Weird noise from front

Yes, it is your brake pads. Regen braking doesn't work in reverse so it relies solely on the brake pads/shoes. You are likely hearing the shoes rub against the braking surface.

You will likely hear other sounds that you're not used to with the Prius. The main reason you hear them is b/c the Prius is so quiet, it does not drown out these sounds like other cars do.

 

does the noise happen when torquing up drivetrain - pulling out of garage etc? On my 09 I have found that the exhaust flange mounting springs will sometimes squeak instead of gliding freely while the engine/transaxle is moving/torqing up. It can be annoying. One way to tell is to raise vehicle and wiggle front down pipe (while pipe is cool so you don't get burned). If that is the noise, you will clearly hear it. Sometimes you can wiggle it alot & the noise will temporarilly go away. If it is that, you can brush a small amount of high temp anti-seize compound on springs and slide bolts. I have had one of my customers who has a 2006 had the same problem. I also did the same thing for him as with my 2009. Let me know how you make out. Dave

 

Welcome to PC.

Very common complaint especially if you just bought the car and it has sat on a lot for a while.

You have corroded front brake rotors.

Please look through the wheel spokes and examine yourself. Since the fornt friction brakes hardly get used due to regen there's not alot of hard rubbing of the rotor to disc. And that allows rust to build up quickly and deeply on the rotor surface. Most cars have pristine shiny rotors from wear. Prius's are always rusted. That makes for quite a racket when applying the brake slowly. Especially in reverse. Really loud in reverse. Since your new to the car get used to cleaning the rotors once in a while:

Get up to speed around 50 or 60 make sure no ones behind you or in front of you and put the car in neutral. Apply nice firm braking. Not hard just firm.
Repeat. Then put the car back in D and drive on. Do that once a day if you can. It removes the surface rust on the rotor. The rotor will still be rusted though.

Putting the car in neutral does not allow regen to engage so you are on friction brakes only.You will be very surprised how poor the Prius brakes are by themselves. Also if not maintained the brakes get incredibly grabby especially after a rain.

Like any car you own putting this car in neutral while driving with practice should become second nature. Best defense for a run away car.

 

Mine did that to. Weird buzzing. All you have to do is tighten the nut on that spring flange. It comes loose from the super heat and then cool off, super heat etc...

 

does it only happen when you apply the brakes?

 

Your welcome.

Comes & goes depending on how humid it may be. Look at your rotors with a flashlight and see how rusted they are. No matter what you will still have to do what I suggested though.