Real Talk -- Are the Rattles a Deal Breaker?

[Revvdmedia]

For me, if I could see the future, I would not have bought MY Stinger, because it has the door tick (albeit less lately) and terrible sunroof noises. I fully expect the sunroof noises to be resolved, especially since I will have the car in for its fourth visit to look at this problem next time (2 "cannot duplicate" trips, 1 that did varying repair attempts). My future trip if not fruitful will result in me involving corporate and demanding the rails/frame replacement as I am certain this is the fix as others have stated. I am otherwise letting Kia run the normal incremental repair approach, for now.

Would I buy another Stinger knowing what I know? Maybe, maybe not. The biggest issue is that I find so few other cars fit the bill this car fits especially at the price point, especially from a (noises aside) driving dynamics standpoint. I don't want to risk a less than reliable German ride, especially at a 15-20K higher price equally spec'd, I just don't see them worth that much extra in any possible way. Honda, Toyota, Acura and Lexus offer nothing I see as a replacement for this price point, and I don't want any offerings from any other Japanese brands. I won't touch another domestic if I want something rattle free, bad track record there for me. If not a Stinger, probably back to used cars to lower my expectations of vehicles. I have a bad track record of getting "the only one that rattles," so maybe that's just life for me.

 

[GenesisG70]

I knew my 981 had problems with head liner sagging and door panels warping under hot Florida weather still bought it, still worth it that flat 6 sound is intoxicating, why would you care about a silly rattle that no longer exists in the 2019 models?

 

[westcoastGT]

MY CAR IS DEAD QUIET NOW , prior to getting the sunroof frame replaced i was seriously thinking of dumping it . The roof is the root cause of rattles and creaking I believe . The hatch rattle was separate , but I did the extra washer fix and had the latch Mechanism replaced too .................year 3 is likley the sweet spot as I know MY19 have some issues , but they are fixable ...

 

[eflyguy]

No rattle, bumps or squeaks in mine at 5000 miles. On a 500 mile trip last week, over vastly varying road surfaces, I paid attention for some of these things I read about. I don't listen to music or anything, so it's not like I wouldn't notice them.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Heh, another "noises off" thread. (an old one, no less ) My car doesn't make any noises (at over 16.5K miles and just over a year in).

 

[MenShengFaCai]

For me, if I could see the future, I would not have bought MY Stinger, because it has the door tick (albeit less lately) and terrible sunroof noises. I fully expect the sunroof noises to be resolved, especially since I will have the car in for its fourth visit to look at this problem next time (2 "cannot duplicate" trips, 1 that did varying repair attempts). My future trip if not fruitful will result in me involving corporate and demanding the rails/frame replacement as I am certain this is the fix as others have stated. I am otherwise letting Kia run the normal incremental repair approach, for now.

Would I buy another Stinger knowing what I know? Maybe, maybe not. The biggest issue is that I find so few other cars fit the bill this car fits especially at the price point, especially from a (noises aside) driving dynamics standpoint. I don't want to risk a less than reliable German ride, especially at a 15-20K higher price equally spec'd, I just don't see them worth that much extra in any possible way. Honda, Toyota, Acura and Lexus offer nothing I see as a replacement for this price point, and I don't want any offerings from any other Japanese brands. I won't touch another domestic if I want something rattle free, bad track record there for me. If not a Stinger, probably back to used cars to lower my expectations of vehicles. I have a bad track record of getting "the only one that rattles," so maybe that's just life for me.

Well said Sir I agree 110%. I was looking at trade in options just because the noise is SO BAD. Lincoln MKZ 3.0 rattles as well and rides harsh, Genesis G70 and G80 rattles, Audi is dead silent but the steering is plastic at best, and I am on my way to test drive a BMW, which has my least favorite interior....

Kia claims that such noise is within specs, and refused to fix it, even the sunroof. I am tired of arguing with them

 

[Revvdmedia]

Well said Sir I agree 110%. I was looking at trade in options just because the noise is SO BAD. Lincoln MKZ 3.0 rattles as well and rides harsh, Genesis G70 and G80 rattles, Audi is dead silent but the steering is plastic at best, and I am on my way to test drive a BMW, which has my least favorite interior....

Kia claims that such noise is within specs, and refused to fix it, even the sunroof. I am tired of arguing with them

I feel the biggest annoyance is not having noises, but rather having a seemingly useless warranty that the dealer and especially manufacturer will not fix defects. Rattling and noisy parts on a NEW "near luxury" vehicle is not acceptable. Whose specification are they following? A deaf person?

