The noises the dealer can never hear!

[Steve Rogers]

This is either Sod’s law or selective hearing by the dealers. My car is going in on Thursday for the 3rd time to see if they can hear a couple of noises (it was in for other things as well last time). 

Firstly, there is a very irritating rattle that sounds like a screw rolling around in the vicinity of the front centre armrest but more towards the back of the seats. It doesn’t always do it but it does happen more often than not. I suspect whatever it is gets wedged somewhere occasionally which is why it is not constant. 

If I accelerate, brake or go around a corner, there it is rolling around and yet the dealer says they can’t hear a thing. If I knew how to remove bits of trim, I’d go looking for it myself but I’d probably end up breaking bits of trim!

Secondly, I’m getting creaking from the front suspension, particularly the drivers side. The top of our drive is on a slight slope and whenever I pull onto there, it does it every single time. 

The other day, I went over a speed bump on an incline at very low speed and the creak was very noticeable. Despite this, the dealers cannot hear a thing. 

I’m starting to think that as soon as the car runs out of warranty, the dealer will miraculously be able to hear these noises and draft a hefty bill!! 

Any experience with these noises or any opinions generally?

Cheers

[Adbro]

Hi Steve.

 Sorry to hear your having intermittent issues with your A3. Have to had one of the Audi technicians drive your car whilst your in it? 

Suspension creaks to me are normal for A3s. I've had 4 of them and all of them creaked. The dealer tech said this was a characteristic when I took my first A3 in. Again this was stated whilst test driving the second A3 I brought. So if this is a new issue I wouldn't worry. 

With regards to the warranty, the garage gets paid for any work carried out under it so wouldn't think they have any insentive not to.

[Steve Rogers]

Yes I went out with them the first time it went in and as Sod’s law goes, neither noise occurred. 

It seems strange for any car to have creaky suspension as a characteristic. I’ll see what they say this time. The loose item that is rolling around irritates me more to be honest. God knows what it is or where it’s coming from. 

 

Thanks 

[Steve Q]

My advice would be to go out on the test drive with the technicians. Also creeking suspension could be down to worn bushes on the upper or lower suspension arms. 

My dad has had an 8v and I've driven various ones whilst in the motor trade and can never say I've driven one with creeking suspension. 

Cheers

Steve