Hi peeps,

Firstly, sorry in advance for the long post!

I have an issue that's been ongoing since I bought my car, a Fabia vRS, in January this year.

Since the day I bought the car, there's terrible resonance from the door cards when certain frequencies are played through the speakers, mainly from the radio. This resonance comes from the back of the door on each side, the speakers being at the front.

I've had the car back to my dealer many times with this same issue and although they've done everything they can in securing the door cards, packing the doors out with sound deadening material etc they say they cannot cure the problem. Once I'd reached this point, they filed off a 'dis-report' to Skoda in order to see what their techies said about curing this issue and since then I've been in talks with Skoda UK for the last 4 months or thereabouts.

After testing car after car, including another Fabia vRS, Skoda tell me that they found the problem in every car they tested, even at the settings on my radio which incidentally are set to:

Volume: Max of 14 but normally around 10 - 12

Bass: 4

Middle: 7

Treble: 1

Loudness: On

Their conclusion is that because the problem is exhibited on every car they tested, they're putting it down to a 'characteristic' of the car. I've argued strongly that if it were a characteristic then that by definition is a feature of the car and therefore should be a selling point... work that one out.

As a last resort I dropped the car into another dealer for their opinion on the matter and they came to exactly the same conclusion. We even sat in a brand new Fabia vRS and set it up exactly as my car is with the settings and the exact problem was there and very clear for all to hear. This to me tells me that the problem exists not just on my car but potentially many others of this model.

Skoda's solution for curing this problem? Turn the settings down. We even set the bass to 0 and the problem was still there, even at low to moderate volume. The best they could come up with was a 'goodwill' gesture of 2 free services for my troubles. As the car is covered by a service plan, this is no good to me so they offered the equivalent value of around £311. I've yet to accept this offer as it doesn't cure the problem which obviously I'd rather have and also by accepting this offer I'm effectively calling time on it.

Both the head mechanic at my local dealer and the one I saw just a couple of days ago at the other dealer both agree that the problem exists but they can't cure it. The mechanic at my local dealer even went so far as suggest that it's a design fault and that the head unit is possibly too powerful for the car. Skoda even had the cheek to put in their report back to the other dealer that it's a sports / rally car and therefore compromises have to be made!!!

Now I agree that if all settings are maxed out then you'd expect to get this sort of buzzing / resonance problem but when we're talking about low - medium settings across the board then this just isn't acceptable. Even if turning the settings down did cure the problem, it would be at the expense of sound quality.

I don't know where to go with this one or where my rights are. I've half a mind to throw the keys back at the dealer and tell them to keep it until the problem is sorted. As both dealers and Skoda themselves have told me that the problem can't be cured though, I don't know how much good this would do. There's always the Citizen's Advice Bureau but that's a very time consuming exercise and even then I don't know what I could realistically expect to achieve from it.

What would you do and what's your advice if this were your car?

to be honest I've found this in every new car I've owned, unless you are buying something like an aston with a bespoke Bose system or something, I would expect it. you cannot really stop things like door cards vibrating at a certain frequency if they are attatched to speakers, its just physics...(the speaker would be need to be mounted in something much more solid, maybe with certain reasonance characteristics) to reduce it, the door card will simply act as an extension to the speaker membrane..) its a relatively cheap car remember, and a relativley basic music system (I find I cannot play things as loud as I could in the fiat, as distortion comes in earlier) but hey, I just play it a little quieter

maybe fitting your own bespoke speaker system, and paying the money required (is it some of the volvos that have upgraded stereos that are a £2,000 option?) would cure this...

sorry I'm no help, guess I'm just one of those that never takes the car back for minor noises ect...

to be honest I've found this in every new car I've owned, unless you are buying something like an aston with a bespoke Bose system or something, I would expect it. you cannot really stop things like door cards vibrating at a certain frequency if they are attatched to speakers, its just physics...(the speaker would be need to be mounted in something much more solid, maybe with certain reasonance characteristics) to reduce it, the door card will simply act as an extension to the speaker membrane..) its a relatively cheap car remember, and a relativley basic music system (I find I cannot play things as loud as I could in the fiat, as distortion comes in earlier) but hey, I just play it a little quieter

maybe fitting your own bespoke speaker system, and paying the money required (is it some of the volvos that have upgraded stereos that are a £2,000 option?) would cure this...

sorry I'm no help, guess I'm just one of those that never takes the car back for minor noises ect...

Thanks Sharkrider. I'm just wondering whether to take this 'goodwill' gesture and leave it or pursue it further as I don't know what I can realistically expect to achieve from taking this legal.

