Hello chaps
I thought that I would share some of my experiences with you.
I have been a fleet driver since I wore short pants and have always had company cars. To date I have covered over 900,000 miles in driving and if I manage to stay in work I should hit 1000,000 miles as I retire
I am now sort of self employed and for the first time I have had to buy my own car and insure it myself.
Let me give you a list of some of the vehicles that I have driven for at least 50,000 miles from new
Vauxhall, 3 Astra SRi of various models and power output, 4 Vectra SRi of same including a 2.2l petrol
Ford, 2 Cortina and 3 Sierra, 1 Mondeo
BMW, 2 x 3 series including my beloved 320d ES
Toyota, 4 Avensis of various power and fuel
Honda, 1 accord
Audi, 1 x A4 SE 1.9 TDI
Citroen, 1 DS 4
And now
All of them, yep every single one has had rattles or squeaks from about 3 weeks old. Generally I have found the best thing is to turn up the stereo and leave alone until 6 months and then get a pal to drive whilst you isolate the vibrations from passenger and rear seats. Use a cheap stethoscope to listen to panel movements.
Then pack them yourself using old cycle inner tube, foam rubber draught strip or sometimes blue tack works the best.
For creeks between panels I sometimes use a non silicone plastic UV protector, I also use this as a yearly coating on all plastics to maintain colour, reduce sunlight fade and keep a matt appearance. I can recommend Aerospace Protectant 303 from the USA which you can now get from Amazon at £18 for a 500ml spray. It can be left semi sheen or matted down. This product is good enough to use on critical grip areas like rubber grips and mouldings on Digital SLR cameras to protect against 'whiting' and sweat stain.
The last car I drove was a Citroen DS4 which from about 3 weeks rattled like a bag of spanners for the rest of its time with me. The lacquer in the 18 inch laser cut alloys started to peal and 12K and were replaced under warranty. the replacement alloys started to peel at 27k and were subject to a second warranty claim.
The doors creaked like Bruce Forsyth's knees would dancing with a 20 year old and the rear door rubbers were so poorly designed that they were scratching the paint on the C pillar, and this from a brand that has won more accolades than when Clarkson threatened to punch Peers Morgan.
What I am saying, is, don't have such high expectations of perfection and learn to fix minor bugs yourselves. Enjoy driving and don't sweat the small stuff.