2011 Interior Noise

[herring556]

I bought a new 2011 Jetta TDI two weeks ago, and this is one of the noisiest cars I've ever driven! The drivers window/door sounds like it doesn't seal properly and makes wind noise, the air conditioner makes a ear piercing whistling sound, and on high speed the fan sounds like a jet engine roaring. This is my first newer model VW, and for $25k I was expecting a lot more. Is this common or is there something wrong with it? Thanks!

 

[NickBeek]

I have some wind noise from the drivers door too and the blower is loud. It is still a lot quieter then my Cummins powered truck. When I go for my first service I will ask them to look at the drivers door because it looks slightly off where the outer seal meets the door jamb.

 

[aywkubttod]

Did you not drive it before buying?

 

[NickBeek]

If you don't have anything helpful to add why bother posting??

 

[BarrieCommuter]

i pushed up the rubber seal on the inside top left corner of the window which seemed to help a lot. other than that, only real noise i hear is around the climate control area, but gone when the cabin is warm.

 

[DC-IT]

To me the cabin is quite enough at highway speeds.
The fact that it's reving @ 2100 RPM when I'm doing 120 KM/Hr I find I have no problems making phone calls or listening to the sat radio.

By contrast the SUV I traded in was horribly noisy on the highways and I had to turn up the volume to make phone calls and I could hardly enjoy the music.

Maybe I 'm getting hard at hearing to notice the noise?

 

[~Jb]

If you don't have anything helpful to add why bother posting??

Seems to be an epidemic here, huh nick? lol. Ned Im looking at you.
Thought I would say though that I have noticed this same problem. At about 80mph. I know its the seal aswell because when I push on it the noise changes, I would guess a TSB is coming or I will just have my dealer replace it. My passenger side is super quite though.

 

[mo_focus]

I bought a new 2011 Jetta TDI two weeks ago, and this is one of the noisiest cars I've ever driven! The drivers window/door sounds like it doesn't seal properly and makes wind noise, the air conditioner makes a ear piercing whistling sound, and on high speed the fan sounds like a jet engine roaring. This is my first newer model VW, and for $25k I was expecting a lot more. Is this common or is there something wrong with it? Thanks!

someone mentioned there is a TSB for the wind noise. I yet have to call my dealer to see about it.

As for the fan, its louder then the golf, but i also feel like it moves more air then the golf. I never turn it more then 2, the golf usually 3.

 

[RickD]

DC-IT, Gotta ask...120k @2100 rpm ?

Is yours stick or auto ?

Mine is an auto with snow tires,and at 120,I'm close t0 2400 rpm !

2100rpm,I'm barely at an indicated 100kph.

 

[DC-IT]

DC-IT, Gotta ask...120k @2100 rpm ?

Is yours stick or auto ?

Mine is an auto with snow tires,and at 120,I'm close t0 2400 rpm !

2100rpm,I'm barely at an indicated 100kph.

Mine is DSG Tranny and since it's new I did not fit winter tires yet.
But on the 401 @ 120 KM/Hr it spins at around 2100~2200 RPM but the actual speed is 110 KM/Hr according to my Garmin GPS.

If I drive @ 80 KM/Hr the RPM is hovering around 1200 RPM.
Isn't that bad for breaking in the engine?

I've covered over 1,400 KM now so I am starting to push it more.
Today I push the Tach to 3000 RPM during a few brief accelleration on the 401 just to give it more work out and variation.

Later to day I'll be covering around 100+ KM but mostly 80 KM/Hr speed limit zone.

Back to the noise issue raised by the OP.
It doesn't affect all 2011 Jettas as mine is very subdued on the 401 even at speeds of 130~140 KM/Hr as I just did this morning and yet I can clearly hear the lyrics of the sat radio as well as talk on the cell phone.

So far I am very pleased with this vehicle.
I'll be going to the Auto show in Toronto this wek end to see the new Passat.

 

[sydneycb]

The whistling noise you are getting from the drivers side is most likely coming from the outside mirror. Open the window at highway speed and see if you can hear it. If you do, put your hand between the mirror and the door pillar and the whistle will stop.
I've noticed the same thing with mine and this is what I have found. I will be mentioning it to the dealer when I bring it in for my first service next month.

 

[jettase]

high pitched whistle noise also

so it's too cold here in michigan to roll down the windows at highway speed, so I have not done so yet.

