While trying to figure out the recently introduced noise during while I drive my car (the main suspect so far is one of the two front wheel bearings ... I sure hope it is not the front diff or the cardan shaft ... 😲), I've been under the car and to my surprise, three clamping washers that hold the spare tyre bulge heatshield (above the exhaust pipes), have corroded so much that they "burned" through the heatshield as well ... a relatively simple fix with a bit of DIY (depending on the size of the hole), the new "clamps" are part. no. N90335004. I don't know who had the bright idea to make the clamps of such material that can eat through the heat shield, but they obviously did. Less damage would be made if they made them out of plastic. Part of the rattle/noise was coming from the heatshield that was dropping too low and the wind that goes under the car was trying to take it off, making it rattle around like crazy. In case you have a similar noise related issue, get under the car and check this first (especially if the car's age is 10 or over).

 

 

Few of us have experienced the same. I followed advice on here and replaced a few and doubled them up at the same time. Not a good design. My Octavia 2005 vs 2011 superb still on original after 240k miles.