[hardilip]

In my experience "Rattling" is integral part of most of the Indian Cars.

1. Hyundai Santro XO was my first car had rattling doors.
2. Honda City SV - 2014 (Next Gen) that I owned after Santro has no exception. In-fact I have seen the real color of rattling with Next Gen City. Those were the days where I used to visit the ASS almost every week with the hope of fixing it. I almost got to know most of the guys in the ASS during that time right from front desk till mechanics and house keeping staffs.
3. Post City, When I moved on to Hyundai Verna SX(0) I really believed that its end of story for all the nightmares that I had with rattling but it was too early for me to feel happy. They are back even in Verna as well.

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.

Over the years, I feel I have become a bit matured to ignore / pretend as though they (rattling) don't exist / at time I increase couple of points of volume to let the rattle blend with AR's music - there were times I used to be restless when I get to hear anything other than than engine and horn and never tired of spending hours diagnosing it or shuttling to ASS (what I call now - all these as my immaturity)

In my view none of the Indian cars are spared off rattling even the recent Kia Seltos has a post of rattling and DIY to fix the same.

If a less than 6 months old car (in the market) can create rattling and we can do a DIY to fix the same, where goes the hours and hours of testing, driving and RD spent on a car while manufacturing it?

I am from IT background and generally when we develop a product we were only focused on priority 1 and 2 issues and we seldom bother or fix P3 or P4 issues even we are absolutely free / till any of them been made as P1 or P2.

Is that the same approach followed in manufacturers as well?

Even Maruti and Tata had no exceptions to rattling infact I feel they are god fathers. Every Uber / Ola that we get in no matter how new are they, you will get some melody from some corner.

I have read about XUV500 as well had this as one of the prominent downside.

Any of you guys ever had the below feeling?




(Mods I couldn't find a separate thread on rattling hence created one - please merge if something already exist)

[2000rpm]

Good topic!

As someone who buys used cars, I am used to minor rattles. I dont try to fix rattles that require dismantling anything major like the dashboard or complete door trim, because from experience I know that this process may or may not fox rattles, but will definitely increase them.

So advice to all people chasing rattles, if any mechanic says "Kholke dekhna padega kya awaaz hai! (Need to open and see where the sound comes from)".

KHOLNA MAT! (DO NOT OPEN)

[PrideRed]

Among my current cars, Kwid does rattle to glory but again the door pads were removed during painting and at this price point I have no complaints. The Thar is well, the King of rattle's. It rattles so much so that I don't need a music system. Rest of the cars(Endevour,Innova) in my garage are having zero rattle's!

Few surprises from my past ownership

Vento: Everyone knows this as a solid German car. But this car used to rattle like crazy. The doors and dashboard would irritate to the core.

Innova: Used it for 10 years and run for 1.3KM's . Most of those miles was with heavy load, and even then had very minimal rattle.

[Nav-i-gator]

Well, I have lived with rattles so long that I have come to realize - If you ignore it for long enough, it will fix itself. Or else, a new one will drown it out! If you try fixing it, you will create many new ones yourself.

[revvharder]

Our current car i.e. 2016 Wagonr CNG has run around 1.15 Lakh Km and touchwood, it still does not squeak or rattle.

OTOH in most of the Maruti's I've been, they do rattle like hell.

[Shreyans_Jain]

It’s all about build quality and the tolerances allowed. Ask any owner of a Gen 1 Jazz or a gen 3 City or of the old Getz or Fabia if there are any rattles to complain of. My Gen 1 Jazz has done 140k km and has zero rattles. None. My Gen4 diesel City has been making random noises here and there ever since I’ve had it, and no dealer can fix it. They can’t, because it is simply not possible for them to do so. Design and part quality issues and fitment tolerances cannot be fixed later on.


It’s just that manufacturers have realised this is something they can get away with, and we have all been witness to cheapening of part and build qualities of cars over the years. Everyone is out to make profits, and if the customer doesn’t really care, why bother? I don’t think there is any car under 20L on sale today that can be called rattle free in Indian conditions.

[fhdowntheline]

My 2017 Polo GT TSi has an undiagnosed rattle from the rear left suspension, prominent on ruts and small potholes. My Honda City, purchsed a year and half later, has zero rattles yet, but occasional tiny vibrations near the instrument panel cowl. Throughout my car ownership history I observed the folllowing:
Santro- rattle free
Dzire VDI- very minimal dashboard
Linea: Tijori on wheels.
Micra: Rattle free
Duster: very mild vibrations, predominantly diesel clatter.
Nano: surprisingly very few rattles.

[arjab]

Maximum rattles:
1. 1st gen Maruti SWIFT. It's middle name is rattle. From everywhere. After maybe the millionth time of stuffing in foam and damping mats , I gave up.
2. Maruti Zen. Dashboard and gearbox mounting. Rattled with unfailing regularity .
3. Maruti 800. Rear seat backrest latch, glovebox lid and AC vent set up quite a charming orchestra.

