First Problem

Coming back from a Scouts campsite last Sunday, I started hearing a loud knocking noise coming from the front wheels. :x The noise was really loud with every road imperfection. Turned off the Sound system and the AC, opened the front windows, and I could distinguish it was coming from the right front wheel. I went home and parked the car, and took it straight to my dealership the next day.

I was happy they took me in without an appointment. I left the car there, took their courtesy shuttle and went to work. Since I did not hear from the dealer by 4:00PM :x I decided to call the service manager, who told me they still did not have a diagnostic yet. By 5:00 PM I called again, :x and he told me they finally found the source of the noise: It was coming from the right front strut, which somehow worked itself loose! He told me that since it was a lot of work to get there, the car would have to stay overnight. He gave me a rental and I went home, but at least I was relieved they had identified the problem.

I picked the Prius the next day, and the service slip described the problem as "Excessive Clearance on Front Cross Member". The solution: "Front Cross Member re-torqued to specifications". Of course they did not charge me anything for it, although I noticed that mileage out was 6 miles over the mileage in :x . The noise was pretty obvious, and thus I was intrigued that it took them that much driving to figure it out... :roll:

Anybody with similar experiences out there?

This happened with 1300 miles of very careful driving, not a single pot hole. I asked the dealer, and he told me my undercarriage was in pritine condition, not a single scratch!