Rattles and squeaks

[Rabid Koala]

So I have had my 06 for about a month now and so far I am very happy with it.

As expected with an older car with over 100K, it came to me with some annoying squeaks and rattles. So far I have wiped out about 90% of them. The first and worst were all of the folding seats. Those squeaking and rattling noises mostly went away by spraying Tri-Flow on all of the pivot and contact points. Then there was a temperature sensitive rattle that was coming from the right rear passenger door, just above the latch lever. I took the door panel off which was surprisingly easy, and pushed the slotted washers that hold the trim in place. Then I took some thin packing foam and wrapped it over where the door panel attaches to top of the door. This seemed to work pretty well.

Another annoyance was the driver side pull handle and door panel. I tend to rest my leg against it when I drive, so I removed this door panel and tightened the torx screws that hold the handle from the inside. Again, I did the sliding slotted washer/fasteners and then liberally sprayed silicone on the area. After assembly it still creaked a bit, so more silicone on the cover that snaps on the front of the handle. We took the car out tonight for some errands and it was much quieter.

Now if I can just silence that creaky console and armrest.

Do any of you have any other suggestions for quieting squeaks and rattles?

[JRL]

NONE of my XCs with over 100K have any noises whatsoever.

[Rabid Koala]

If I had been the original owner mine probably wouldn't either! I have a Toyota Avalon with similar mileage and it is noise free but I have owned it since day one.

[JRL]

I'm buying these cars with 90-110K miles

[Astro14]

Odd...no rattles or squeaks in mine either...with 185,000...

[Rabid Koala]

Maybe I should clarify, mine is at 125K it was mostly the hard plastic such as door handles and the console. The console is missing a couple of bumpers which is probably a major contributor. This is nothing compared to the console in my old 95 960, which completely loosened up on a regular basis. It wasn't major rattling and squeaking, just enough to be annoying. Driving to work this AM was much more pleasant without the noise. Based on the Carfax and just my observation, it was a pretty well cared for vehicle, but most people don't do anything about those little annoyances.

[JRL]

Center armrest can make noise when your arm moves around on it because of all the damn plastic.
Occasionally the rear seats can rattle.
Sometimes it's the seat bottom hinge or latch where grease and tape usually solves the problem. Once in a blue moon, the seatback has to come apart and they can break inside!
If the rear side and floor panels are creaking around, someone removed them and did not put them back in properly.
Sometimes on certain cars you may have to refit them