Hey everyone,

My 2002 A4 has the infamous VW rear rattle from the back seat area. It's driving me mad.
I have done some research online as to the cause, and there are mixed views on it:

Some have said its the seat latch dealy getting loose, or the rear speakers / amp coming loose, or the cargo net, or suspension problems.

The problem seems to get worse the colder it is outside, but usually 6 degrees C and above, the rattle is minimal. I tried a ghetto fix of wrapping hockey tape around the bolts that stick out that the rear seats latch on to, but it didn't work.

I'm not sure if everyone else's rattle noise is the same as mine. The noise is very prominent when the seats are down, so I recorded the noise with my phone stuck in the rear ashtray as I drove along.

http://www.4shared.com/audio/9ZgnWJf0/clip1.html

You can hear it every time I hit a bump, but you can really hear it around 23 seconds in.

It does seem to be coming from the seat latch thing, cuz it sounds closer to me when the seats are down.

Is this the same noise anyone else has had? And any real fix ideas?

Thanks

 

I wish mine was that quiet - it has a squeak over bumps. Unless the recording didn't capture it very well, I'd welcome a swap of noise levels between our cars. :P

 

It really isnt that quiet, I usually drown it out with music.

I'll attempt to make a better recording and post it.

Does yours sound like that though? Kind of a rattle and squeak?

 

i have had a squeak from the rear area but i think its from the bottom portion of the seat. There is suppose to be some sort of plastic clip to hold the lower park to the car and that plastic part is missing. So i pulled the seat out and wrapped it with tape and it stopped the squeak. thought i doubt its the same squeak as urs cuz u said its coming from the trunk right>?

 

Rattles like those are only fixed by removing parts then test driving it. First remove the spare and emergency jack tools. If that doesn't fix it remove the rear deck, then remove the speakers in the deck. Continue until you find the rattle.

 

pa4ul:
It seems to be coming from the rear seat itself, or maybe the rear deck

auditech79:
Thanks, I'll have to really troubleshoot when outside gets warmer

Here's a better audio clip:

Sound clip

 

Listening to that better audio clip, it sounds almost identical to my car. I guess I'll have to do the same troubleshooting as you when I get a chance. Please update the thread if you find a solution to the noise; I'll do the same.

 

ill listen to it when i get home i cant listen to it at work.

 

I did some troubleshooting today, and it looks like I found it!
It was the toolkit in the trunk, there were tools in there rattling around. Of all things I'm glad it was that simple

 

It always is.