Purchased new 05TL 4/18/05. Perfect, tight no noises at all, very quiet. I noticed a small rattle to start a week after I got it, now it has got progressively worse. Seems to be coming from the silver plastic insert around the gear shifter. Has anyone experienced this on their 3gen. TL? I am one who likes a quiet interior and this rattle is getting worse. Any suggestions?

 

Yep, I have that one too. Seems to come from the outer silver/plastic rectangle rubbing against the inner one. I haven't had time to tinker with it or have it looked at.

 

I used silicon spray. (3M 100% silicon spray-safe for all surfaces)
Manipulated the shifter gate etc. while I liberally sprayed underneath. Cleaned up the over-spray and all was well. Applied twice within a 3 week period and haven't had a noise since. Use it on your weather stripping and other areas to alleviate squeaks and similar noises.
Others have had their dealer apply felt tape underneath with good results also.

Enjoy your TL's

 

Thanks for the info, will definitely try that!

 

I just had mine fixed this week at my first A1 service (6k). A quick application of felt tape by the dealer appears to have hushed the creaky gearshift trim.

 

Where was the felt applied?

 

I have the same problem and it's freaking driving me NUTS!

How exactly do you "manipulate" the shifter gate and spray underneath? Both shifter plates (the silver ones) are tight against each other and tight against the trim piece below.

 

You also might want to check the little hole cover where you insert your key to manually unlock the gearshift. It just loosly fits in there, so mine would rattle whenver the VTEC kicked in. Just the right vibration I guess.

Now the car is quiet again. -knock on wood-