Doors Rattling

[Scott Bounce]

I used it on every bit of the seals and it worked so f**k it

[Guy]

Thanks - well unless my dealer offers to sort it for free that's exactly what I shall do because it seems as if the felt may be the most important bit to cover to get rid of the noise.

It seems this is a really widespread problem - for example :-

http://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/10013 ... ggroaning/

Interesting that a number of posters are saying they avoid the VW dealer unless there is no other option.

I wonder if smearing a little bit of Krytox on the top edge of the window glass might be good also as it would then press into the surround when the window was raised.

[Parker87]

I wonder if smearing a little bit of Krytox on the top edge of the window glass might be good also as it would then press into the surround when the window was raised.

I'd put the Krytox onto the contact edges of the door tops first, and then only apply it to the glass in the (unlikely) event that the first step hadn't worked. The Krytox has great 'spreading power', so I'd avoid getting it on to any glass if you can.
Good luck with the dealers - but it doesn't sound hopeful; it's probably much less hassle to do it yourself, and for £37 or so you'd have enough to last you the time you're likely to keep the car - that was my thinking anyway The only 'discolouration' which I've had with my felt is a restoration of the original healthy black colour.

[Guy]

Thanks - I really appreciate how helpful people are on this forum. I'll post feedback when I have made some more progress with my car.

What puzzles me is that if this is such a widespread problem, why aren't VW on to it? Eg Put some Krytox on the door seals at the factory or make it part of the dealer PDI process.

[Blairc2016]

Some internet research for Krytox shows up many benefits, one of which is the products inertness up to 260 degrees celcius. It won't react with the surface of the rubber.

I think the creaking noise only becomes apparent once certain shampoos or waxes (silicone containing) end up on the felt and the rubber of the seals.

I guess it's just one of those things. Very common across all of the German car marques.

Hope you manage to get it sorted, Guy

[Blairc2016]

Also, no point in applying to the glass as the pressure on the top felt seal will still be there regardless of if you've applied the Krytox. It is the top felt seal which is rubbing against the car body.

[Guy]

Thanks again Blairc2016.

I'll see how things go at the dealership on Wednesday. I think initially I'll just stick to describing the symptoms and so mention that the noise seems to be coming from near the driver's ear and that it is reduced if the window is wound down a bit and see what they say. In the event that they say that all it needs is a bit of Krytox on the seals and they are happy to do that on a no-charge warranty or goodwill basis then that's great and assuming that fixes it I'll order up some Krytox for my own use long term. If they are instead talking about removing door trim or anything similar I'll say I need to think about it and walk away without burning any boats. Meanwhile I'd buy the Krytox and try that initially on the felt but on the rubber too if necessary and I'm very confident that will be a good medium to long term fix.

One really shouldn't have to second guess a VW dealership but after my telephone experience I'm not impressed.

Having said that, some of the "front of house" staff at another local (not VW) dealership have been truly dire in the past. Yet the Workshop Manager there is an absolute star with a thoroughly customer friendly approach. He once spent virtually an entire day personally diagnosing an (out of warranty) electrical fault for me which was draining the battery. His conclusion was that it was a door lock solenoid intermittently pulling current when it shouldn't but because it was an intermittent fault he could only be 95% certain. Anyway it was just coming up to Christmas/New Year and he said it was pointless to try to order the part until after the break so I could think about whether I wanted to go ahead or not and let him know in January. I said I would like to settle up my bill for the work he'd done already and the reply was "No charge - we'll write that off to diagnostics." Anyway I went with his 95% and he was spot on.

[Guy]

One other thing is that I have only ever washed the car with clean water - no detergents at all. I did use a new sponge and leather which might have had some effect I suppose but I rinsed them both first. Also a couple of times in very cold weather I used a narrow bore (so low pressure) hose with a spray attachment just to get any salt and road dirt off because I really didn't want to go through the bucket and leather routine in such cold conditions. The water pressure wasn't enough to get the wheels completely clean but it was a lot better than doing nothing.

[Guy]

I visited my VW dealership for my booked appointment this morning. After my less than brilliant experience with them on the phone I was expecting difficulty. But really what I experienced was a model way to treat a customer.

Firstly, the chap on the service desk was more than helpful. On the assumption that I would likely be having to leave the car with them after a test drive with a technician he asked if I would like to have a free taxi to take me home and another free taxi to bring me back. Also would I like the car washed and valeted - again free of charge. Well it was already very clean so I passed on that. And really I could have caught the bus but it seemed churlish to refuse the taxi offer - as it turned out it wasn't needed.

