LCB @ YVR

Have had my Avant for about 3 months now, and love driving the car.

But ... I do not like the squeaks and rattles. I had it back into the dealer twice and they took care of part of it .... took apart the sunroof mechanism and torqued it all properly, and put sound insulation material around the tool kit in the back. I had already put sound insulation around the spare tire.

I've still got squeaking / rubbing sounds in the rear seats, and a new random rattle coming from the left rear area.

Have others had the same problems? Am I just unreasonably demanding of a $50k car? My allroad was rock solid and quiet over its life. Only sound I ever got was squeaking from the rear area when the leather needed treatment -- put some leather treatment stuff on it and it was fine.

And does anyone know of an information resource on common rattles and squeaks and how to isolate and eliminate them? Any suggestions appreciated.

LCB

SoSuMi

My Avant seems squeak/rattle free at this point. You might try a silicon spray where the various parts of the rear seats pivot and latch against other bits of the car.

As for the left rear rattle, have you tried having someone explore the rear area while you drive around?

Squeaks and rattles can be very annoying, unless you're driving a Subaru and such sounds are simply confirmation that your Subie cares about you.

Mitch105

Well, my 09 Avant with 27,000km (16,777 miles) will be 2 years in September and tight tight.

However, this is our do everything car for work in the week and shares family duty on weekend. With a car seat, toys and toddler in there no car maker at any price or dealership will ever make "my" car squeak and rattle free

PS: If on occasion I am cruising just me and the open road, it is drum like. A beautifully built and solid car. If only I could have it in a stick shift, I otherwise rate this car perhaps the most perfect on the road today at this price point and perhaps even a level above it's price point.

Blake P

It seems like the dash (mostly the silver trim around the cluster) is constantly rattling. If I knew how to remove it I would line the backside with felt. I've already purchased the felt and just need to take the time to figure it out. I also have an annoying rattle in the headliner that sounds like it's coming from somewhere above the rear passenger side seat. My wife sat back there one day and couldn't exactly pinpoint the source. As long as the music is on the rattles don't drive me nuts.

LCB @ YVR

That one sounds like the sunroof that they fixed for me. There was a TSB on it apparently ... they had to have some parts come in and to open it up, re-torque the bolts. Fine since it was dealt with.

LCB

Blake P

Any additional info you can share on this would be greatly appreciated. Maybe TSB # or part numbers listed on the sheet when you picked it up?

HAWC1506

I used to have a rattle that was caused by a faulty strut. It sounded at times like a golf bag in the trunk. That was an A4 saloon though, but you might want to check it out.

If the rattle isn't anything from the trunk, have the dealership swap the left and right struts and see if the rattle starts coming from a different location. If it does, it's the strut.

JNRB2009

Especially in warm weather, the door seals can get squeaky if i dont condition them. I use Maguires Tech Protect Interior applied with a sponge to the door and frame seals. The car is really very quite and rattle free.

HAWC1506

Can you tell me where to apply the MTPI? I've been getting constant squeaks/rattles near the front-right passenger door and I can't really track down where it's coming from. It happens with the window down too.

Something tells me that it's something in the B-pillar as well as the front passenger seat headrest.

JNRB2009

Its easy, but I will provide you with more detail than you probably need. Soak a small kitchen sponge in MTPI. Not too much so that its dripping, but wet. The door seal is pretty soft rubber that runs entirely around the door, and with door closed, mates up against sister seal that lines the car body door frame. Wrap the door seal with the sponge with a soft pinching action and just run the sponge around the entire door seal. Get total coverage. Then notice that the seal has a fold in it. Spread the fold, insert sponge edge and run around entire seal effectively lubing the interior fold. Apply more MTPI to sponge as needed. The sister seal around the car body door frame is much more flush, Just treat the seal all the way around. Do all 4 doors and also open the sunroof and treat those seals. This proceedure really quiets my car big time. Hope it helps you.