Yes it is a cheap car at the end of the day but at the same time I wouldn't expect such levels of vibration and resonance at such modest settings. If I wanted to start arguing a legal case with Skoda then I'd go for the 'not fit for purpose' argument because it plainly isn't. Resonance and vibration at high volume and high bass settings of course would cause this sort of issue but not when they're set to low settings to begin with surely?

To sum up, you'd live with it and take the goodwill on offer then? Anyone else with a different view?

I got another soundproblem which is down to the lower end off the scale:

Bass: 7

Middle: 2

Treble: 4

Loudness: On

Volume around 7-9

My rear doorpanels rattles quite abit at that and as most people probably will say, I could turn the bass down...

But at that volume, it shouldn't really be necessary imo! I know it isn't a 2k+ euro system in it, but I would have supposed that there would have been some kind off sound atleast in it.

Even my old SAAB had better speakers in it...

The mechanic said that "it's supposed to be that way, turn the bass down instead.".

My passenger door card rattles a fair bit over rough/coarse surfaces but I haven't had time to take it back to dealer yet.

If the speaker-induced rattle is a 'characteristic' of the car -i.e they all do it and they've offered £311 then I'd think I'd take it to be honest. In fact If they give you the cash then I'll be wacking in a claim for my own £311 compo.....!

Are you sure you're not just turning it up too loud? My current car sounds great until you turn it up loud enough to hear outside the car with the windows up... when you do that I can hear rattles and all sorts of horrible noises (not to mention the distortion).

I can't help but think the expectations you've set for what is a relatively cheap small hatchback are maybe a bit too high. My current car is a Fiat Panda 100hp - definitely not the last word in build quality! When I tested a vRS before ordering I had a good play with the standard stereo and I must say it sounded fantastic, even when slightly pushed past the point where it was really too loud.

Take the £300 and run! :-)

At the end of the day the Fabia is a budget supermini, it has a nice HU and 8 speakers but I'm sure the stereo sound quality was pretty low on the agenda when the car was designed and engineered.

Much of the problem with the car is poor acoustics. The doors are quite skinny and the trims are very rigid, this will always present a problem. Also the speaker positioning is a little odd; the rear mid drivers are mounted towards the rear of the rear doors rather than the front; doesnt help things much either. You can buy special acoustic matting called dynamat but its quite dear, would require the door card to be removed and I dont think it will help much ultimately.

My MK6 Golf standard system sounds much better but then the doors are deeper and much better acoustically, but thats to be expected when comparing a £16k car to a £23k one. My rear door trims still rattle a bit however but then most cars do a bit nowadays to be honest.

If you want a really decent sounding stereo in a Skoda you've probably got to buy an Octavia or Superb with the Sound System upgrade unfortunately.

If its any consolation, the Fabia's sound is leagues ahead of the system in my old MK5 Golf; was possibly the worst sound system I've had in a car for years.

scottpcs: if you take the £300 you could spend it on a couple of aftermarket speakers to replace the OE ones, and see if that helps?

Are you sure you're not just turning it up too loud? My current car sounds great until you turn it up loud enough to hear outside the car with the windows up... when you do that I can hear rattles and all sorts of horrible noises (not to mention the distortion).

I can't help but think the expectations you've set for what is a relatively cheap small hatchback are maybe a bit too high. My current car is a Fiat Panda 100hp - definitely not the last word in build quality! When I tested a vRS before ordering I had a good play with the standard stereo and I must say it sounded fantastic, even when slightly pushed past the point where it was really too loud.

Take the £300 and run! :-)

Most of the time I have the volume set to about 10 or 11 (maximum is 30!) and the bass set to a fairly minimum level - 4 (maximum is 10)

I don't think I'm asking too much of the system at these settings? Volume 10 is only 33% of the maximum for instance and the bass at 40%. If the panels are resonating at these settings then it's not screwed together properly in my book. At the other end of the scale, setting the volume to silly levels and whacking the bass up to as high as 7 or 8 then I would expect to be getting this sort of issue.

To a point I suppose it's subjective and most people probably won't notice. Unfortunately, I do and it's doing my nut in!

I hasten to add here that the offer of £311 from Skoda is NOT a cash pay-off as it can only be spent on Skoda parts, service and accessories.

If they were going to give me £300 then I'd take it to a specialist audio dealer and have them sort it!

Does that sway your opinions in any way?

At the end of the day the Fabia is a budget supermini, it has a nice HU and 8 speakers but I'm sure the stereo sound quality was pretty low on the agenda when the car was designed and engineered.

Much of the problem with the car is poor acoustics. The doors are quite skinny and the trims are very rigid, this will always present a problem. Also the speaker positioning is a little odd; the rear mid drivers are mounted towards the rear of the rear doors rather than the front; doesnt help things much either. You can buy special acoustic matting called dynamat but its quite dear, would require the door card to be removed and I dont think it will help much ultimately.

