This is more of a public service announcement than anything, but I'll preface it with a bit of background.
I picked my car (2019 Dual Motor Performance) in March. I felt the initial build quality was better than most I've seen, and the car was absolutely silent from day 1. No creaks, rattles, nothing. Fast forward to May, and I started to notice this strange clicking/rattle inside the vehicle at high speeds. It sounded literally like one of the B pillars was loose, so I pulled all of the interior panels out to make sure none of the clips were loose, and even added a bit of sound deadening material to ensure they were 'extra tight'. I ended up going around the entire inside of the vehicle with a small screw driver handle and 'tapped' every panel to see if I could find the issue. It was impossible to replicate.
This went on for around 6 weeks.... I had literally given up, and this sound was persistent. It 100% sounded like it was coming from the inside of the cabin, and it was only noticeable at high speeds (over 60mph). On Monday, I was cleaning my wheels and accidentally bumped one of the inner fender wells and noticed a rattle. It was like a lightbulb went off - but common sense told me there was no way this was the sound I was hearing INSIDE the vehicle at 60, 70, 80mph...
I did the screwdriver test around both front fenders, tapping the inside... and sure enough, I was able to get it to rattle very easily. I started tapping around a little more and realized that while none of the clips were loose, the fit of the fender itself isn't exactly 'tight'. It's like there is a less than desirable interface between the body fender and the liner, and whatever clips they are using to hold the pieces together either start to come loose, or don't create a tight mechanical interface to begin with.
The only solution I could think of was to test out securing the fender liner to the actual body fender itself with some black gorilla tape. I took a few 10" strips and went around the entire border of the liner and secured a clean seam all the way around the edge of the fender liner from one end to the other, leaving around 1" of tape exposed on the liner, and tucking the other 1" around, and under the body fender, creating a clean, tight seam. I then took that same screwdriver and tapped away - this time it was completely silent.
I know this may sound a little shoddy, but the black gorilla tape is not noticeable at all, and the fit is now super tight. I wasn't convinced this was my issue, but a quick blast down the toll road proved me wrong. Problem solved. This annoying rattle that was seemingly due to shoddy interior assembly finishing was simply my fender liners vibrating at high speed. It's now completely silent.
If anyone has a mysterious rattle that seems like it's coming from the interior pillars or from the door panel at speed - take a look at your fender liners. Give them a little tap and I almost guarantee you any rattles you are hearing is from the liner reverberating at speed... The $6 roll of tape solved the problem for good.
I was getting to the end of my rope, and I was going to take it to the service center, but they would have torn apart the inside of my car with no result. If anyone is interested, I'll try to take a few pictures of how I affixed the tape, but it's pretty straight forward. You can't see it at all from the outside and the fit is perfectly tight.
For anyone who has a mysterious 'interior' rattle at speed - take a look. Hopefully someone else will benefit from this!
I picked my car (2019 Dual Motor Performance) in March. I felt the initial build quality was better than most I've seen, and the car was absolutely silent from day 1. No creaks, rattles, nothing. Fast forward to May, and I started to notice this strange clicking/rattle inside the vehicle at high speeds. It sounded literally like one of the B pillars was loose, so I pulled all of the interior panels out to make sure none of the clips were loose, and even added a bit of sound deadening material to ensure they were 'extra tight'. I ended up going around the entire inside of the vehicle with a small screw driver handle and 'tapped' every panel to see if I could find the issue. It was impossible to replicate.
This went on for around 6 weeks.... I had literally given up, and this sound was persistent. It 100% sounded like it was coming from the inside of the cabin, and it was only noticeable at high speeds (over 60mph). On Monday, I was cleaning my wheels and accidentally bumped one of the inner fender wells and noticed a rattle. It was like a lightbulb went off - but common sense told me there was no way this was the sound I was hearing INSIDE the vehicle at 60, 70, 80mph...
I did the screwdriver test around both front fenders, tapping the inside... and sure enough, I was able to get it to rattle very easily. I started tapping around a little more and realized that while none of the clips were loose, the fit of the fender itself isn't exactly 'tight'. It's like there is a less than desirable interface between the body fender and the liner, and whatever clips they are using to hold the pieces together either start to come loose, or don't create a tight mechanical interface to begin with.
The only solution I could think of was to test out securing the fender liner to the actual body fender itself with some black gorilla tape. I took a few 10" strips and went around the entire border of the liner and secured a clean seam all the way around the edge of the fender liner from one end to the other, leaving around 1" of tape exposed on the liner, and tucking the other 1" around, and under the body fender, creating a clean, tight seam. I then took that same screwdriver and tapped away - this time it was completely silent.
I know this may sound a little shoddy, but the black gorilla tape is not noticeable at all, and the fit is now super tight. I wasn't convinced this was my issue, but a quick blast down the toll road proved me wrong. Problem solved. This annoying rattle that was seemingly due to shoddy interior assembly finishing was simply my fender liners vibrating at high speed. It's now completely silent.
If anyone has a mysterious rattle that seems like it's coming from the interior pillars or from the door panel at speed - take a look at your fender liners. Give them a little tap and I almost guarantee you any rattles you are hearing is from the liner reverberating at speed... The $6 roll of tape solved the problem for good.
I was getting to the end of my rope, and I was going to take it to the service center, but they would have torn apart the inside of my car with no result. If anyone is interested, I'll try to take a few pictures of how I affixed the tape, but it's pretty straight forward. You can't see it at all from the outside and the fit is perfectly tight.
For anyone who has a mysterious 'interior' rattle at speed - take a look. Hopefully someone else will benefit from this!
