[meples]

Grande Punto 2013 - I literally learnt driving in this car, that too in B'lore. Scratched it on walls, pillars, banged it straight on a bus, and was brought back to shape every time by the Fiat workshop guys. But no rattles! Speaks volumes about the quality and how well put together the car is. Yes, the interior plastics are cheap but they are made to last. There's a minor rattle now that can be heard from the rear when the car starts from zero. Thanks to a cabbie who rammed into my car while waiting at a traffic light.

Linea TJET 2012 - There are almost zero rattles whatsoever, except for a faint (krr krr) sound that comes from the dash. I think it's a loose screw or something. Can live with it. And I don't want the workshop guys to open the dash. Otherwise, no rattles at all! And it's an 8 year old car.

[sagarpadaki]

Our 10 year old Hyundai i20 is relatively rattle free. There is a odd creak here or there from the dashboard when driven over broken roads.

On a smooth road and on mildly broken roads, there is absolutely no rattle.

I am very particular about silence inside the cabin and go to every extent possible to arrest any unwanted noise coming inside the cabin. Recently got all 4 brake calipers replaced since 3 of the 4 calipers had developed a play and would create an unbearable racket when driven over mildly broken roads. The cabin light was rattling for more than 5 years and it took me a long time to figure out that the rattle was from the cabin light. This was the most frustrating part. Fix was just a small piece of foam! All 4 doors are double damped.

Now the car is super silent when cruising at 100-120 kmph on smooth highways. So silent that passengers fall asleep!

[jkrishnakj]

40K Plus on my 15 month Innova Crysta and its still so smooth.
On highways, its just a sheer joy.
I do get the odd glass related sound on the Bangalore roads messed up with Metro construction, but other than those odd ones, i enjoy the drives. For a month or so, i am getting a very minor and feeble tiki taaki kind of sound from the dashboard, but its so faint, you have to really focus to hear it. I can put up with this for now.

[advenk999]

In the last 10 years of ownership :

1) Swift 1.3 (2006-2012) : Rattle king. This was the father of all rattles and there were times that it used to seep in even with music playing pretty loud. Took many a visit to MASS to get it fixed and culprit areas were door pads, dash board, glove box, music system (fitting issue) and horn pad and parcel tray. Pretty much sums up yeah?

2) Swift 1.2 (2012-2019) : Not as much as a rattle king, but had rattles within 3 months of ownership. Door pads and steering column (2012 models had a faulty column that was replaced in certain batches.) Doors were the major culprit, but learnt to live with it.

3) Swift ZXI+ AMT (2019-) : Has not disappointed so far, no rattles in 5 months of ownership. There was a small issue/squeak as the door rubber was a tad loose, but it was fixed within no time. Fingers crossed for further rattles.

4) Kia Seltos (2019-) : Small parcel tray rattle. Fixed by Kia and its perfectly fine in the last 5 months of ownership.

So bottom line, yes I have owned cars that have rattled. Just hoping that the Selty and Swift do not rattle further on. Fingers crossed.

[kavensri]

Etios Liva GD - 8+ years old with 110000kms on ODO.
I can proudly say that I have not had a single rattle in my car since the day i brought it.

[adi.mariner]

Our SX4 bought in 2011 is rattle free apart from the "rattle" kept for my younger kid. I am very finicky about about Keys, Goggles, Bottles, etc not kept in a particular way so that they don't vibrate and rattle.

[aniketi]

I have 2 cars, Swift Dzire Vxi (first gen) and Ertiga Vdi (last model), both cars have some rattles and I hate it. Ertiga has few more & it comes from doors and seats i guess. This time i am going to ask service center to look into it seriously, bored of it now. Otherwise I am very happy with the car. Comparatively Dzire has very less rattles and mostly silent.

[Slick]

2001 Esteem - Few rattles (bought used)
2007 WagonR - Lots of rattles (bought used)
2015 Zest - Zero rattles (bought new)

Zest petrol has been fantastic with overall quality. NVH seems to have increased a bit (but again I have not compared with a brand new piece.)
Though I recently drove a petrol Xcent owned by my BIL and boy O boy, the refinement.

I am a bit surprised reading about Tiago being a rattlebox. One would think that being designed after Zest it would have similar behavior.

- Slick

[silverado]

Bought new :Almost 4 year old New Baleno : NO rattles at all.
Bought new : 9 year old Nano : Minimal rattling from some panels - But exceptional for a low cost 9 year old car.

[Maverick Avi]

I have owned 4 cars and below is my experience of all 4 in terms of rattles and squeaks.

1. M800(1998-2011) - Our first car and one that I started to drive as soon I was legally allowed. Heck I cared about rattles or squeaks that time. I just do not remember anything regarding its rattles because it was a bare bones car without even an A/c, which I used to drive on most broken roads with all windows rolled down. Emotionally it was the one I was most attached to and it got my most time and attention of all cars I owned till date.

2. Dzire VDI (2010 - 2019) - Absolute gem of a car which I had read was prone to rattles but all I got was a faint squeak from dashboard which I reported once and it was partially fixed. Almost 5 years into its ownership I reported a constant noise from it front suspension when going over broken roads and it was diagnosed by MASS as caliper noise. Greasing the caliper pins was all it took to completely eliminate it. Since then this noise kept coming almost after an year and I used to get the caliper pins greased and all was well till next year or so.

