Creaking from Dashboard?

[marshall_mcf]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem to me in their Polo? I have a really annoying creaking noise coming from the passenger side dashboard (see video here, which was taken on a relatively good day! https://vimeo.com/339051362)

It seems to be at its worst when I drive it in the morning, which makes me wonder if it's to do with the car warming up from sitting out in the cold overnight. Some journeys its fine and some journeys its absolutely awful, even the radio can't drown the noise out.

I have taken it into my local VW dealership three times now: the first time they added some lubrication to the door joint and seal which didn't fix it; the second time they refit the fan vent and added some felt padding which didn't fix it; the third time they refit the glove box which didn't fix it. I understand that it's an intermittent problem and therefore its difficult to pinpoint and fix but I'm sick of having a creaky car!

I have been in touch with the VW customer care people (who I have found out aren't actually VW staff but are employed by third-party customer management firm Capita up in Sheffield, which could explain why they have been absolutely useless) - after taking the car in for the third time they said I need to take it in again. They don't seem to understand that this is essentially four times too many and that I have better things to do with my time than go back and forth to the VW garage, explain the problem, do a road test with another technician, plan my whole week around dropping the car off, picking it up etc etc etc.

Does anyone know of a fix to this problem? Really don't want to get rid of the car and go through all the stress of negotiating a deal on a new car again but I also really don't want a creaky car

Car is VW Polo SE 95 manual transmission purchased July 2018, at around 6,000 miles now.

Thanks

[SRGTD]

Is there a chance that the noise isn’t actually coming from the passenger side vent area?

Interior creaks and rattles are often very difficult to pinpoint and track down, especially if you’re travelling alone in the car. Many owners of the mk7 Golf have complained of a rattle / buzzing noise from somewhere within the dashboard or centre console, and it turned out to be the sliding cover on the vanity mirror in the sun visor vibrating against the vanity mirror lights int the roof lining.

I know you’ve got someone to video the potential location of the noise source (or you may have taken the video with someone else driving?), but I’d suggest going out for a drive with a passenger who’s not aware of the noise / it’s possible location in conditions when the noise is most likely to happen - don’t tell them where you think the noise is coming from. Get them to confirm it is either the passenger vent area, or if they think it’s coming from somewhere else, get them to help locate it through listening and applying pressure on areas of trim they think might be the potential source.

I’m not surprised that VW uses a third party organisation (TPO) for their customer services team. There are probably fairly significant cost savings to VW (staff, equipment, premises and other overheads) in using a TPO. VW will have put the customer service operation out to tender and the cheapest bidder will have secured the contract. It does mean the service to the customer can suffer, as you’ve discovered.

Good luck - hope you get this sorted soon. A recurring noise like this wouldn’t bother some owners, but it’d annoy me too.

[peeceeuk]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem to me in their Polo? I have a really annoying creaking noise coming from the passenger side dashboard (see video here, which was taken on a relatively good day! https://vimeo.com/339051362)

It seems to be at its worst when I drive it in the morning, which makes me wonder if it's to do with the car warming up from sitting out in the cold overnight. Some journeys its fine and some journeys its absolutely awful, even the radio can't drown the noise out.

I have taken it into my local VW dealership three times now: the first time they added some lubrication to the door joint and seal which didn't fix it; the second time they refit the fan vent and added some felt padding which didn't fix it; the third time they refit the glove box which didn't fix it. I understand that it's an intermittent problem and therefore its difficult to pinpoint and fix but I'm sick of having a creaky car!

I have been in touch with the VW customer care people (who I have found out aren't actually VW staff but are employed by third-party customer management firm Capita up in Sheffield, which could explain why they have been absolutely useless) - after taking the car in for the third time they said I need to take it in again. They don't seem to understand that this is essentially four times too many and that I have better things to do with my time than go back and forth to the VW garage, explain the problem, do a road test with another technician, plan my whole week around dropping the car off, picking it up etc etc etc.

Does anyone know of a fix to this problem? Really don't want to get rid of the car and go through all the stress of negotiating a deal on a new car again but I also really don't want a creaky car

Car is VW Polo SE 95 manual transmission purchased July 2018, at around 6,000 miles now.

Thanks

Go for a drive and when you hear the buzzing, hold the handbrake button still and see if the sound disappears.

[chris.tayler]

I have the exact same problem in my GTI+. Its on the third visit now (i actually had another problem that was a super annoying squeek related to a failed suspension mount). They went through the exact same things that you mentioned.

