I drove my brand spanking’ new GTI base model off the lot. After 1 week I noticed a decent rattle at startup, and whenever the car was idling without pushing clutch pedal. The rattle stopped when I pushed the clutch, started when I released the clutch. The noise level was sometimes quieter and sometimes louder. When I showed off my new car, the engine sounded like crap. The rattle followed the engine rpm. Driving, there was no performance impact.

Dealer drained the fluid and there was fine metal in it. Very bad. They suspected the input shaft had something loose or moving around, but hard to tell without ripping everything apart. They ordered me a “new” (remanufactured?) transmission and replaced it under warranty. Now it’s all good, although my brand new car doesn’t have the original transmission. :(

I’d have asked for them to buy it back, but they don’t have any more manuals coming this year. Otherwise the car is super fun!