Rattles/Squeaks in the BRZ?
 

After all of the rave reviews from the 'pros' and forum members here alike I have added a BRZ to the short list of cars I'm going to look at near the end of summer (I'm currently driving a Hyundai Veloster and will sell private party to break even then). I'm excited about the spirit this engine has and most of all the RWD handling. I'm curious about any sort of squeaks or rattles in the new BRZ over broken pavement or any other structural rigidity issues with the car...can anyone comment on this?

I don't have any rattles at all yet. over rougher roads the suspension is stiff, but there is no crashing, banging, or rattling.... yet.

Thanks! I assumed the structural rigidity of the car would be rather high considering it's intended handling prowess. Also, the lack of a sunroof, while really my only sore spot with the car, obviously helps it maintain a tight structure. How about normal road and engine noise in the car while commuting?

Its not loud at all while cruising, just at WOT above ~4k RPM. Then the intake tube gets loud, but I kind of like it for a 2L 4 banger. That said some people really don't like the sound boxer engines make, so what engine noise there is could sound like total crap to someone else and drive them nuts.

Road noise is also not bad at all IMO. I find the car to be nice to drive. I put 250 miles on it in 2 days and didn't feel sore or exhausted.

It is small. That's something I am going to hopefully get used to in a DD. Finding places for things like key cards, drink bottles, aux cords can get troubling.

Good info! I don't mind some (pleasant) noise when I'm really giving it the spurs but I'd like a 'tame' car when I'm commuting or road tripping. My Veloster has a few annoying rattles and it just turned over 8 months old and 17K miles. Yeah, yeah...I know the Veloster isn't really in the same class but it does annoy me so I want to make sure that my next car is focused on rattle free operation.

This is a very good question to ask! Those noises drive me INSANE. I was daily driving my Toyota MR2 for the past year or so, and the creaks, squeaks, and rattles became too much to bear! I know the car is 26 years old and has 200k miles on it, but I've literally taken every interior panel out of the car and added additional foam and felt insulation to prevent these noises, and the car STILL MAKES THEM!!! Can't stand it. Not to mention I went to work selling Audis this past year, and they are DEAD SILENT inside, which I love. The S4 I'm leasing is like a dream, just needs a little more aggressive exhaust tone and it'll be perfect. I just don't want the Subaru to feel like a used car after 6 months if it starts creaking or rattling.

^Agreed. I actually worked for Hyundai is sales for a number of years and started at the Infiniti dealership this past year. Nice to meet a fellow car guy. :)

A few small things I am starting to notice.

There is a small "clunk" from the drive shaft/rear diff when shifting into first after coming to a stop. Pretty sure this is just the synchros working and is normal.

Very very small rattle coming from the back seat. Possibly the rear seat belts, or I didn't close the fold down back seats all the way yesterday. Can only hear it when the HVAC and radio is off. Its tiny, but is the first potential rattle.

The engine from the outside sounds odd for a boxer. It almost makes a pulsating squeaking noise, like a pulley is making sound, but I cant locate it. Prolly already broke it, from my hard break in :iono:

edit: 350ish miles btw. Just for a reference I already had found about 10 issues with my Legacy at this point. I have problems....

nothing yet. about 500 miles into the break in

over 1000 miles of dailying this car, I can report that the only thing on it that is loud is the transmission/driveline. I cant pinpoint it, but as mentioned when shifting down into first it will thunk/clatter on occasion. The transmissions makes wonderful snick noises, clack noises, etc. To me this is perfection, but maybe I am weird.

I come from a life of owning mostly Miatas, so maybe Im used to a noisy transmission, the upside of which is that you truly always know what the trans is doing. Another miata comparison, the FRS doesnt bump/rattle/squeak like the miatas do, god damn now that was annoying.

Nice. Yeah the clunk sound was something I wasn't used to, but some people with Miatas and S2000's I know said it was normal. I also like transmission noises. I went out of my way to make the driveline as loud as possible on my STI.

The family of mice living in my engine, might drive me nuts though. Will need an exhaust to drown out their chatting. To be fair though you cant hear it unless outside the car.

That silence is seriously addictive isn't it?

Yup!!! I get in people's trade-ins and wonder how they live with all the little noises they make. I'm like a dog when it comes to that stuff - super sensitive hearing!

My WRX had a few odd rattles, but one or two that really bothered me. Ex-gf's old Saturn, the whole thing rattled and I have no idea how she lived with it. I understand silence, I get it. My parents both have cushy Lexus vehicles that are quiet, but to me it's just awkward. A faux silence, like living in the suburbs.

Most rattles can be covered up with an exhaust, it's just those rattles that ONLY happen at a certain harmonic frequency that annoy me.

