Can any one help me I have a 2001 MK2 Sporting with a very annoying rattle/clatter coming from the rear passenger side of the car. It only happens when I drive over bumps or pot-holed roads but it's annoying the hell out of me. It sounds like a piece of plastic & metal, or plastic & glass, slapping togeather whenever they recieve a shock when I drive over a pothole.

It appears to be coming from the passenger side rear quater window area, but I can't see any loose trim there and the window seems to be shutting tightly. It could be coming from somewhere else round there, maybe inside the trim panels, but I don't know where to start looking?

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

Thanks for your help!

My sister had that on a 2002 Punto ELX when it was a week old. It was returned to the garage, and it turned out that quality control had slipped up... there were 2 bolts missing in the area surrounding the rear passenger wing. I guess there could be a hundred explanations for your problem though?!

could it be sumthing loose under the car ? handbreak cable rattling ?

On my mum's Mk1 55s, it was a rusted (therefore loose) heatshield somewhere on the exhaust (the catalytic convertor, i think). A mechanic just tore the cover off with some shears and the problem went away!

Slightly loose rear window...

My 53 reg Sporting has exactly the same problem (coming from around the N/S door pillar / rear window / interior panelling) but mine only rattles when the car body is cold, i.e. in the morning when I go to work at about 5:30 to 6:00 am and is loud up to around 8:00 am during this warm spell.

When the car has been standing in the sun for a while and the body warms up then the rattle is gone (expansion I presume).

It has been to the dealer 4 times (total of 7 days) but because they refuse to test it before about 9:00 am (as they say their fitters don't comence work before that) they can hardly hear it as it has started to warm up. So in theory they are never going to trace it until winter comes round again.

It is going back to the dealer again on Tuesday and I have informed them that I have spoken to Trading Standards who have told me that under the terms of the warranty that Fiat, via the dealer, is obliged to rectify this problem and also what action to take if they fail again.

I know that rattles are notoriously hard to identify, but if they would get someone to test it earlier then they would probably gain a better idea of what it is because it is very loud.

I suppose I will just have to wait and see