Interior rattle
 

Just curious... if anyone out there is experiencing this problem so far with their FR-S.

I'm nearing the 2K mile mark and the interior rattle is starting to become pretty significant. I noticed that it started on the left side and is now spreading to the right side.

Here is an audio recording of the rattle:

http://www.socialedgepartners.com/frsrattle.m4a

Just to be clear - I am definitely not the type that complains about every little detail, but it's a little surreal when your 2003 Camry with 150K miles has less interior rattle than a brand new car with less than 2K miles on it..

I'm a bit disappointed that I'm encountering this problem so far when the car isn't even a month old. Are you guys experiencing the same sorta thing?

edit: just as a sidebar, I totally get that interior rattle is a known problem with a lot of Subarus, but I thought Toyota's quality control dept would ensure that this issue wouldn't get into the FR-S

I'm almost at 2K miles now and no rattles yet... well none that I can think of. With my music as loud as it is, maybe that's why I don't hear any!

Though I will say, so far less than my Civic did, but then again I had pretty stiff motor mounts on that thing.

Mine is a month old but only 500 miles. There is no rattle. I drive with no audio too.

lol uh oh, don't scare me with that. EVO's have craploads of interior rattle. Don't want to continue that headache.

750+ miles. Only sound I hear is a very slight and infrequent rattle from the snap on the passenger side seat belt guide. Not a problem...easily addressed if it starts to annoy me.

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I have a rattle/creaking that's coming from rear seat on the driver's side.

Can't figure it out. Usually goes away when the car has been driving for 15+ min.

I think it's the handle/button that allows the seat to drop flat, but I've tried messing with it and it's still there.

Are you SURE it's locked into place? Mine will rattle if it's not.

As mentioned in the other thread, I've got a definite rattle. I'm at 800-850 miles. It's progressing too. Earlier I had a bit of a minor rattle that would come and go. My passengers couldn't help me isolate it. This morning on the way to work the rattle was there almost the whole ride (all backroads, 30 mph top speed limit). Our roads are torn up like a warzone with all the in-process construction, and any time I hit a rough patch the rattle intensifies for a second, but it's there even on smooth pavement under cruise, acceleration, and braking.

It *sounds* like it's coming from the front passenger area, but things are deceiving in the interior of a car. Have you felt how cheap and hollow some of the internal panels on this car feel? The ceiling, the insides of the pillars? Anyway, one of my weekend tasks is to have a friend drive the car while I climb in the back and front passenger seat and try to isolate the problem. I may bring it in to the dealership.

My Si was on 235/40-18 tires with heavy-ish wheels and HFP suspension and was harsher on bumps but had only minor rattles throughout the 41K miles I had it.

Is this something dealers can take care of under warranty?

Yes, take the car into the dealer and let them fix the rattle.

Creaking ticking from right dash. Tic tic tic. Etc.....

I've had 2 rattles that I've taken care of.

First, the seat belt guides need to be snapped together. They rattle if they are not.

Secondly, I opened and shut the rear seat trunk entry from the trunk, making sure both sides clicked in tightly.

There was also someone complaining about the dash speaker covers not being secured properly.

I guarantee you there are Toyota's with rattles too.

Do you mean the little straps for the seat belts? Or something else?

Yes, I meant seat BELT guides. They rattle 2 different ways. 1, from bouncing against each other, and 2, there's a loose metal piece in the top of the strap that bangs around. It's like our own mini pair of castanets ready to annoy the bejezus out of you.

Fixed the original post.

Similar issue here. Mine seems to be acceleration/load related.

Tried to replicate it - seems to happen from 5k rpm and up but only under certain acceleration/gear/load conditions at WOT or near WOT.

Haven't been able to conclusively track it down yet, other than that it seems to come from the centre of the dash.

It's tough to bring it in to get it serviced when I can't figure out exactly where it's coming from. Mine comes from the center of the dash (seems like from the top and inside the center console) and sometimes in the back somewhere. It doesn't happen all the time.

Interesting, I've been driving Subarus since the 80's and haven't noticed any rattle problems related just to the cars. Take it to the dealer and show them, they should fix it. New cars shouldn't rattle. Good luck.

I think you'd have a hard time getting a small vibration or rattle fixed under warranty. That would be a normal result of driving, rather than a malfunction. But I guess I'm not as picky.

For what it's worth, I have a rattle - or more, a vibration, that is occurring from what seems like the driver's side door handle area. I notice it on bumps, or if the bass is up too high. I just kind of expect that though. If this was a $100k Lexus or Mercedes, it'd be another thing... You can't build something this light weight without having some of those issues.

Which makes me think - I wonder how this compares on average with a Lotus or Miata in terms of rattle-ability.

Lotuses rattle and creak like mad. So much so I cannot stand it for long periods of time and get a headache. Also the ride is extremely harsh, they are not daily drivers. On a side note Lamborghini is known to rattle worse than any scion out there.

i have a rattle and its coming from the window switches

FYI, this car is made by Fuji Heavy Industries. FHI is the parent company of Subaru. :bellyroll:

That's because they are sports... nay, performance cars and sound deadening means more weight, which is bad for a performance car. The ride is more harsh because they have a stiffer suspension for better handling and control. This is the trade off.

Hey guys here's a brief audio recording I took with my iPhone - doing about 25mph down the hill you can hear the rattling in the background.

http://www.socialedgepartners.com/frsrattle.m4a

As far as the location of the rattle noise, it seems like it's the front left - right where the door panel hinge is at.