Two slightly annoying noises to report in my first 1400 miles. With windows down the rear seat belt on the passenger side flaps like mad and sounds like 5 pound locusts flying in the car. Easily remedied by buckling it across the seat.

The other is a pop sound from the rear, especially noticeable when the rear seat is folded down. I believe it's coming from the trunk hardware (like the rods that spring it open) as the chassis flexes over bumps or around turns. I'll be torturing someone into riding back there to trace the source.

The thud is what I believe to be normal, from others are saying. If you hold the clutch for a second or so before putting it into gear, it doesn't thud, since it gives it time for everything to stop moving.

I haven't heard that, but the only rattle I could hear were the rear seat belts moving when the windows are open.

Yes, the ticking noise I am used to, but the squeaking noise is very new to me too. Almost sounds like a belt, but I'm not sure.

Just over 800 miles for me.

The rattle in the back was my fold down rear seat not being shut all the way, which I discovered when I stood on the breaks and found the contents of my trunk flying into the cabin.

Based on my test drives, everything felt VERY solid. Sure, rattles can develop but I think this car is better off than many other new cars in the price range.

at very random times, but usually when the dash is cold I get a slight rattle from the center by the windshield. not concerned. I didn't buy a luxury car lol. Also get a squeak from the plastic around the steering console. again, no big deal. And once I got a rattle from the trim by the climate control. also not concerned.

On my scale of annoying interior noise level from 0 to 10:
2011 Scion tC = 10 (It was stressful to drive)
2010 Toyota Prius = 8 (Dash makes lots of plastic itching noise)
2009 Toyota Yaris = 6 (Rattle, rattle, rattle)
2012 Toyota Prius V = 0 (I hear no noise. Feels like Lexus.)
THIS CAR = 0.5 (Glove compartment door or something makes rattling noise "sometimes", but not annoying at all.)

I hear various noises from under the hood, but they're not annoying at all compared to the rattles in interior.

UPDATE:
Above was just 1 week after I picked the car up.
Now, after 7 weeks..., I'd give it a 9.
Better than tC but worse than Prius.
I'm ok with the minor rattles here and there, but the popping noise that the rear deck makes is just so annoying...
We have Prius V for 9 months and it still has 0 interior noise. Literally, no rattle, ticking, popping, creeking, squeaking, and etc.
I hope the dealer will be able to fix the rear deck popping noise at least, as they could not fix the roof popping noise of tC before.

So far on my BRZ LTD, nothing unusual. I like a lot of the mechanical sounds in the drive train. And I actually like the sound of the engine. I had a 2002 MINI Cooper S, which had a dash rattle at the center defrost vent. Dealer could not silence it, I tried a lot of different things too. I had a 2009 Prius (don't ask), and the base of the A pillar would rattle under certain conditions. The thing I hate about squeaks and rattles, many of them are nearly impossible to get rid of. This is just one of the many things why I am so happy with my BRZ so far. Hopefully, no first year glitches come up!

I'm getting a bit of a rattle when the bass hits on my front left speaker. Not sure if it's the speaker or something in the door. I'll have to take a closer listen at some point to try and figure it out.

Whew, reading this thread put my mind to ease. I can relate to almost all posts:


1700 miles, 2.5 weeks of ownership, AT. Got on it a few times, but never redlined during break in


- 'Chirping' noise under the hood coming from the red circled area in this picture
(http://s18.postimage.org/5s73rdkyx/IMG_1733.jpg)
- Rear seatbelt bangs really loud with the windows down; fixed by buckling it
- Small rattle up in front of the steering wheel when cold (only heard it earlier this week in the morning; gone after heating up)
- Small hatch rattle, although this may be from my license plate as there's no rubber noise stopper things
- Some shifts are loud and make noises when it shifts hard (random)
- Speaker down low in driver door makes a crackling sound when a song has bass (Bass Cannon, Skrillex, Hip Hop all make it crackle)



These are all I notice for now (or can speak from off the top of my head).

1010 miles here...tight as a drum. Although I do have to disagree on the road noise a bit. Of course it's all relative, but coming from an Infiniti the tire noise is pretty noticeable...and I'm not sure whether I'm just getting used to it or not but it seems to have calmed a bit since the tires have worn in.
Other than that you hear a bit of driveline whine at certain speeds on the highway.
I hope the car stays tight. I have an '04 TSX with over 200k on it and not a rattle or squeak...that's a hard act to follow.

I'm getting this same rattle. I noticed if press in on the door skin right above the speaker grill, i can stop it from rattling. Have either of you guys located the source? I thought I'd ask before I start ripping things apart.

