Rattle from rear wheel well area

[toaster]

I have a 2017 golf sportwagen 4mo which has a very annoying rattle & squeak coming from the rear passenger side wheel well area. I have tried replacing the rear shock & mount and that didnt change anything. Nothing in the wheel well area seems loose and Ive been under the car and checked the rear sway bar/link and that doesnt have any play to it, same with the exhaust. Happens on bumpy roads all the time but if i push down on the bumper i cant reproduce the sound in my garage.

I took this video with my phone in the luggage area while driving on a gravel/bumpy road:

thanks... this sound is driving me nuts hah

 

[PRRGG1]

Long shot, but does the volume vary depending on the fuel level in your tank? Some years ago I had a vehicle with sending unit that had somehow run amok and it was most noticeable with a near empty tank.

 

[ShadyMF]

Does it have an evap canister back there like the GTI? Mine seemed to make a little knock when it moved slightly after i installed my coilovers.. i put a foam pad behind it and its been fine since.

 

[toaster]

Does the EVAP canister normally have a bolt up top? There's a hole on the unit and on the car but no bolt. I wedged a chunk of rubber behind it and gave it a run a around the block. Seems better but need to do some more driving to be sure. Thanks!

 

[toaster]

After driving around this morning the rattle and squeak was still there. I backed it on to ramps and took another look at the way back (even though i had been convinced it was coming from the wheel well area). It turns out that at some point the car had been backed into something (ive only owned it the last 7 months) and the bracket for the rear bumper cover was sitting maybe 5mm away from the muffler and had dug a nice chunk out of the bracket. A minute with a sledgehammer and ive got it almost back to where it needs to be and the squeak is finally gone. my sanity has been restored