Knocking Rear suspension

[Aragorn]

Has anyone actually solved the knocking rear suspension issue that has been mentioned here a few times?

My cars had it since new, dealer looked at it when the car was a few months old and fobbed us off with the usual "they all do that sir" crap.

I sorta just learned to live with it, until i had the loaner 80x Sportline for a while when waiting on the battery recall.

Jumping from the 80x Sportline back into my car it was immediately noticable that there was something "odd" with the rear suspension, not only the excessive knocking, but also it was much stiffer or less compliant over sharp bumps than the Sportline had been, which ofcourse seems backwards... you'd expect the sportline to be worse. And yet i literally noticed it driving out of the dealership forecourt and cant stop noticing it since.

I've read elsewhere that some MEB cars had issues with rear dampers, and having felt the two cars back to back, i'm now seriously suspecting it is infact a damper issue. The car is perfectly composed over normal undulations, but any sharp suspension movement such as a pothole or broken tarmac is awful. Almost like the highspeed bypass is not working properly inside the damper.

I'm considering picking up a used pair of dampers from a breaker and just swapping them out as a fairly cheap DIY test, but before i do i'm wondering if anyone thats had this issue has had it fixed and if it was indeed dampers?

[RichR]

It’s so weird, my car is of a similar age to yours yet has never had the issue. I’m sure when there was a discussion about this at some point before, we worked out that Sport suspension (either as an option, or standard on Sportline etc) don’t seem to be affected.
Which does lend some weight to your theory it’s damper related - as there are probably a few different types fitted.

[alant]

You are not alone in having this knocking from the rear of your Enyaq. I have 60 first registered December 2021. From the beginning there was a knocking from the rear over small bumps and manhole covers. The dealer replaced the boot lid bump stops which made no difference. They said that because the car was so quiet I would hear every noise as I drove over any rough surfaces (usual reply it seems).

I persevered with the car until this winter when the knocking got even louder. Edinburgh roads are an absolute disgrace and are full of potholes and shoddy repairs. One particular road I drove on was so bad that it sounded like a machine gun going off in the back of the car the knocking was so bad. I booked the car into the dealer (West End Skoda) and they got there head mechanic to drive me round some rough roads. He agreed that there was something not right. They booked the car in for inspection of the rear suspension and the shock absorbers in particular. They reported that they had found that the shock absorbers had gone soft and replaced them.

The new shock absorbers initially seemed to cure the knocking, but during the last two weeks it has returned although not as loud as before. As a long since retired engineer this noise drives me nuts and spoils what is a very nice car.

If your dealer can pin down the fault I would like to hear about it. I’m sure Skoda must be aware of this problem.

[Skoda44]

I had a knock that appeared to come from the rear on a 2021 MY. The short version of the story was a failed ball joint on the front near side. The noise was being transmitted through the bodywork.

[Aragorn]

Thanks for your feedback Alan, it does sound like we're heading along right right lines if the shock replacement seemed to work. That it recurred is not great, but perhaps that can be fixed by using a different brand of shock rather than the Skoda ones.

Skoda44: I've also heard of failing ARB bushes on the front which can cause knocking, but my feeling is this is definately from the rear. I will however have a look over the front parts too just to rule it out.

[Aragorn]

Quick update... It worked

I ordered a pair of dampers from a breakers on ebay, they came from a 2023 car (i made sure to buy from a late model car, on the assumption that this issue mostly affected the early cars), an ID4 i think. The date of manufacture is printed on the damper data sticker. They came from somewhere in europe. It seems the same part numbers are used across multiple models (unsurprisingly). There was no Enyaq ones available but the same number was used on Q4 and ID4. Unlike buying new shocks, they came as a complete assembly with the dust boots, bump stops and top mounts all ready installed. Cost was £120 delivered.

Swapping them out was extremely quick. Probably 15-20minutes a side on my driveway, including jacking up the car and removing the wheel. Three bolts, all accessible from the wheel arch.

Interestingly enough, there was zero detectable difference between the old and new shocks off the car. They both felt pretty much identical cycling them by hand. No obvious outward signs of any issues either. However with the new ones installed, the noise has gone and the car is now quiet and smooth. Kinda annoyed i put it with it for 40 thousand miles... but at the same time, the dealer fobbed me off twice when the car was only a few months old and i couldnt keep playing ping pong with them. Paying the 120 for an immediate fix without having to faff about getting my car to the dealership and getting it back again afterwards was probably worthwhile.

