Noooooo!

Yesterday, I drove with my brother in law in his Ford Escape Hybrid 2008. It drove on pothole after pothole, road gaps like it was NOTHING. It climbed hills like a hemi. The interior felt "iron and indestructible". The whole body looked indestructible. The outside and interior especially looks extremely rugged.

If I drove the Prius like that, it would fall apart in a day. The interior is extremely fragile plastic..if you press on it slightly, it will break. It's only a matter of time before all Prius's rattle.

He used to drive a new Prius 2008, he said that both bulbs (front and rear) went out after a year, he had rattling and several alignment problems. He said he constantly got recall and service letters from Toyota. I noticed that alot of Priuses here, their rear bulbs are burned out.

 

The Prius with the bulbs out must of been made by VW.

 

Quote: "If I drove the Prius like that, it would fall apart in a day. The interior is extremely fragile plastic..if you press on it slightly, it will break. It's only a matter of time before all Prius's rattle".

Trade-in your Prius and buy a Ford Escape.

 

My 2005 has been driven up and down the Al-Can, through the U.S. and Canadian rockies, been loaded up for several moves, and lived in and I still don't have any rattles, nor has anything been broken.

Burned out a rear light this year- easy and cheap fix.
Has a brake squeak
and one small dent from a moron at a Tool concert

I agree with Kenzo- go for the Escape.

 

I have the same rattle. I have had several others but that one is the most difficult to find. Sometimes it sounds like it's coming from the dash sometimes the door on the passenger's side. I've taken the seat out and performed the "Seat Squeak TSB" no help, I've taken quite a bit of the trim off the inside around the door and seat belt anchor nothing there. I have not taken the dash apart yet but I think in my case that's next. I tried spraying silicone lube in all the cracks and putting pieces of paper and felt in some of them, that helped some of the other rattles but not that one.

I haven't used the dealer yet, I'm afraid they will take it apart and and make it worse. I may decide to let them try though.

Good luck, let me know it you find it.

 

What did yoiu expect? If the road is smooth why would there be rattle if there are no vibration to make the rattle in the first place?

Anyway welcome to the club. Good luck it will only get worse.

 

Yeah surprsingly Ford cars are not bad these days. Well made. One of my mate got a Ford focus and I borrowed one day. I was very impressed by the car, it was fun to drive, felt agile, reponsive, and guess what? No rattle at all after its done 67,000 miles unlike my Prius it rattled only after just 4000 miles.

And not to mention my Prius cost a lot more than his Ford.

 

I don't hear any rattles at all. The stereo takes care of that. And it if were a real sound system, it would only cause more rattles.

 

I had a rattle the other day- drove me CRAZY! I couldn't find it, I jiggled everything in the glove boxes, checked for loose cups, there was no loose change. It took my son getting in with me to find it in 3 seconds flat. I had the radio on AUX and didn't have the ipod on- just plugged in to the connection in the center console.Once I turned off the radio the rattle went away- I am grateful that so far mine has been an easy fix

 

I think I may have the same 'buzz'. It's not a 'rattle'...definitely a 'buzz'.
It's much more pronounced when temps are colder, <50*, and when I'm accelerating from a stop. It goes away after the rpms climb a bit, but when it's cold out it's annoyingly loud.
It's definitely located in the passenger dash area, either on top, in or near the glove boxes.
It's my only complaint about my V..........

 

Re: Most of these noises can be solved

I'm in the process of solving some plastic noises too. I really don't like to call them rattles as that's not the sound. A rattle implies something loose under the dash - what we are experiencing is the sound of rigid plastic "rubbing against" other plastic surfaces which is more pronounced when it's cold.

There are several points where the new Prius has problems. The "sky bridge" console is one of them. The section of the escutcheon plate over the shifter and some of the intersections along the sides of the sky bridge are culprit.

WARNING: Silicon lubricants will stain or ruin cloth and speakers

I used a can of silicon lubricant with a wand and carefully put a small puddle of the lubricant in/on the seams and used my finger to work it into the intersections being careful not to use too much. Then with clean hands "massage" the escutcheon and intersections to work the lubricant into the seams - then wipe clean with a soft cloth. Now for glove boxes: I used some plumber's grease (a clear silicon gel) and applied it to the black plastic latches on each glove box door. Press the latch in and out to get the grease inside. I also put a bit of grease in the receiving holes. One more item that rattles is the black plastic dampener on the lower box. It is visible as you are outside the car on the passenger's side once the lower box is opened. I had to remove the box to lubricate the slip holes on the black dampener with the grease. The peg on the box can be squeezed gently to detach the dampener. With some grease on the pegs too, that rattle was mitigated. I have most of the noises fixed now and may need a helper riding along to identify the last of them.

One final note: For those of you who put the back seats down, leave the headrests up if they will fit. Oddly, when you pull them up and lean them down, they rattle back there. I like the seats down so I have better visibility out the rear windows.

 

Mine is definitely worse in cold weather but not RPM related, it may be caused by the same thing(s) though. Phoenixgreg has some good advice posted above. I haven't heard of the plumber's grease before, I'll visit the hardware store today.

 

Interesting note about the Ford Escape: Every piece of "chrome" on the exterior is plastic, and not chrome at all. Even the wheels! If you have chrome mags, check the "chrome." It is a plastic liner on the spokes. Most of the other exterior trim pieces are plastic as well. So while it looks rugged, it is very fragile. It is the kind of thin plastic that disintegrates when bumped (having been a parts manager in a dealership body shop. My wife and daughter own Escapes.)

The Escape is also very noisy during acceleration. That has always been a problem with Ford 4-cylinder engines in their cars and trucks (having sold Ford cars and trucks.) The Prius is quieter, but still not enough for me. I will test-drive the Lexus CT200h as soon as it comes out, and if it is quiet during acceleration, I will get one on the spot (unless there is a dealer premium, and then I will wait till everyone cools off.)

 

Interesting trick to reduce rattles and road noise on the 2010 Prius: Inflate the tires to the recommended psi, and the ride smoothes out like nobody's business. Mileage is as advertised when the tires are properly inflated, so their is the hyper trade off. Other than during hard acceleration, the noise level improves considerably as well. Go figure.