I have a seemingly opposite problem, they will fix mine at my request, but based on my dealings I don't trust them to do the work. They've also noted if my requested fix does not work, and/or the fix causes more noises, they will not address any of them whatsoever. I'm going to "ride out" the problem a little longer and see if it worsens and becomes more of an obvious diagnosis to avoid blacklisting my car with the local dealer(s).

Out of morbid curiosity, I did open the sunroof today to look at the mechanism and whatnot and decided to lube up the front seals liberally and while I was in there I decided to check the snugness on the torx bolts in the sunroof frame. I found 2 bolts to be what felt to be not up to spec (per my calibrated right arm) and one bolt was definitely "loose." I have zero faith the lube or snugging the bolts will do anything, but no harm in a couple minutes spent I figured. If I can avoid full gutting of the sunroof, I will.

 

[Soca Boy]

I feel the biggest annoyance is not having noises, but rather having a seemingly useless warranty that the dealer and especially manufacturer will not fix defects. Rattling and noisy parts on a NEW "near luxury" vehicle is not acceptable. Whose specification are they following? A deaf person?

I have a seemingly opposite problem, they will fix mine at my request, but based on my dealings I don't trust them to do the work. They've also noted if my requested fix does not work, and/or the fix causes more noises, they will not address any of them whatsoever. I'm going to "ride out" the problem a little longer and see if it worsens and becomes more of an obvious diagnosis to avoid blacklisting my car with the local dealer(s).

Out of morbid curiosity, I did open the sunroof today to look at the mechanism and whatnot and decided to lube up the front seals liberally and while I was in there I decided to check the snugness on the torx bolts in the sunroof frame. I found 2 bolts to be what felt to be not up to spec (per my calibrated right arm) and one bolt was definitely "loose." I have zero faith the lube or snugging the bolts will do anything, but no harm in a couple minutes spent I figured. If I can avoid full gutting of the sunroof, I will.

My biggest rattle is the intake covers I have for you, got to meet up. I would make a recording of any sounds your hearing and show it to a different dealership.

 

[Kamauxx]

I feel the biggest annoyance is not having noises, but rather having a seemingly useless warranty that the dealer and especially manufacturer will not fix defects. Rattling and noisy parts on a NEW "near luxury" vehicle is not acceptable. Whose specification are they following? A deaf person?

I have a seemingly opposite problem, they will fix mine at my request, but based on my dealings I don't trust them to do the work. They've also noted if my requested fix does not work, and/or the fix causes more noises, they will not address any of them whatsoever. I'm going to "ride out" the problem a little longer and see if it worsens and becomes more of an obvious diagnosis to avoid blacklisting my car with the local dealer(s).

Out of morbid curiosity, I did open the sunroof today to look at the mechanism and whatnot and decided to lube up the front seals liberally and while I was in there I decided to check the snugness on the torx bolts in the sunroof frame. I found 2 bolts to be what felt to be not up to spec (per my calibrated right arm) and one bolt was definitely "loose." I have zero faith the lube or snugging the bolts will do anything, but no harm in a couple minutes spent I figured. If I can avoid full gutting of the sunroof, I will.

I know extra lubricant doesn't help. Did tightening the bolts do anything?

 

[mull0263]

No hatch rattle in mine, though I do have an annoying occasional passenger door trim rattle when listening to punchier music at even fairly low volume which I'll have to work on now that the weather will allow it. I've also got some minor sunroof creaking, but that's somewhat expected and I'll be able to ignore it once I can crank the tunes without the annoying door vibration.

 

[Revvdmedia]

My biggest rattle is the intake covers I have for you, got to meet up. I would make a recording of any sounds your hearing and show it to a different dealership.

I'm sure some foam tape on the contact points will fix the rattles on those intake covers

 

[Revvdmedia]

I know extra lubricant doesn't help. Did tightening the bolts do anything?

We'll have to see over the next few days. Right now it only makes noises on warmer days, especially with direct sunlight on the roof. It doesn't make noise (well, hardly any) when cold in the mornings. I was looking at the tracks that the glass runs on to reverse engineer what is going on. It only makes noise when the glass is closed or in "vent" - tilted. As soon as I jog the glass back even an inch or two all the noises stop. I figured my issue has something to do with the glass being "parked" in the front most position. Again, I have the opportunity to swap the frame at my request, but it sounds like they don't really want to do it, and I'd rather not either if not necessary.