My only rattle so far was the stupid license plate holder in the rear at freeway cruising speeds....which mostly went away once I got my actual plate, and tightened it down....the dealer frame is flexible plastic, so it should be gone completely after I switch to a gunmetal frame.

normal for a car like this, if its extremely loud then i would say that you should seek a warranty fix for it. OR just just increase engine noise ;)

I dont really hear much ..

I dont hear any rattling as of yet for my ride either :X

Oh yes, the seat belt strap holders (the black and red strap with the snap button) will definitely rattle if not fastened.

I've also had the seat belts in the back like to 'flap' against the side interior plastic when the windows are down at cruising speeds. I have the back seat belts secured (like connected as if there were passengers) just so they don't make noise, which ironically is how they were when I got the car.

Other than that I had a beautiful silent drive home tonight with no music and just the windows down. No rattles from what I could tell.

You don't hear that plastic rattling noise from 10-15seconds onward?

I'll admit - this isn't the best recording, but the fact that the car is rattling at 25MPH down a hill with no throttle. Yeah it's not what I expected when I bought this.

As far as mileage, I'm up to about ~1600 miles

I think I hear it .. it kind of sounds like an old CD is spinning improperly .. at least it isn't intrusive rattle :/

I just located the most annoying rattle ever. It's located under the child seat mount. The thing is I can't get to it unless i start pulling the pieces off from inside the trunk.. I can dampen the noise if I stuff a sweater between the rear windshield... Maybe I will Dynomat the entire car. It's ridiculous that I paid over 30k for a car w/so many annoying rattles and squeals...

Yep, the seat belt strap holders bugged the hell out of me until I figured it out. Got about 1000k miles and so far so good. I did notice some wind noise (booming) from the passenger side on the highway though.

I'm in the same boat - I didn't even hit 2K miles before this rattle issue started occurring. I don't know too many $27K cars with this kinda issue.

I made a few changes and I think it's much better.

1. the little glow in the dark trunk opener (for when your unconscious body gets stuffed in the trunk) was loose, I put it in its notch

2. the plastic license plate frame from the dealer was loose, I took it off so now all I have is the paper temp license plate with clear plastic protecting it (but I notice there are only holes for the top part of the plate, not the bottom, not sure if it'll be an issue when I get my metal plate)

3. I fastened both of the rear seatbelts (as if someone is sitting there)

4. I removed the covers over the child seat hooks.

5. I added soft tabs to the rear wheel well plastic

6. I stuck a blanket on top of the spare and tools / under the trunk mat

This morning was much nicer, seemed drum tight even over some nasty broken pavement, even with the audio turned low.

Yes!

It sounds like there's a screw rolling around or something. Clicking back and forth.

Drives me nuts.

Here's something weird - my dash rattle wasn't there this morning!

At least not for 15 minutes.

I let the car warm up for 5 minutes (smoke break) then drove to work in silence. It only started again after about 15 minutes on the road, so now I'm confused.

What kind of dash rattle would only show up under acceleration once the car's hot (or warmed up)?

I was thinking that it's triggered by some kind of harmonic resonance, but bringing engine temp into the equation means that I am baffled right now. :P

I'm going to try and dump some toluene into the tank to see if it might be knock/ping related, then will remove the noise generator and check the heatshields on the exhaust.

That way I suppose I'll know that it's either something weird in the dash, or the injectors/valves, or maybe the transmission/clutch.

Engine oil might be a factor too - I think the OEM is 0w20 but it's around 40-50 Celsius outside here in Dubai so I'm thinking that the oil might just be too thin?

I experience the exact same thing. Car is noisier when hot. I thinks it had to deal with thermal dynamics lol. That's why when I take it to the dealer on Friday gonna beat the hell out of it first.

Think I found out the source of my rattle today.

Drove the car around slow for about half an hour. Notched the rattle starting to happen when I was accelerating. Happens softly in 2nd from 4-5k+ rpms under acceleration and gets louder in 3-4-5th gears.

Made a few passes around the neighborhood pressing/holding various dash parts but no effect.

When I got home I tried revving it while sitting in the driveway and managed to replicate it. Sticking my noggin right down near the centre console and pressing my ear on stuff I traced it to the shifter and not the dash. Sounds likemthe sound isnbeing transmitted tonthe shifter from somewhere else in thebdrivetrain - holding the shifter lever itself or leaving it alone seems to have no effect.

It only happen when the car's hot so I'm guessing that it's something to do with the gear oil or syncros or clutch or flywheel or something.

Should note that my transmission behaves perfectly driving-wise. Shifts as smooth as butter, no trouble getting in or out of gears, no odd behavior atball except for the rattle. Ultimately I don't think it's a serious issue, just an annoying one.

I'll point the dealer at it when I take it in for my 1000k device, see what they say. Hopefully an easy fix.

Point being - the interior acoustics male it tricky to track down rattles when you're driving. In suggest either getting a friend to drive while you check for rattles or vice versa.

Actually pretty glad to have tracked it down :)

I definitely don't hear that rattle in mine... Can you feel the vibration anywhere if you place your fingers around where you hear it? Sounds like rubber grinding = clicking....

I don't feel or hear any vibration (or any reduction in the rattle) at all from pressing down, holding or listening to any of the plastic in the shifter surround or centre console.

Seems that the stick is transmitting the noise into the interior of the car from someplace else.