Do you hear rattling noises?

Really? My impression from other gen II owners who also have a gen III and from my Toyota dealer is that rattles have aggravted a lot in gen III compared to gen II...

 

Mine is in the overhead plastic housing for the rear view mirror and front interior lights. It comes and goes and stops if I put my hand on it. Annoying.

 

I can't determine whether the rattle is from either of the glove boxes (upper or lower) or the "sky bridge" center console.

At first, I thought it was my Garmin GPS I store in the glove box. Removed that...still rattles. I opened both glove boxes and drove with those open...still rattles.

I thought it might be the sliding console storage area. I opened it, removed everything from inside, closed it partially, closed it completely and either way the rattle persists.

Then I thought it might be the passenger side door. Nope, that's not it either.

I put my right hand on the console housing on the right side of the shifter and applied some pressure towards me. That seems to correct the problem, but I am not 100% sure yet. I am still troubleshooting, investigating and trying different areas to pinpoint the source.

This is my second Prius. My 2005 Prius Gen 2 had none of these problems.

It is annoying and disturbing that Toyota could produce a product with as many rattle complaints as have been reported. Personally, I'm not sure I could last five years with this continuous rattle. And with the cold weather creeping upon us, I am afraid this will only get worse.

Seems the skybridge console, being plastic and constructed and assembled in one long piece, is just a crappy piece of plastic that of course expands and contracts with different temperatures. Really bad construction and engineering on Toyota's part.

I am a disgruntled Toyota owner for the first time in my life. (I have owned 8 Toyota's previously.)

 

I am experiencing exactly the same rattling scenario. While driving, I have wedged my right arm between the left-side of the passenger seat and the center armrest console. That seems to have significantly diminished that rattle; hopefully Toyota will find a fix. The glove box rattle is still a mystery.

Now that it is cold in NE I will leave the car at the dealer overnight and have them at least document these rattles; a brief visit to the dealer last week (and a glove box tightening) did little to ameliorate the problem. If all else fails, I’ll ask my car-stereo shop to try to find a fix when I upgrade the sound system later this month.

Here is a direct e-mail address for Toyota Customer Care: [email protected]

 

I have exactly the same rattle, only when accelerating... sometimes it seems to be coming from the passenger side dash others times it seems farther forward like in the passenger side of the engine compartment. Seemed to start only when the weather got colder.

 

buyer beware !!!

 

I left my car overnight at the dealer; they have acknowledged the center armrest consol rattle and their fix is going to be replacement of the entire center armrest unit (the service writer said it is all one piece). I assume Toyota authorized the replacement.

They could not duplicate the dash rattle; I'll have to keep working on that one. I will follow-up after the console replacement.

 

6000 miles.
Silent as a tomb.
The only rattle I have experienced was a CD case (which took about an hour to find....)
Sorry for the troubles of others here, but so far no rattles for me.

 

I've posted here once before. I have a V with all the bells and whistles.....paid way too much for these problems. I have major rattling and it started after about 60 days.....it's mind numbing as I can't listen to satellite radio (talk shows) without having the rattling drown-out the radio. I have to blast music loud enough to cover the rattling.

When I took it in for the first servicing they were nice enough, but said they needed to hear the rattling. They said that my passenger seat wasn't latched-in correctly, but the same noises persist. The first sounds like it's coming from the dash. The second sounds like a metalic sound coming from the door. OMG, I hope they find a way to fix this.

 

7000 miles and not one rattle. My only noise goes away when the wife falls asleep or starts to read a book.

 

I have read a few posts about dashboard noises in the 2010, especially in cold weather. Mine started doing the same thing and it hasn't had its first oil change. I used silicone spray between the dash plastic and right speaker cover and right side window with pretty good results.

 

I had some strange rattles and creaking. I found the culpert to be the two water bottles in the doors. I would hear the cap seal rattle once it was opened and the the temperature creak the plastic bottle expandsion as the car heated up.
Other rattles are from the glove box which needs some padding liner to cushion all that stuff inside.
Open the door and hear if it goes away.

 

Mainly when the car is cold. Once heated it goes away. It is the center console, if I apply pressure to it, it will stop. It started at about 2,000 miles I now have 5,000 on it. I am going to talk with the dealer when I take it in for an oil change.

 

My rattles seem to be coming from the center console, on the passenger side. As someone mentioned above, they are temperature dependent -- I get rattles when it is cold outside, but they go away after driving for a while.

What about engine hesitation? On Jan. 5, I started to experience hesitation -- I pressed on the accelerator and the car seemed to stumble. This happened again for the next week just after I pulled out of my garage and was going up the street. Outside tems were around freeezing.

 

I don't know if this is what you are feeling or not but if your not aware of how the system works when cold it could be.

When you start the car and it's cold the engine starts after 15 seconds. But, when cold, the engine will not supply power to the battery or the wheels for the first minute it is running, unless you really put your foot down. During that minute the car is running on the battery and doesn't have much power. So if you put your foot down for more power it might feel like it stumbles then recovers but it's just the engine supplying power vice the battery. When the minute is over it will usually start using the ICE for power and you can feel that also.

If that's not what you are detecting and you think there is an ICE problem you should start a new topic in this forum, there may be others with the same problem that will not see your question here in the "rattle thread".

 

I hear creaky sound when i go up and down a pot hole or a twisty ramp like in a car park. The sound comes from the back sometimes the back seat rubbing and other times something else in the back.

 

I had a creak from the passenger-side back seat that was caused by the latch. A tiny squirt of WD-40 directly into the latch slot was all that was needed. If you try this be sure to use a spray tube so you don't blast WD-40 all over the place!

 

Mine seem to be most noticeable on cold mornings but after the cabin is at a nice toasty temp the sqeak/rattle goes away.

 

I have and Gen 3 Prius with approx 3200 miles, which I purchased in Nov 2009. The car has consistent rattlesand "creaking" noises that originate on the passesnger side, glove box area. Very obnoxious sounds that drive me crazy! Have taken to the dealer but they have not fixed the problem - but only made it worse. The second time I took it to the dealer - Murphy's law reared its ugly head and the car would not produce any rattles or creaks when the service rep took it for a test drive with me. Of course, within 5 minutes after leaving the dealer's garage, the offending noises resumed with a vengeance.

I am so frustated in attempting to resolve this problem I am reading the trade this car off.

Does anybody have any ideas on how to resolve this problem - short of getting rid of the car?

Thanks for you input

 

Just turn up the radio.