3. Alto 800 Lxi (2011 - till date) - During 3rd year reported squeaks coming from left doors. MASS stuffed a thick cloth like material in both door pads and it has been a rattle/squeak free ride since then. Caliper noise also started to surface around 5 years into its ownership and since I already knew the cause I get the caliper pins greased during each service and that takes care of it. A great underrated work horse!

4. Ford Aspire Trend Plus petrol (2019 - Till date) - Had HUGE expectations from Ford as my previous experiences in Ford cars had been pure bliss in terms of NVH and body rattles. It just isn't what I was expecting. Dashboard squeaks, left door squeaks and boot rattles when going over broken roads have been observed and reported during 2nd free service. Some adjustments and greasing was done by FASS but dashboard squeak and boot rattles remain. The overall suspension is definitely on firmer side(along with firm tires I guess) than cars that I have driven and I feel that is also attributing to these rattles. If I can feel small bumps and undulations on my body while driving then am sure these also get transferred to chassis and other parts of car that leads to higher chances of rattle. According to FASS this is normal.
Not going to report further and trying to live with them unless they deteriorate.

[NiInJa]

The Fiat Linea that we sold back in 2018 Dec had zero rattles in the cabin despite running for around 79,000 Kms. The suspension had started making some and also one of the engine mounts was replaced around 75000 km and it took away all the rattles that were coming from outside as well ! I miss that car when it comes to sound insulation and build quality.

Most cars that we owned in our family have held well: Chevrolet Beat, Honda Brio, Linea.

Coming to Maruti : The new gen Ertiga makes a rattling noise when the rear windows are half open, that too at just 5000 km
Another rattle is of the visors that are fitted to the windows as an accessory. I would not term them as something that is related to the car but it still annoys when windows are open. Luckily the car does not make any rattles when the windows are shut which is a good thing.

[akshye]

Originally Posted by hardilip

With my experience in dealing with rattling what I understand is, ASS / Service engineers never bother rattling as complaints when raised during regular maintenance service. They seldom try to understand the nature of the problem. Of course they don't fix it as well.

I totally agree!

In first couple months of ownership of my Wagon R, I got annoyed by the rattles in the door. I did not expect just over a month old car to rattle. So I took it to MASS. The SA advised me to take the car back home, with polite answer, "Sir, if it would have been Swift, I'd have kept it with me for a day. Wouldn't have done anything, but after all, he's paid major sum (by Maruti standards). In case of Wagon R, I will plainly tell you, I'm not going to do anything. So don't even bother keeping your car with service station. It's Maruti, it rattles!"

Well, that rattling sound went away in next couple of servicing and with some foam pads between door metal and plastic panel.

But couple years down the line a new sound emerged. And it was like Bose speakers (read - impossible to track down to source). I used to park on side of the road every now and then, hoping to find the culprit. Almost 3 months later I found, it was locking-pin attached to fire extinguisher! Fix was very easy then. Pulled pin in place with help of an elastic.

[Karan_n8]

Our half a decade old Brio has zero rattles. The newly bought Kia has some.
Strangely even the Bimmer makes a weird screech over pot holes. Otherwise none.
hate rattles. First thing I do is ensure nothing in the trunk or the glove box is rattling.

[Sachin V.W.]

Interesting thread.

The relation of Old Swift and rattles reminds me of U2’s heavily criticised but commercially successful Album “Rattle and Hum”. Earlier Swift was criticised for its rattles but was a chart buster so was that album. Ironically, both title fits perfectly.

I used to give all ears to identify rattles in my beloved Swift Vxi when I bought it new in 2006. ASC would tell me that they have rectified it and during their test drives after servicing, cabin used to be indeed very silent. But once I would drive next day, some of my rattle friends would again give me high five !

Earlier in 2 years of ownership, I was very particular of getting it rectified. Then I was used to it. Had an excellent Pioneer music system installed with 2 channel amp and kevlar speakers at the back. My liking of rock and metal music helped me a lot during my ownership to forget about rattles. Maybe, my heavy music has had developed some more rattles, I really don't know.

In Dec 2017, my music system finally got tired of playing my heavy music and died. With new car on mind, I didn't change it so have lived one year with some rattles and no music. Made peace with them. As arighna.dutta Rightly said, it is how we drive, take care of the car and road conditions. I have done many mistakes as a new car owner but after some years, I realised that I really need to take care while driving on bad roads. That’s the one way to avoid or minimise rattles in car.

[redcruiser]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Thanks to the grade 3 roads in Bangalore, my supposedly well-built Polo rattles.

There is a rubbing sound, made by the door weather seals, when negotiating the car over the lunar craters and rain forest challenge certified roads in Bangalore.

There is a taktak noise from the steering column, on going over poor surfaces.

Hey, I used to get the same rattles but fixed it. You can go through the polo maintenance thread. Someone has fixed the rattles by inserting 3mm pipes ( the one you use in water filters) inside the door rubber beading. That worked for me too.
And yes put some wax on to the frame.

My 4 year Polo is rattle free.