However, when I put the heat/defrost on the 3rd setting it whistles so loud! At 4 you can still hear the whistle a little bit, but the blower is so loud it drowns it out a little bit.

There is no whistle noise at 1 and 2, but 3 is terrible.

Do you guys have this same problem?

Otherwise, on the highway everything else is on the quieter side, but again, I have not had the chance to drive it on the highway where it's warm enough to roll down the windows (not to mention the weather has been terrible).

 

[CNdiesel]

I have a slight whistle on fan setting 3 also, not heard on the other settings.

 

[Sella Turcica]

I test drove an '11 jetta S and even at 45mph I could hear the distinct sound of air whistling somewhere on the driver's side. I still don't know why VW doesn't care about this.

 

[sydneycb]

I had my first service (15,000Km) yesterday. I indicated that I was hearing a whistle as well as lots of wind noise from drivers side door. Service tech smiled when I mentioned the whistle so I asked him if others were complaining about this. He said it is a very common complaint and they cannot figure out how to get rid of it. He said they are working on it and expects VW to continue trying to solve the problem.
As for the wind noise at the drivers door. They test drove the car and agreed it was noisey. They said the weather strip/gasket/rubber, whatever, around the door was bad and they ordered a new one for me.
I also get the whistle from the fan @ setting 3 but I forgot to mention that at my appointment yesterday. I will when I bring it back for the weather stripping.

 

[tunebrain]

I am interested to know what the dealer says.

 

[comanja]

Interior whistle

Greetings,

I am new to the TDI Club, as I just picked up a new 2011 Jetta TDI Sedan a week ago, my first VW in over 20 years. I have put on 500 miles so far. A solid riding car with quite a sporty 140 HP engine and great fuel mpg.

Howevr, our whistling noise appears to be coming from the windshield area. Turning off the heater fan, opening windows, and the sunroof, didn't stop the noise which starts around 53 mph and gets louder with increasing speed.

I've checked past forum messages and it seems most whistling noise is coming from the drivers side or the heater assembly.

The 'Silver Pellet' is due back to the dealer after the 'shakedown' period. Hopefully they'll be able to stop the noise. I'll post the results.

 

[shikano53]

Hi, after reading this thread I decided to comment. I purchased a new 2011 Jetta Highline in October. White with white leather interior and black trim. I put a set of 4 Michelin XIce winter tires on because I commute between Red Deer where I live and Calgary where I work Four days in Calgary then home on the weekends. I currently have 7800 kilometers on it.
The car starts and heats up like a dream when plugged in and we have had some very cold weather this winter. Temperatures in the -35 -39 range and that's not counting the wind chill.

I haven't noticed any lag, but it goes like a bat out of hell and when I'm passing, I'm shocked that all of a sudden I'm pushing 160K.

This is my first Volkswagen. I love this car. Best bang for the buck and far more comfortable than a lot of higher priced vehicles. I have had no noise or wind whistle issues at all and I generally cruise on Hwy 2 at around 120kph. We've had a pretty hard winter here in Alberta this year and my mileage has been averaging about 42 43mpg. It went to the dealer for its first oil and filter change last week. I was going to supply them with Amsoil but after researching and re-assuring myself that the Castrol the dealer used was a 507 spec, CH-4 full synthetic I was OK with that. All things considered I love this car and plan to keep it for a long, long time. By the way, my Highline does not have a NAV system nor does it have the automatic climate control which I find kind of weird. I guess there must be different trim lines to the Highline. Anyway I didn't want an OEM GPS system. I have my own.
The only beef I have with VW is that the speedometer is out by 10%. Go figure. My wifes 02 Pontiac Grande Am is bang on.

Chris in Red Deer, Alberta

 

[Nextwhat]

I haven't noticed any whistling noise, except when the HVAC is set to the dash vents. Then I fiddle with the rotary dials by each vent to find the position where the whistling stops. I agree with those who feel the first setting for the air is too noisy and too high, there should be a setting below that.

 

[anotherTDI]

yeah, i noticed a little wind noise coming from the drivers side upper window frame. was worse when driving in a left to right crosswind. i thought maybe i was spoiled by our Mercedes and new F150 which are insanely quiet.
i inspected the the rubber seal around the door and cannot see anything out of the ordinary. i will keep an eye on this issue for sure.
however, the car does consistently apologize to me at the gas pump.