My MK6 Golf standard system sounds much better but then the doors are deeper and much better acoustically, but thats to be expected when comparing a £16k car to a £23k one. My rear door trims still rattle a bit however but then most cars do a bit nowadays to be honest.

If you want a really decent sounding stereo in a Skoda you've probably got to buy an Octavia or Superb with the Sound System upgrade unfortunately.

If its any consolation, the Fabia's sound is leagues ahead of the system in my old MK5 Golf; was possibly the worst sound system I've had in a car for years.

It's not the quality of the sound system I have a problem with pip, it's the acoustics in the car and cheap tacky door trims that rattle because of it!

I'm actually rather impressed by the stereo and the sound quality is leagues ahead of previous small cars I've had. The trouble is I think that the sound system is just too good for the car. They put a decent stereo in but neglected to insulate the interior to compensate, hence the rattling at anything even resembling a rumble through the stereo.

I also have the Octavia vRS and the insulation in this car isn't even comparable to the Fabia, never had any issues with it and the stereo is pretty good too. The doors are a lot thicker on the Octy though.

Most of the time I have the volume set to about 10 or 11 (maximum is 30!) and the bass set to a fairly minimum level - 4 (maximum is 10)

I don't think I'm asking too much of the system at these settings? Volume 10 is only 33% of the maximum for instance and the bass at 40%. If the panels are resonating at these settings then it's not screwed together properly in my book. At the other end of the scale, setting the volume to silly levels and whacking the bass up to as high as 7 or 8 then I would expect to be getting this sort of issue.

To a point I suppose it's subjective and most people probably won't notice. Unfortunately, I do and it's doing my nut in!

Sorry but you're setting your expectations too high of the acoustic capabilities of the car, they're not that good and never will be. I'm afraid if you want a really decent sound system you'll need a more expensive car or will have to spend a load of money getting the OEM system replaced which in my book is a waste of time on any car. No disrespect but thats just the way it is.

For info the systems are quite bassy even with low bass settings, I rarely set the low end past 0 - 2, sometimes I go to a minus figure so the bass doesnt distort the speakers at higher volumes. It's this way in most cars unless they have an expensive and well designed OEM high end system.

I personally would bring your bass and treble settings down a bit so you can crank the volume a bit more without giving the speakers too harder a time, if your using the AUX/MDI connection also check your level setting. If you're running the input level quite high on digital tracks that are already quite peaky, you'll be overdoing the input into the HU and then it will sound quite bad. I have ours set to 2 as 1 is too quiet but 3 is way to strong.

Edited 16 June, 201115 yr by pipsyp

I really don't think the stereo is too bad until the volume is higher.

Then yes, it does start to rattle.

My only suggestion for a cure would be to use sound deadening material behind the door panels to physically stop and absorb the vibration, I have been tempted to do this myself, just means ripping the door card off to get to it, which doesn't look like an easy job, to be honest.

Which reminds me, does anybody have any guidelines to taking the door cards off?

(Sorry for thread hi-jack)

Cheers.

Dont belive sound deadening material is the way to go.?

Summary of thread in my opinion:

Quality of speakers and HU ok.

High bass boost in EQ (7 + loud)

Rattling doorpanels.

Other cars like Volvo, Mercedes etc have thicker panels and higger quality plasticts wich doesn't rattle.

Adding sound deadener wont stop the rattling, reinforcing the panels will.

In sweden we have (direct translation) "tarmac rug" that will give a stiffer doorpanel if you mount it properly. I used it in a VW passat -04 with a 4000 euro system with very good result.

Others may have different opinions but this is the way i'll go with my fabia.

Good luck =)

I hasten to add here that the offer of £311 from Skoda is NOT a cash pay-off as it can only be spent on Skoda parts, service and accessories.

If they were going to give me £300 then I'd take it to a specialist audio dealer and have them sort it!

Does that sway your opinions in any way?

Hi Scott,

Sorry to add this, but I just tried my car with the settings you posted, I have no rattles upto about 20! so it must be curable? Although it does sound like everything has been tried on your motor.

(It is almost impossible to sit in the car with the volume on 20 and it can be heard clear as day from outside the car..)

with the vol on about 14 I can stand outside and feel the door panels moving. Not sure why I have no vibration sounds?

I tried the Band of Brothers sound track with lots of high pitch orcestral stuff, and some Akon with Deep bass. There was no bad noises from the car at all. (Besides Akon)

My usual settings are:

Bass 2

Mid 5

treb 5

loud on

gal? 2

I have the Fade and Balance set to zero and the "Gal" set to 2? I have no idea what "Gal2 is? (There used to be a setting on my old radio that did some trickery, because the speakers where low down in the car, to try and lift the centre of the sound stage up. Could Gal do this? it isnt mentioned in the manual...)

