assembled the doors who were clearly waaaaaasted when doing so

I swear to God, it's like I find a new rattle everyday.

This makes:

-Under driver's side dash.
-Rear Hatch Area (x34)
-Doors.
-Passenger Window creaks when it rolls.
-Something in the rear passenger side area.
-Some type of clunk in the left rear shock area.

It's fucking bullshit.


/rant.

I got a 2011 Jetta Loaner today, the base model - prob around 16k. It had no rattles! But my 31k GTI does.

rondocap said:

I got a 2011 Jetta Loaner today, the base model - prob around 16k. It had no rattles! But my 31k GTI does.

Click to expand...

I've got all of those at 19,500.