While waiting for the technician I was plied with excellent complimentary coffee and biscuits and read one of the newspapers. After a little wait a very helpful man came up and we went out in the car - I suggested he drove so he could hear the noise in his right ear. He agreed on the location of the noise and carefully examined the door seals before suggesting they apply some Krytox to the felt and rubber - I'd deliberately refrained from mentioning the K word up to that point. So I sat down for some more coffee and biscuits. It turned out that the Krytox had helped but hadn't completely cured the noise so they'd checked the door alignment which was slightly out and they'd corrected that as well. We went for another run with me driving this time and all that noise in my right ear had disappeared. I was delighted and there was no charge to me as promised. I suggested perhaps I should buy some Krytox but the reply was it was very expensive stuff (well I knew that) so better to leave it unless/until any noise returned. Still I think I might get some anyway.

I really can't fault the way the matter was dealt with today and it certainly wipes out the rather poor experience I had over the phone.

Thanks Blairc2016 and others - your advice was 100% spot on.

[SRGTD]

Glad you got it sorted Guy.

That's the sort of dealership experience we should always get, but sadly poor customer service is all too common these days.

[Blairc2016]

I visited my VW dealership for my booked appointment this morning. After my less than brilliant experience with them on the phone I was expecting difficulty. But really what I experienced was a model way to treat a customer.

Firstly, the chap on the service desk was more than helpful. On the assumption that I would likely be having to leave the car with them after a test drive with a technician he asked if I would like to have a free taxi to take me home and another free taxi to bring me back. Also would I like the car washed and valeted - again free of charge. Well it was already very clean so I passed on that. And really I could have caught the bus but it seemed churlish to refuse the taxi offer - as it turned out it wasn't needed.

While waiting for the technician I was plied with excellent complimentary coffee and biscuits and read one of the newspapers. After a little wait a very helpful man came up and we went out in the car - I suggested he drove so he could hear the noise in his right ear. He agreed on the location of the noise and carefully examined the door seals before suggesting they apply some Krytox to the felt and rubber - I'd deliberately refrained from mentioning the K word up to that point. So I sat down for some more coffee and biscuits. It turned out that the Krytox had helped but hadn't completely cured the noise so they'd checked the door alignment which was slightly out and they'd corrected that as well. We went for another run with me driving this time and all that noise in my right ear had disappeared. I was delighted and there was no charge to me as promised. I suggested perhaps I should buy some Krytox but the reply was it was very expensive stuff (well I knew that) so better to leave it unless/until any noise returned. Still I think I might get some anyway.

I really can't fault the way the matter was dealt with today and it certainly wipes out the rather poor experience I had over the phone.

Thanks Blairc2016 and others - your advice was 100% spot on.

Glad that helped, and that you now have a silent car. Hope you enjoy it!

Do you mind if I asked which dealer this was with and where are you in the UK? It would be helpful if we had a part on this site where we could post good dealership feedback in order to know where is best to take the car if any work ever needs done!

[Parker87]

Good - glad it's all sorted in such a satisfactory way Guy
And I second Blairc2016's request for you to name and praise the dealer - it's always good to know about the good ones.

[SRGTD]

Good - glad it's all sorted in such a satisfactory way Guy
And I second Blairc2016's request for you to name and praise the dealer - it's always good to know about the good ones.

It's also useful to know about the not so good dealers, so we can avoid them. My dealer is currently being very poor at sorting an issue I have. I won't name them yet, but will if it's not resolved to my satisfaction.

[Guy]

Well I'm a bit wary of naming them publicly because at first I wasn't too happy after the initial phone call and so my first post could be considered unhelpful to them.

Also bear in mind that when I first phoned the person I spoke to hadn't at first established that I had bought the car from them. The attitude only softened a little when I made that clear. So they might not be so good with customers who had bought elsewhere and would stick more firmly to the warranty conditions.

If I said that they have a number of dealerships in the East Midlands/Eastern England Area would that help? Towards the southern end of that general region.

[Guy]

Further to my previous post, if anyone wants to know the identity of my local dealership then if you send me a PM I'll happily disclose it in confidence. But I'd rather not put it on a public board where anyone including non-members could view it. Sorry if this seems over cautious.