As it sounds like the vibration is caused by certain frequencies in your car, new speakers probably wont cure it. Im assuming the sound dedaning stuff the dealer put in has been left in?

Looks like I have been lucky, This car was out of the showroom, is it possible it has been tweaked to be a good demo car for people to sit in while making their mind up?

--- EDIT ---

Might be a silly question, but do you have anything in the door pockets which might be rattling?

Edited 16 June, 201115 yr by Brin

Hi Scott,

Sorry to add this, but I just tried my car with the settings you posted, I have no rattles upto about 20! so it must be curable? Although it does sound like everything has been tried on your motor.

(It is almost impossible to sit in the car with the volume on 20 and it can be heard clear as day from outside the car..)

with the vol on about 14 I can stand outside and feel the door panels moving. Not sure why I have no vibration sounds?

I tried the Band of Brothers sound track with lots of high pitch orcestral stuff, and some Akon with Deep bass. There was no bad noises from the car at all. (Besides Akon)

My usual settings are:

Bass 2

Mid 5

treb 5

loud on

gal? 2

I have the Fade and Balance set to zero and the "Gal" set to 2? I have no idea what "Gal2 is? (There used to be a setting on my old radio that did some trickery, because the speakers where low down in the car, to try and lift the centre of the sound stage up. Could Gal do this? it isnt mentioned in the manual...)

As it sounds like the vibration is caused by certain frequencies in your car, new speakers probably wont cure it. Im assuming the sound dedaning stuff the dealer put in has been left in?

Looks like I have been lucky, This car was out of the showroom, is it possible it has been tweaked to be a good demo car for people to sit in while making their mind up?

--- EDIT ---

Might be a silly question, but do you have anything in the door pockets which might be rattling?

I've tried those settings and also made some adjustments to my iPod EQ. Having turned 'sound check' off and setting the EQ to 'off' on the iPod, the results are that it's much better but obviously at the expense of bass response. There is nothing in the door pockets by the way, I tend to keep my car relatively clutter free.

I have been in touch with a local reputable audio specialist to get their opinion anyway and they reckon they can sort it out using DynaMat. As a rough figure they've said I'll need to budget at least £250 for the work but I'm going to have a chat with them anyway to get a more accurate figure.

If the final cost to have the work done isn't a million miles out from this rough guide and the results are as good as guaranteed then I'm tempted to have it done, especially if Skoda are offering me £311 to spend on Skoda parts / servicing. I can use this money to pay for servicing costs on our Octavia so it's not a massive deal that I can only spend the money on Skoda bits only.

I've tried those settings and also made some adjustments to my iPod EQ. Having turned 'sound check' off and setting the EQ to 'off' on the iPod, the results are that it's much better but obviously at the expense of bass response. There is nothing in the door pockets by the way, I tend to keep my car relatively clutter free.

I have been in touch with a local reputable audio specialist to get their opinion anyway and they reckon they can sort it out using DynaMat. As a rough figure they've said I'll need to budget at least £250 for the work but I'm going to have a chat with them anyway to get a more accurate figure.

If the final cost to have the work done isn't a million miles out from this rough guide and the results are as good as guaranteed then I'm tempted to have it done, especially if Skoda are offering me £311 to spend on Skoda parts / servicing. I can use this money to pay for servicing costs on our Octavia so it's not a massive deal that I can only spend the money on Skoda bits only.

indeed, you will be saving the outlay on the serviceing ect, so could be worth it

I've tried those settings and also made some adjustments to my iPod EQ. Having turned 'sound check' off and setting the EQ to 'off' on the iPod, the results are that it's much better but obviously at the expense of bass response. There is nothing in the door pockets by the way, I tend to keep my car relatively clutter free.

I have been in touch with a local reputable audio specialist to get their opinion anyway and they reckon they can sort it out using DynaMat. As a rough figure they've said I'll need to budget at least £250 for the work but I'm going to have a chat with them anyway to get a more accurate figure.

If the final cost to have the work done isn't a million miles out from this rough guide and the results are as good as guaranteed then I'm tempted to have it done, especially if Skoda are offering me £311 to spend on Skoda parts / servicing. I can use this money to pay for servicing costs on our Octavia so it's not a massive deal that I can only spend the money on Skoda bits only.

Hmm, I just noticed the string on my door... hadnt seen that before.

In the past I have spent upwards of £500 to get a decent system in a car (Clio 172, that had some rattles), It is pretty anoying having to do this to a new car, but as you say. the money can be offset on an octy service. worth getting it done as it sounds like this is a bit of a sore spot. I Hope you are liking the rest of the car!