Have an '02 Passat that runs great… has less than 90K mileage. Noticed lately that there is a metalic ‘click/click’ noise from the driver-side when I hit certain bumps in road and mostly only at low speeds. Have been under the car yanking on the exhaust but it seems pretty solid - nothing loose. Any thoughts on what the culprit could be?
Clicking sounds from the front are normally CV joints wearing out fast. If you turn the steering wheel while the car is moving slowly, this clicking would increase.
You need to get the car into a shop that does suspension work before something really expensive happens.
It could also be a worn out shock absorber from that particular wheel. An easy check is to look at the casing and see if it’s got oil drippings on it.
A noisy CV joint will typically get louder when you turn the steering wheel, and it will also get faster as your speed increases.
Any of this sound like you?