The noisy people’s car…

[DaveA]

My car is 19 plate PP and rattles like mad. It was silent up until 9-10000 miles. Now it's just one after another. I'm well disappointed with the build quality of my car.

Interior noises are my worst nightmares because as soon as I can hear so many I'm thinking off selling the car. 

We sounds quite similar in these respects...

Mine has certainly developed some more noises over the course of ownership, and having only covered 8700 odd miles so far, I am not hopeful it will stop developing more... None of us desire to be sat in a new(ish) car listening to distracting extraneous noise... Certainly not when we are paying a lot of money to do so...

[Rich 3]

I have the same model as the Op, also on 9k miles & also with the pano roof.
Previously I had 3 BMW's, the last being a 430d. I also ran a mk6 Golf 1.6 tdi as a company car.
Whilst I love the way my GTI looks and drives, I also am experiencing similar build issues - and like some other contributers here, squeaks and rattles really irritate me to the extent I start thinking about my next car. Also I appreciate that for others, they are no big deal.
But, when I have spent a significant amount (for me) of my 'hard earned' on a so called premium priced product I don't think it is unreasonable to feel disappointed.
By contrast, my previous BMW's and in particular my mk6 Golf - felt rock solid in their build and solidity. In fact when I first drove my previous Golf I remember thinking 'this is how Mercedes used to be built'. I never had one squeak or rattle in that car over 60k hard driven miles.
It seems that VW in their quest to save costs have willingly compromised their reputation, and I imagine that will only get worse after reading initial reviews of the mk8 Golf.
It wouldn't be quite so bad if VW's dealer network were helpful and effective in sorting out these type of issues, but as others have said - they can't be relied upon to take care of your pride and joy, or put it back together properly. That is assuming they haven't already rejected your appoach by trying on the 'warranty doesn't cover trim parts' mantra........ 😡
These results from cost cutting also mean that the prospect of keeping the car longer than 3 years, is quite daunting in case anything expensive decides to 'let go'. Not convinced that the optional extended warranty is particularly comprehensive, does anyone have any experience of claiming on it?
So, all of this begs the question of what will the Golf eventually be replaced with? Well currently I am erring towards a Korean built car (possibly a move down to the new i20n). At least they seem to have solid build and decent aftersales service - which is something that perhaps VW could learn a thing or 2 from.

[DaveA]

So, all of this begs the question of what will the Golf eventually be replaced with? Well currently I am erring towards a Korean built car (possibly a move down to the new i20n). At least they seem to have solid build and decent aftersales service - which is something that perhaps VW could learn a thing or 2 from.

Sounds like our experiences, and how we consider them, are similar...

I am already looking at the BMW M135i... But I am in too much -ve equity at the moment with the Golf to be considering that seriously... But, hypothetically, if I could get out of the Golf and into the BMW by the end of the year (before any additional Brexit tariffs there may be come into play), I would most probably do so...

[Aparat]

Im not in possition to consider new car at the moment after investing so much ( for me) into this one.

Dealer will have a go in September when service is due to rectify some noises. If not better I'll have to live with it for few years this time because Im not stripping half of my car trim to find the source.

[DaveA]

I had the opportunity to drive an M135i BMW the other day and I was shocked as to how much more refined and "quiet" it seemed over the GTI...

I don't mean engine noises... But in more how much better the BMW seemed to isolate the driver from road noise and other unwanted noises (and minus the "extra" noises my car has)...

My GTI felt genuinely "crashy" and less refined immediately afterwards... Think of going over a cattle grid, how some cars give you more of a vibration and noise than others, how they feel less refined, well my GTI felt like the unrefined one of the two... This genuinely surprised me as "unrefined" is not something I would usually associate with a GTI...

[Yusee]

I had the opportunity to drive an M135i BMW the other day and I was shocked as to how much more refined and "quiet" it seemed over the GTI...

I don't mean engine noises... But in more how much better the BMW seemed to isolate the driver from road noise and other unwanted noises (and minus the "extra" noises my car has)...

My GTI felt genuinely "crashy" and less refined immediately afterwards... Think of going over a cattle grid, how some cars give you more of a vibration and noise than others, how they feel less refined, well my GTI felt like the unrefined one of the two... This genuinely surprised me as "unrefined" is not something I would usually associate with a GTI...

Are you referring to ride when you describe it as “ crashy”? This is not my experience- one of the first things I noticed when I bought my gti was how good the ride was for a car that was so composed in fast bends.
Secondly, some would argue that the gti is too refined for a car of this type-why else would they enhance the cabin noise artificially?
Road noise may be more of an issue, certainly on the factory fit bridgestones.

[mcmaddy]

"Road noise may be more of an issue, certainly on the factory fit bridgestones"

different tyres make very little difference to road noise. I had the much raved about Michelin PS4 on my last GTi and they weren't any quieter than the bridgestones that came with the car.

[Yusee]

I’ll be swapping mine to PS4s by the end of the summer, I’m expecting big things!

[Sootchucker]

different tyres make very little difference to road noise.

Sorry Chris, I'd have to disagree with you there.

I know for example back in 2004, I bought a brand new Toyota Avensis T-Spirit with the 17" Alloy wheels (don't judge me  ). As standard it came from the factory on Dunlop Sportmaxx tyres and they were truly awful. Great grip and road holding, but horrendous noise (I mean almost embarrassing with passengers in the car). I complained to Toyota UK, and after several visits to the dealers, the tyres were all replaced with Goodyear ones, and the difference was indescribable. Same car, same roads, same wheels, just different tyres and it was like having a completely different car.

So maybe the tyres that VW selects for the Golfs may not make such a big difference, but my god, they did on that Avensis, it went from a car I was going to sell as I couldn't live with it, to a car I kept for 3 years.

[Jim_mk7.5]

So, I have been living with my 19 reg GTI Performance for some 14 months now. Whilst I am impressed with the dynamics of the car, and also the amount of equipment it came with, I am finding that the number of rattles, squeaks and creaks the car has is a significant negative point to ownership…

The pano roof creaks and squeaks like an old wooden ship, and the GummiPfleger stick only seems to cure it for a few weeks at a time… The passenger seat back vibrated persistently with engine load (was made better by workshop but still does it occasionally)… The drivers seat creaks very annoyingly from the base at the rear from lateral load when cornering (originally fixed one with a new base, but was back again quickly, if ever fixed in first place)… The passenger b-piller has a rattle in it (loose cable to speaker) that was only partially fixed… There’s another one mid front somewhere… and some from the back… The front consol area makes noises if my leg rests on it... There’s also something from the drivers b pillar area…

Some unwanted noises are better/worse in warmer weather and vise versa...

Honestly, this is way too much to expect from anew car with less than 9,000 miles under the belt… I had three BMW 3 series before the Golf and none of those has any noises like this...

Do other owners have similar issues..?

I can do you a great deal on a res delete, that should cure all other noises immediately! 

In all serious, doesn't sound like normal to have all those rattles.