I'm getting that too. I use my iPod touch streamed via Bluetooth to play my music, and I noticed that if I set the EQ on the iPod touch to bass reducer, I don't get that annoying rattle.

I noticed two rattles. One is the third brake light, at first I thought it was hitting the back windshield but it appears there is quite a large gab so that most likely isn't it, I have a feeling it's vibrating where the brake light is mounted.

The second is coming from the trunk, it sounds like the license plate is vibrating against the trunk but I don't believe that's it. Another member here I talked to has the same anomaly.

I'm definitely hearing a lot of interior rattles (nothing to do with structural rigidity) that I hope to have Subaru address when I drop it off for the first scheduled maintenance. There's a buzz coming from the dash/front left vent that has a resonant frequency around 3000RPM (in other words, I basically hit that in every gear). It sounds like a wire hitting something, kind of like a buzzing noise.

I'm also hearing some clicks from the back seat area, which is either a seatbelt buckle hitting something, or the locking mechanism for the back seat in general.

I knew I wasn't buying a 3-series when I was getting this car, but it still drives me nuts every now and again :P. But then a twisty road shows up and I forget about the noises.

The only noticeable noise besides the shifts being loud is the front left speaker rattle that other people have pointed out. I tend to listen to a lot of metal, so the bass and overall volume make that rattle/buzz very apparent at times.

The only time I heard the rear seat rattle was when I latched both sides, since I didn't know until recently that only side was latched. I'm going to re-latch it as well as buckle the rear seats belts to see if that goes away.

This thread ( http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9676 ) talks about the rattle. Apparently it's actually the window switch.

I can hear faint squeaking noise from the gauge cluster when the road surfaces are rough.. I will have to mention that on the first oil service.

I have a few that are mentioned here as well (occasional rattling in the rear somewhere, rattling around the center console area, driver's side door speaker), but the one that gets me the most is this slight buzzing noise that I usually only hear in 5th and 6th within the range of 50-60mph. Very high-pitched and just about always goes away before exceeding 60.

i've had my brz limited for about a month and i don't hear any rattling noises. i'll try to pay attention this evening when i drive home from work.

I've solved 2 rattles from the back.

1) The emergency interior trunk release hanging loose. I got it back in its slot, then used a small strip on racer tape to secure it.

2) My passenger seat was all the way back against the rear seat. Vibration in the seat must have caused some stress somewhere further back causing a rattle. Moving it forward 1 inch solved that problem.

Yes! The new tC is one obnoxiously-built POS in more ways than one. I had rattles *everywhere.*

I'm getting an annoying rattle from center stack when going over rough roads.

I just had the dealer address one rattle in the trunk under the Child Seat mount.. If the rattles continue, DYNAMAT may be the best option for this car.

Ok. Trunk rattles.

I've located so far 3 things that rattle and can be fixed relatively easy:

• Trunk emergency opener handle

This one is the easiest - it rattles when not fastened. Mine was actually slightly pulled, so snap it back in its holder, and its done

• Plastic clip holders

These white plastic clip holders are underneath the foam layer under the trunk liner. Get some sealant and fix it in place, so that they don't move. If you tap on those - you'll hear how much noise they are creating. Unbelievable! On the picture I show only 3 of them - the noisiest, but there are more under foam pieces that hold tools.

• Pillar plastic

Excuse my bad English - there are the plastic panels that cover back window pilars, but they go up into the trunk. The spot where they touch metal - it rattles. So, you should be looking up at the back shelf from inside the trunk. They are clipped, but not fixed. Definitely require deadening.


Looking at the trunk striped from all the foam, I was amazed that it didn't have any soundproofing at all. Just getting the wheel arches done from inside, and part of the trunk floor and back shelf, should improve road noise and eliminate most of the rattles related to wires and plastic touching bare metal. There plastic clips are all over the trunk and they will be coming loose as the car settles over time.

Hope this helps. I'm rattle-free for now, but RAMMAT is on the way :)

I continued my search for trunk rattles, as my previous attempt didn't cure it, unfortunately.

But I found that one rattle comes from the underguard (correct me if thats called differently), which holds rear backup light and unused rear fog light. The nature of the sound is exactly what I hear in the cabin very occasionally (at first I thought that I had plastic bottle of water flying in the trunk.

I'll look more there as time permits, but that distinctive sound of plastic hitting the metal can be reproduced if you pull/move/tap that underguard piece, especially from the right side, closer to the exhaust pipe.

Had anyone else noticed that?

• Trunk emergency opener handle

This one is the easiest - it rattles when not fastened. Mine was actually slightly pulled, so snap it back in its holder, and its done


I took a look at mine and it was loose. Did not realize it snapped into place. Got it snapped tight now...thanks!