 

[JBKM]

Funny you mention your F150. I just finished a run to the store in my 2010 Supercrew F150 and you are right, its insanely quiet, especially for a truck.

My new Jetta is also getting the whistle and some wind noise by the driver door/window. I messed with the weatherstripping a bit and its a little quieter. Still a bit upsetting coming from a brand new vehicle.

One thing that is REALLY bothering me is that I'm getting a rattle noise when on rougher roads. Seems to be coming from my dashboard. If i put my hand and some pressure on it it tends to go away.

How do you guys go about complaining to the dealership about this? When i purchased my truck Ford told me to let them know about any weird noises problems within the first year/12k miles. VW didn't' tell me anything about weird noises or little issues. Do we have a warranty for little things like that? This is only my 2nd ever NEW vehicle. Not sure how all that works or if its dealership's option.

 

[anotherTDI]

Funny you mention your F150. I just finished a run to the store in my 2010 Supercrew F150 and you are right, its insanely quiet, especially for a truck.

My new Jetta is also getting the whistle and some wind noise by the driver door/window. I messed with the weatherstripping a bit and its a little quieter. Still a bit upsetting coming from a brand new vehicle.

One thing that is REALLY bothering me is that I'm getting a rattle noise when on rougher roads. Seems to be coming from my dashboard. If i put my hand and some pressure on it it tends to go away.

How do you guys go about complaining to the dealership about this? When i purchased my truck Ford told me to let them know about any weird noises problems within the first year/12k miles. VW didn't' tell me anything about weird noises or little issues. Do we have a warranty for little things like that? This is only my 2nd ever NEW vehicle. Not sure how all that works or if its dealership's option.

tough call on whether you want a tech tearing things apart looking for a rattle. i have always bought new vehicles and have yet to find one that was perfect and rattle free. i have usually been able to figure out the problem on my own. i do like to ask a few questions though about what others might be complaining about when i visit the service dept.

be interesting to see how the "wind noise" issue is resolved. it the rubber seals around the door need to be replaced then i'd probably let the dealer do it.

good luck.

 

[TDI_Timmy]

FWIW - I took our Jetta into the dealer for its inspection within 90 days (I say it like that since it has been 30 days) and I mentioned the whistling noise and said I thought it was coming from the mirror. The techs drove it and also noticed it and thought it was coming from back of drivers door. They said the slot seal was not formed correctly and used tape to see if that was indeed the cause. I guess taping it and then driving the car and the whistle was gone. So, the car is waiting for parts that will hopefully get in on Friday. I'm glad that they heard it and are fixing it, rather than giving me the run around and saying that it is within spec. I also hate leaving my car places especially in other people's hands. I hope they are nice to the car!

 

[anotherTDI]

FWIW - I took our Jetta into the dealer for its inspection within 90 days (I say it like that since it has been 30 days) and I mentioned the whistling noise and said I thought it was coming from the mirror. The techs drove it and also noticed it and thought it was coming from back of drivers door. They said the slot seal was not formed correctly and used tape to see if that was indeed the cause. I guess taping it and then driving the car and the whistle was gone. So, the car is waiting for parts that will hopefully get in on Friday. I'm glad that they heard it and are fixing it, rather than giving me the run around and saying that it is within spec. I also hate leaving my car places especially in other people's hands. I hope they are nice to the car!

ah ha.......indeed tape led me to the answer as in electrical tape. i had to make a run up I75 today and rolled down the windows and low and behold i heard the whistle beginning at about 48 mph. i used my hand to disrupt the airflow around the mirror and got the whistle to stop.

after arriving home i peeled off a 6 inch or so piece of electrical tape and taped the air gap on top of the mirror where the black plastic insert meets the white housing. back on the road, and the whistle was gone. the "mirror" whistle is coming from the air flow over the gap between the black insert and white housing. next is to put some black marine caulk in the air gap to make a more permanent and aesthetic remedy.

try the electrical tape on the top of the mirror and see if that is your problem. worked on mine.

FWIW on flat interstate today with 5 oz of PowerService in the tank and the AC on, maintaining 73-75 mph the computer read 44 mph average. not bad.

