During the summer, I used to get some rattling on my new Elantra right after beginning to drive, after a long interval of parking under the sun. But once the car cooled down due to the A/C, the rattling would disappear. I never bothered to find the exact source of rattling because it used to last only a couple of minutes. Now in the winter, something in the passenger side starts rattling every time I go on a bump! So I took the car to the dealership following a whole week of consistent rattling. They said the noise is coming from somewhere in the dashboard and it is likely due to the misalignment caused by the shrinking of plastic in the cold. They said I could leave the car with them for 2-3 days and they could open up the dashboard and find the exact source of the noise. However, the disclaimer was that opening up the dashboard could actually introduce more rattle after it was assembled back, because the dashboard plastic parts are not precisely machined. Also, if the cause of the rattle was not found to be a manufacturer defect, I would have to pay diagnosis fee as well as the price of any broken parts that needed replacement, along with the labor charge to replace it. What's the point of warranty then?

- Richardson, TX, USA