2011 Prius Loud rattling and shake upon start and idle speed

A while back, our 2011 Prius (238,000 miles) started up one morning, and several dash lights (battery, skid, brake, engine) lights appeared, and intermittently have been off and on since. They weren't on when I went to Toyota for an oil change last month, although I did mention it, then forgot to follow up. I've noticed my gas mileage was down, but not drastically.

Yesterday as the lights turned off (about 3 minutes after leaving the garage) I was just about to enter a parking lot, and as I slowed, I heard a loud rattling. The check engine light came on.

Today I drove it- engine light still on- to church. It was loud when started, but noise disappeared once I wasn't at a low/idlel speed. Afterwards I stopped at an auto parts store where the young man plugged in his computer and said the reading was Cylinder 3 misfire and EGR valve/sensor.

I saw an earlier post about cleaning the manifold, but we have zero mechanical ability.

Is the car safe to drive, or will I damage something by driving it?

I'm wondering if my only option is to bring it to the Toyota dealership?

Has anyone had similar problems and if repaired by a Toyota dealership, can you share approximately how much I am looking at spending to repair it?

Please share any suggestions

Thanks,

 

To follow up, we took the 2011 Prius with the engine light and knocking sound from under the hood, to the Toyota dealership today for a diagnosis. Their computer gave the same codes as O'Reillys- misfire of cylinder 3 and EGR valve. Their bid to clean pipes leading to manifold, manifold and EGR valve replacement is $1,240.

Have you had this done recently? Was the price similar?
Does it pay to check with a local shop that would likely not use Toyota parts, or would you think Toyota mechanics would be familiar enough to get the job done well in the least amount of time?

Wish it was a recall issue that was covered!