 

[Waynerm002]

Some dealers can make you dislike a brand based on how poorly they do everything. My 2018 had some issues but I loved how the car drove and if I hadn't wrecked it, I would have kept it as long as I could (or until I could snag another great deal). Getting a 2019 with a quieter interior and less suspension issues and a better sounding stereo made me realize the 2018 had some shortcomings. I would have only traded it when the facelifted version came out, at least that was the plan. After not driving it for 3 weeks, these past couple of days has been great! So much so I have been driving without any music or radio playing and have set the piped in sound to max level as the engine note just seemed so far away in this car. Loving it! No rattles, squeaks (had none of those) or wind buffeting sound on this one.

 

[Revvdmedia]

I know extra lubricant doesn't help. Did tightening the bolts do anything?

As of today's drive, lube did nothing and neither did bolt tightening. Oh well.

My next culprit to investigate is the pop up wind deflector. I have skinny fingers so I can just barely get my fingers into the edges to push it down further when the glass is closed (easier when tilted too). I've thought that deflector is contacting something and tapping against the sunroof glass causing the whole thing to sound like it is popping. Will do some drives to see. If pressing it down seems to stop the noises, I'll take it one step further by using felt strips/hockey tape on the wind deflector and see if a barrier between what seems to be metal on metal helps. It continues...

 

[GenesisG70]

What ratles?

 

[Kamauxx]

As of today's drive, lube did nothing and neither did bolt tightening. Oh well.

My next culprit to investigate is the pop up wind deflector. I have skinny fingers so I can just barely get my fingers into the edges to push it down further when the glass is closed (easier when tilted too). I've thought that deflector is contacting something and tapping against the sunroof glass causing the whole thing to sound like it is popping. Will do some drives to see. If pressing it down seems to stop the noises, I'll take it one step further by using felt strips/hockey tape on the wind deflector and see if a barrier between what seems to be metal on metal helps. It continues...

I hadn't thought about that. If the noise is coming from it I will just fix it myself instead of bothering with incompetent dealership service techs.

But I doubt it's the culprit.

 

[Revvdmedia]

I hadn't thought about that. If the noise is coming from it I will just fix it myself instead of bothering with incompetent dealership service techs.

But I doubt it's the culprit.

If that is not my issue, I will be officially at a loss as to what is wrong and may need to frame and/or rails replaced. The only common factor I see is when the glass is "parked" in the front-most position, once moved from there (glass slid back), all noises stop. I can see the marks in the lubricant how it works, the "pins" that run in the sunroof rails ride along the rails, then start to curve down once nearly parked forward and then straight down about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch vertically. I think it's in this vertical section that the sunroof "parks" into when all the way at the front that there is the defect causing the noise, the rest of the rail seems to be fine. I'm not an engineer, just someone that looks at how things work and then talk out my ass lol.

 

[Wilzer]

Someone mentioned a Vette, once on the Corvette Forum, someone complained about their radio and the response was if you can hear it, your mufflers are not loud enough

 

[Revvdmedia]

Someone mentioned a Vette, once on the Corvette Forum, someone complained about their radio and the response was if you can hear it, your mufflers are not loud enough

I actually still think about possibly getting a used C7 because I really, really like targa tops and 2 seaters, but I'm concerned the Corvette will be the normal "GM quality" and be a complete rattle trap.

As for rattles in the Stinger, I actually don't hear them when I have the music up to my normal listening volume or when the windows are down and the roof is open. I do hear them if I have the wife in the car and the stereo volume is lower, friends in the car, or when I want to hear the turbo spool. Basically, 95% of the time I don't hear it because I drown it out. I let my Mustang keep degrading into a complete rattle trap where everything made noises and I eventually dumped it. I want to keep the Stinger long term as a DD for 5 years, then retire it to a winter only car with a summer toy, hence why I'm putting effort to nipping rattles in the bud. If I let the car degrade too far, I'm very likely to dump it.

 

[Wilzer]

I actually still think about possibly getting a used C7 because I really, really like targa tops and 2 seaters, but I'm concerned the Corvette will be the normal "GM quality" and be a complete rattle trap.
.

That's my experience with a C6 2005, but it was 1st year of C6. HVAC, had to tear out dash twice to repair, sensor for fuel pump, had to replace twice, have to dismantle exhaust system to get to it. Noisy and floor and center console gets HOT, not warm but HOT. If you get one, replace the tunnel plate with thicker/stiffer one, make all the difference. Vanity mirror cover fell off, have to fix as it switches on light, glove box cover supports broke. No spare tire, run flats are noisy. Rear end tends to break free on wet pavement turning curve unless you creep.See you are in Canada, only drove once on snow. The dealership is a chevy dealership. Removing and stowing the top is not that bad but not easy for one either. Great looks though when sitting still Liked the Vette HUD, that's why I bought a Stinger.