Re: little annoying creaks here and there? (Our R)
Yes such are Volvos. My 2000 S40 had squeaks and rattles everywhere. We also have a 850 GLT (forgot the year) which suffers from center console and glovebox rattling. I was hoping the R would escape this trend, but I guess all cars end up having little squeaks and rattles (less common in Japanese cars). I have intermittent rattling coming from the B pillar, the roofliner, somewhere from the passenger door, the shifter, and my left rear suspension squeaks a lot too. Curiously all these noises occur when it gets colder. Now that it's warmer, the car is pretty quiet. Hmm... cold weather = faster + noisier. Warm weather = slower + quieter. I wish I didn't have to choose between the two, well not that I can control the weather or anything but you know what I mean.
I've read that the B pillar noise comes from a loose clip or something which can be fixed easily. The sunroof rattle apparently is also common although I've seen both over at Volvospy, but none here. I can get rid of the passenger door rattle by opening the window, but as soon as I close it, the rattling comes back. We all know about the buzzing shifter. The squeaking suspension apparently is unique to me and no one here seems to know why it's squeaking. Apparently when it's wet or warmer, the squeaking goes away. These little noises bother me a little bit, but when the weather is nice, I open the windows and sunroof, turn up the radio and I just tell myself to shutup and drive.