Zero Rattles:
1. 1st gen Toyota Corolla. Not a squeak till date.
2. Surprise, surprise: Our Tata Nano AMT. 2016 till date a rattleless ownership, or is it because of the million other mechanical din that I can't hear?

[cuboid]

Absolutely not! I have a 2010 i10. And rattle has been the constant companion in the car, more than the thrum of the engine, or anything else, on anything other than a perfect road. And staying in Bangalore, you know the road conditions !

The steering column was suspected to be culprit, and was replaced under warranty. Things improve a bit after service, and eventually goes back to the same state.

[TDCi'd]

My God, I just finished a trip with an annoying rattle and just saw this thread

My ecosport tailgate rattles like crazy. The worst part is the more I try to ignore the damn thing the more loud it sounds. FSS usually applies some lubricant on the hinge, doesn't seem to fix it for long. Will have to live with it I suppose.

[momsonlydriver]

My sx4 is 10years old and has no rattles. My seltos being 3 months had a rattle issue in the rear, well I spotted the issue and fixed it. So yeah, my cars don't rattle-

[tushky]

Very Interesting topic. I have owned 3 Cars till Date.

1997 Maruti Omni : Zero rattles inside(well there was hardly any door panels or dashboard panels inside this van which can rattle), however metal front and rear bumper started rattling after 5 years.

2007 Tata Indica Xeta GLX : Surprisingly Zero rattles in 11 years of use.

2018 Tata Tiago XZ : Well this car is strange in rattles, i get small rattle noise from front right section of dashboard when the outside temperature is low or cold. There is Zero rattling noise in the afternoon when the ambient temperature is High.

[Jeroen]

Great thread!

A rattle will just drive me bonkers! New or 40 year old, I don’t care, but a car should not rattle. Period. So I spend an extraordinary amount of my time, fixing rattles in various cars.

Rattles seriously test our marriage too. When my wife and I are driving somewhere I will tell her things like: Where is that noise coming from? Put you hand against that part, now push the bit next to it. You take the wheel and let me do it! etc. etc,

Problem being my wife is never ever bothered by any rattle. In fact 9 out of 10 times she claims she does not even hear the rattles I am hearing.

Remarkably, on most other occasions, I am deaf she claims (or at list not listening, which is not the same)

Rattling is probably a good measure of the quality of a car. It says something about the design, the materials used, the level of workmanship and how it was produced.

My 1982 Mercedes W123 after all these years, does not rattle. No matter what road I drive it on.

Some manufacturers keep a “rattle register”. So all the secular noise, rattles, scrapes, squeaks that customers report are captured and solutions are documented and described.

There is a very long list for my Jaguar! But at least they have a list of fixes, which is something.

Jeroen

[hardilip]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Great thread!

Rattles seriously test our marriage too. When my wife and I are driving somewhere I will tell her things like: Where is that noise coming from? Put you hand against that part, now push the bit next to it. You take the wheel and let me do it! etc. etc,

Problem being my wife is never ever bothered by any rattle. In fact 9 out of 10 times she claims she does not even hear the rattles I am hearing.

Remarkably, on most other occasions, I am deaf she claims (or at list not listening, which is not the same)

Jeroen

I will really snap your post and show it to my wife, I really feel I am not the one like this (as my wife claims!) I do all those you described what my wife calls as torture! Any time I ask her anything like this, she will say it might be from the boot with the luggage stuffed or with the bottles in the bottle holder (obviously it will be very much evident they aren't the source). That's a kind of indication that now you don't bother me and you deal with it later

I have been like you earlier and as I mentioned early in the post I am getting used to all these rattle sadly.

I completely agree with the point you mentioned around quality and workmanship.

For that matter even ASS doesn't give a damn to any of these complaints. All I wish is one like minded service engineer or mechanic with Hyundai ASS with wide open ears to listen and willingness to fix. I know I am expecting a lot!

[Nissan1180]

I think most rattles are the result of a lack of longevity testing of specific parts on intended road conditions. I remember the 118NE that we grew up with. There is a spot under the bonet where you put a sponge to almost eliminate the rattle. Other than that, the car was silent. Yes, there were engine and suspension noises, but the major culprit was the bonnet hinge. And yes, as mentioned previously on this thread, eliminating it was a trial and error task perfected over months.

Most mechanics at garages are not equipped to do this today, at least in India. They do not have the time, training to identify the source. Service advisors just gloss over it and say that this is normal in an old car.

I remember the old Nano- replacing Rs. 20/- door clips on 4 doors got rid of most of the rattles, but this was never mentioned by the service advisors. They said this is a nano and you should expect this.

The attitude to compromise, without reason, has cost India a lot on many fronts, including this. We do not get perfection because we think it is something reserved for the exclusive cars and not the routine. That's why even a VW or Hyundai owner is hesitant to allow the dash to be opened, because they cannot trust the skill of the mechanic to fix it back to factory specs.