 

[Hellfire]

Hi, after reading this thread I decided to comment. I purchased a new 2011 Jetta Highline in October. White with white leather interior and black trim. I put a set of 4 Michelin XIce winter tires on because I commute between Red Deer where I live and Calgary where I work Four days in Calgary then home on the weekends. I currently have 7800 kilometers on it.
The car starts and heats up like a dream when plugged in and we have had some very cold weather this winter. Temperatures in the -35 -39 range and that's not counting the wind chill.

I haven't noticed any lag, but it goes like a bat out of hell and when I'm passing, I'm shocked that all of a sudden I'm pushing 160K.

This is my first Volkswagen. I love this car. Best bang for the buck and far more comfortable than a lot of higher priced vehicles. I have had no noise or wind whistle issues at all and I generally cruise on Hwy 2 at around 120kph. We've had a pretty hard winter here in Alberta this year and my mileage has been averaging about 42 43mpg. It went to the dealer for its first oil and filter change last week. I was going to supply them with Amsoil but after researching and re-assuring myself that the Castrol the dealer used was a 507 spec, CH-4 full synthetic I was OK with that. All things considered I love this car and plan to keep it for a long, long time. By the way, my Highline does not have a NAV system nor does it have the automatic climate control which I find kind of weird. I guess there must be different trim lines to the Highline. Anyway I didn't want an OEM GPS system. I have my own.
The only beef I have with VW is that the speedometer is out by 10%. Go figure. My wifes 02 Pontiac Grande Am is bang on.

Chris in Red Deer, Alberta

Manual or Auto?

 

[anotherTDI]

...........Temperatures in the -35 -39 range and that's not counting the wind chill.

I haven't noticed any lag, but it goes like a bat out of hell and when I'm passing, I'm shocked that all of a sudden I'm pushing 160K.

This is my first Volkswagen. I love this car. Best bang for the buck and far more comfortable than a lot of higher priced vehicles. I have had no noise or wind whistle issues at all and I generally cruise on Hwy 2 at around 120kph.

Chris in Red Deer, Alberta

yikes........-39, the rubber c channel around the windows has probably shrunk nice and tight to form an air tight seal.

i'm going to experiment with some tape to try to figure out exactly where on the c channel the buffeting noise is coming from.

 

[Diesel_Mike]

Another 2011 Jetta TDi with RH mirrow wind noise.

FWIW - I took our Jetta into the dealer for its inspection within 90 days (I say it like that since it has been 30 days) and I mentioned the whistling noise and said I thought it was coming from the mirror. The techs drove it and also noticed it and thought it was coming from back of drivers door. They said the slot seal was not formed correctly and used tape to see if that was indeed the cause. I guess taping it and then driving the car and the whistle was gone. So, the car is waiting for parts that will hopefully get in on Friday. I'm glad that they heard it and are fixing it, rather than giving me the run around and saying that it is within spec. I also hate leaving my car places especially in other people's hands. I hope they are nice to the car!

I bought a 2011 Jetta TDI today, drove about 1/4 mile away from the dealer ship when I heard the irritating wind noise from the drivers side-side mirror.
I guess I will also need to take it back for service! Seems like this is a systemic failure?
Mike

 

[Diesel_Mike]

I have been reading TDI forum for several years now, and decided that I would join.
I am not new to VW diesel's, Had a 1984 Rabbit Diesel, 1991 Jetta Diesel, and 2005 Passat TDI. All three ran on my bio diesel for 4 years.
Today I bought a 2011 Jetta TDI, My wife and I love the car....Only drove it about 14 miles. First complaint so far is the wind noise from the driver side mirror.
Second complaint is the lack of Home link system. I can't believe that the car has nav, blue tooth, satellite radio, but no home link?

I will make a home-link upgrade shortly and post my results.
If anyone has added the home link to the 2011 TDI please let me know how you did it.
Thank you,
Mike

 

[undata]

My 1997 recently developed a whistling. It happens on fan setting 1. I feel like something is in the air path, like a leaf. It bothered me until I realized it wasn't a leak in the cooling system.

 

[LordHz]

Diesel_Mike, there appear to be a number of universal garage door openers that are key-chain sized and would be very simple to add to the overhead console or the visor.

This one for example supports a large number of opener brands.
Genie GICT390-3BL 3-Button Remote Control with Intellicode

I just ordered this one and will probably leave it removable, just make a nice pocket for it.