[Flierman1945]

I have just bought a 24 Enyaq 85 and am beginning to realise some dealers know didlly squat about the cars they sell. Within a couply of days I found the Charger release flap would not work all the time. The garage told me it needed Two presses of the ignition key to release, yet mine releases after One push sometimes. Then next time I have to fiddle, locking then unlocking . They did mention that after a period of time the car goes into sleep mode and this is when the Two pushes on the key are necessary.

But the most irritating problem for me is the rear bumping exactly as all the reports have described. After returning my car for a test drive, I was told it is because the back end of these cars is very heavy and when negotiating speed bumps or speed tables, this will cause the springs to compress so much they hit the bump stops. And, this is the official reason. What a load of rubbish. When I go over speed bumps and speed tables, the car rides them well and there is no rear end bump as the springs adjust. Now, if I go over broken surface no more than 25mm deep this rattling bump starts, just as others have reported.

Lets just break this down a bit. Suppose your car has a tow bar and your van has a nose weight of 100kg. You also have a couple of kids in the back and gear in the boot. What is going to happen to the rear springs? they are now well loaded and maybe near the bump stops. So every bump the car goes over will cause this noise.
Most owners will probably not tow with an EV. So now when we drive the springs are well expanded and the distance to the bump stop is very much greater, so really this should not be a problem, but the dealer disagrees, saying "very heavy car at rear etc causes bump stops to be hit".
Come on, it has to be some thing else. Could the spring be loose and bang the stop, I think not. Could it be the shockers causing this effect. Well, yes this is a posibility documented by others.

The real problem for us as buyers is that we have to convince the dealers to replace parts they might say are not faulty, even though we can show documented evidence this replacement has made the problem go away. How then can the situation be resolved?.

How about some handy chap fitting up a video cam around the rear suspension, then taking the car out over roads that produce this problem. This way, it can be proved the springs hit the bump stops going over small ruts in the road, Or indeed that they do not. This way, there is video proof. Then we can say "Guilty as proved" .

[Aragorn]

You cant really see the bump stops on the rear suspension, they're mounted inside the dust boots on the rear dampers, so a camera isnt going to help. They're also pretty large and designed to compress a fair amount, i very much doubt you'd "hear" them.

I dont know if your problem is the same as mine, in my case the rear dampers themselves were faulty, causing a sort of rattling noise when exposed to high frequency motion, eg a pothole. There was zero obvious signs of failure of the damper. Even once off the car and side by side with the new ones, they looked and felt identical. I was of the understanding that my issue only affected early cars, and since the dealership didnt want to know i ended up just buying some newer dampers myself and swapping them out.

What i would suggest, is you get the dealer to take you out for a drive in a demo car. Find some nearby road that causes your car to rattle. Then drive the demo car on the same road. If the demo car is quiet and yours rattles, then you have demonstrable proof of the issue. If they both do it, then perhaps it is just a characteristic, as the chances of two cars having the same issue would seem slim.

[Flierman1945]

Hello,
You are exactly right. I only had my Enyaq a couple of days and noticed the bumping type rattle. At first I thought it was the small storage area under the floor mat where the spare charger lead is stored. I put some velcro on to make sure the flap stayed fixed, but it wasn't that. I started looking for clues using this forum and came across your post linked to other members who have / had this problem.
The simple answer was to book a main dealer mechanic test drive, they would resolve the issue. Sadly not, they came back with the classic, " no sir, that is the suspension hitting the bump stop because these cars are so heavy on the back end"
So how come I can drive over speed bumps and flattened speed tables quite fast in a way where both the back wheels rise and compress the springs and dampers, but there is no noise at all.
lets assume if both springs and dampers rise together, ( rise the same amount) they are not travelling far enough to hit the bump stops. This deduction, in my head, dispels the dealer explanation.
Where do we move to now. The noise is worse on the nearside and especially bad when driving over small broken areas of road where tarmac is missing seems favourite. I can't see the problem being loose springs , they should be well fixed top and bottom. Could it be Drive Shaft rattle, I don't know, or the favourite Sping Dampers. The problem is the dealer doesn't believe if you mention several Enyaq customers have this problem. Their reply is, "We have not changed any faulty Spring Dampers at all". It really does put us on the back foot. May be dealers think we enjoy complaining and having to drive miles to get them to give an opinion. but there we are. My view now is I have to build a case to put to the dealer. I must logically prove their assesment is wrong and mine is correct.
Wish me luck convincing them and all the other owners who have this problem are correct.