(21 Feb 2020, 11:00 am)streetdeckfan wrote I had a ride on Arriva's 17 plate E400MMCs on the X21 and it was a horrific experience, I genuinely had to change buses because I couldn't tolerate the creaking and rattling coming from just about everywhere upstairs. The one I got on the way back was better, but not by much, it was still fairly rattly. The Unilink ones I got down in Southampton were about on par with GNE's so I can't say whether it's the general quality improvements or just Arriva's lack of maintenance.

From what I've been told, the issues with the quick release glass is more to do with them needing adjusting rather than an inherent issue, but all of GNE's E400s, and a few of their E200s have horrendous creaks and rattles coming from the windows, and you can visibly see the windows shaking as it goes over bumps, and if you touch the window, you can feel it flexing.

There's no way I can defend the Streetlites, although bar the emergency door, they do seem alright. The only other rattles I've picked up on are coming from equipment added by operators like displays and those awful Metro boxes that they never seem to secure properly! From my experience at least, if you ignore the emergency door (which admittedly is pretty difficult), the E200s are just as loud as the Streetlites, except they're more creaky than rattly, if that makes sense!

Same with the StreetDecks, as I said before, GNE's 16 plates aren't the best quality wise, but I can't fault their 67 plates, they seem to be screwed together very well! (also, don't be fooled by my name, I'm not oblivious to the many shortcomings of the StreetDecks!)

I've personally never had any real issues with any MMC in terms of rattles, back home the X21/22 is my main route now and across the batch while there are small rattles across bumps, nothing that would make me question the build quality. In fact, majority of the time when going over rough ground the noise is more of a solid thud - giving the impression that the bus is very much all screwed together well. Stagecoach's MMCs up here are exactly the same I've found, they creak when over rough ground as an entire vehicle rather than one particular part. It is important to remember that the quick release glass is miles better in terms of convenience for operators than traditional bonded glazing or rubber gaskets - the bus can be back on the road in about half an hour in comparison to a number of hours. 

Streetlites have a horrific idle in my experience, particularly the ones I've been on with First. The emergency exit door noise also tends to cloud over other smaller rattles. Other factors such as the horrifically sharp retarder and that it has to be switched off to adjust the steering column give me the impression Wright rushed it out and once the sales came in didn't care about fixing it.