They've given up now saying its "normal", so im going to go to a different dealer. I'm pretty sure noises like that aren't part of the design!

[Andy Beats]

Did the dealer use a stethoscope-type tool on any test drives?

https://www.amazon.com/Mechanics-Diagno ... B005GRGR7C

[Andy Beats]

They've given up now saying its "normal", so im going to go to a different dealer. I'm pretty sure noises like that aren't part of the design!

My car is full of various buzzes and rattles on anything other than the smoothest of roads.
I see them as normal, it's not a luxury car and I don't expect Rolls-Royce levels of quietness.
Hard plastics on the doors, for example, are bound to buzz.
Obviously we all have our own lines in the sand, the knocking from the rear tailgate being a noise I won't suffer and it's booked in.
There's a reason the VW ad from years ago, where a squeak in a Golf is traced to the passenger's earring, was banned.

[marshall_mcf]

Is there a chance that the noise isn’t actually coming from the passenger side vent area?

Interior creaks and rattles are often very difficult to pinpoint and track down, especially if you’re travelling alone in the car. Many owners of the mk7 Golf have complained of a rattle / buzzing noise from somewhere within the dashboard or centre console, and it turned out to be the sliding cover on the vanity mirror in the sun visor vibrating against the vanity mirror lights int the roof lining.

I know you’ve got someone to video the potential location of the noise source (or you may have taken the video with someone else driving?), but I’d suggest going out for a drive with a passenger who’s not aware of the noise / it’s possible location in conditions when the noise is most likely to happen - don’t tell them where you think the noise is coming from. Get them to confirm it is either the passenger vent area, or if they think it’s coming from somewhere else, get them to help locate it through listening and applying pressure on areas of trim they think might be the potential source.

I’m not surprised that VW uses a third party organisation (TPO) for their customer services team. There are probably fairly significant cost savings to VW (staff, equipment, premises and other overheads) in using a TPO. VW will have put the customer service operation out to tender and the cheapest bidder will have secured the contract. It does mean the service to the customer can suffer, as you’ve discovered.

Good luck - hope you get this sorted soon. A recurring noise like this wouldn’t bother some owners, but it’d annoy me too.

Hi, thanks for your response - this is indeed a possibility, in fact, on my last road test with the VW technician he thought the noise was coming from the top of the door. I told him I was surprised as I was 99.9% sure it was coming from somewhere within the left side of the dashboard but as he's the expert I can't really dispute it.

That's a good idea to go out for a drive with someone who isn't aware of the problem I've had with the noise. The video I attached was me in the passenger seat with my partner driving, we're both convinced the noise is coming from around the dash. We've squeezed areas, pushed areas, bashed areas to try and make it stop but to no avail.

The VW customer care person suggested I take the vehicle into another dealership as they may have different ways of doings things and might be able to fix the problem. I suppose I could go on a road test with a technician from a different dealership without disclosing the source of the noise to see if they have any thoughts. The only issue is that because it's intermittent I can't be sure the noise will happen on the road test (hence the attached video that I recorded to show a technician for their reference).

Thanks again

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone has had a similar problem to me in their Polo? I have a really annoying creaking noise coming from the passenger side dashboard (see video here, which was taken on a relatively good day! https://vimeo.com/339051362)

It seems to be at its worst when I drive it in the morning, which makes me wonder if it's to do with the car warming up from sitting out in the cold overnight. Some journeys its fine and some journeys its absolutely awful, even the radio can't drown the noise out.

I have taken it into my local VW dealership three times now: the first time they added some lubrication to the door joint and seal which didn't fix it; the second time they refit the fan vent and added some felt padding which didn't fix it; the third time they refit the glove box which didn't fix it. I understand that it's an intermittent problem and therefore its difficult to pinpoint and fix but I'm sick of having a creaky car!

I have been in touch with the VW customer care people (who I have found out aren't actually VW staff but are employed by third-party customer management firm Capita up in Sheffield, which could explain why they have been absolutely useless) - after taking the car in for the third time they said I need to take it in again. They don't seem to understand that this is essentially four times too many and that I have better things to do with my time than go back and forth to the VW garage, explain the problem, do a road test with another technician, plan my whole week around dropping the car off, picking it up etc etc etc.

Does anyone know of a fix to this problem? Really don't want to get rid of the car and go through all the stress of negotiating a deal on a new car again but I also really don't want a creaky car

Car is VW Polo SE 95 manual transmission purchased July 2018, at around 6,000 miles now.

Thanks

Go for a drive and when you hear the buzzing, hold the handbrake button still and see if the sound disappears.

This did actually cross my mind once before but as the noise seems to be coming from elsewhere I didn't do anything - I will try this and see if it stops. Thanks for the suggestion.

The dealership did not use a stethoscope-type-tool on any of the test drives where I was present. I believe they did further test drives of their own without me to replicate the noise so they may have used one then.

Glad to know I'm not alone with the noises/creaks. As you say Andy Beats, I don't expect Rolls-Royce levels of quietness but it's not unreasonable to expect a car that doesn't creak. Really frustrating. The Polo is a slick little car and I really like the minimal interior, but if they can't sort this problem and I decide to get rid then I really don't think I could risk having another creaky Polo. My partner has just got a new A1 which actually seems better value than the Polos (LED headlights, digital displays, lane keeping etc. as standard) but I really don't want to have to contemplate this possibility just yet!

[peeceeuk]

I mentioned this in another post which was a thanks to someone for having already identified where a buzz might be coming from.
Seemed odd to me at the time but the sound reverberates off of the screen I think which gives the impression that it must be a dash panel.
If you twiddle the handbrake button you will probably notice a fair bit of play in it.

[OomStu_ZA]

I've owned a few Polo's over the last 10 years, most assembled here in Uitenhage near Port Elizabeth in South Africa and they all rattle and squeak from day one. The only Polo that had no issues for about 18 months was the Bluemotion Polo assembled in Spain.

The 2014 Polo face lift also had a loud vibration/rattle from the same area as the OP video and it took me months to realise it was the actually headliner against the windscreen. The dealer was convinced it was the centre armrest so they replaced it but that didn't solve the problem. When I pointed out it was the headliner they were "suddenly aware of the problem" and resolved it. Why we have to go to such lengths to get warranty issues resolved is beyond me.

The new 2019 GTI (2 weeks old) also has some new quirks I'm acclimating to but already have the annoying dash vibration when in sports mode thanks to the "plastic" sound actuator. My dealer is arranging a loaner so they can sort it out, hopefully.

[roywolfey]

When the creaking is happening, try opening the glove box lid and applying both push and pull lateral pressure to the glovebox lid. This was the cause of my issue and the cure was a new lid under warranty.

[marshall_mcf]

Thanks for the previous suggestions to hold onto the handbrake button - I have tried this a couple of times but it doesn't seem to help. I'm still certain the noise is coming from somewhere within the dashboard.

When the creaking is happening, try opening the glove box lid and applying both push and pull lateral pressure to the glovebox lid. This was the cause of my issue and the cure was a new lid under warranty.

The third time I took my Polo in for investigation/repair I was given a loan Polo - by chance I opened the glove box in it which had an elegant 'soft' opening glove box lid, whereas on my Polo the glove box always flew open. I wondered if the mechanism that is meant to gently open the glove box had come loose and was the source of the noise - I mentioned this to the garage and they replaced the entire glove box. As the sound is still occuring I'm not convinced it would be due to the glove box but I will certainly apply push/pull pressure around the inside of the box and around the edges to see if that helps. I think I just have a dodgy car really just 3 years 2 months on the PCP contract to go...!

[Andy Beats]

I'm getting horrible 'buzz' from the right hand side dash/door area now.
Tried pressing various pieces of plastic to no avail.
It's definitely not the handbrake button noise 'projecting' itself somwhere weird, I've tried that.
This is buzz like the nasty hard plastics at the bottom of the door are vibrating.

[TElwoody]

Try tapping underneath the ventilation control for the passenger and driver side air vents. mine makes a buzzing noise when tapped. it's apparently a common issue. also the rear door handle area buzzes too, try that as well

[OomStu_ZA]

@marshall_mcf I have a loaner while my GTI is in for some TLC at the dealership and it's a Comfortline (equiv to SE I guess) Polo with 679km on the clock that also has that exact same annoying rattle/vibration in the same area as the video. I've tried to capture it myself but the noise is quite subtle and difficult to detect with a phone mic.
Anyways, not my car so not too worried if I'm honest but just wanted to confirm you not alone here.

[OomStu_ZA]

In follow up got my GTI back today and the problem is resolved.

They connected the sound actuator (accessed from engine side, not dash as I would have though) to a computer and fiddled from there, didn't even need to drive the car to check if it was repaired or not. They can make the device vibrate and rattle through software manipulation using a laptop. Tech for ya hey. I hope to never see a Windows BSOD on the dash