Strange Noise Just Started

My 2007 Prius has started making an unusual sound. At first I thought it was some kind of pump or something, but now???

When I put on the emergency brake, the brake pedal or when I put the car in park or take it out of park and put it in D, it makes a "chuck chuck chuck" sound, not high pitched, but not a low sound either. It seems to be coming from under the hood on the left side. It sounds something like a belt slipping or a pump with a squeak maybe?

It does not appear to make this noise when simply depressing the brake while driving, so I'm not sure it's the same abs actuator issue as described in a thread below.

I'm taking it in tomorrow, but I thought I would check here first to see if anyone can help me anticipate the problem or refer to some TSB.

 

Unfortunately not. I bought it with 64k and when they tried to sell me a warranty for almost 2k, I (perhaps foolishly) declined figuring I was unlikely to spend more than 2k on repairs before the warranty ran out. Of course, I had a 76 Corolla and an 89 Camry, so I'm afraid, now that I'm reading about the Brake Actuator issues, that I might have made a mistake on that one.

 

OH, one other thing: I feel like I heard it last week too, but it seemed very quiet, and now it is louder, but we also made a trip into higher elevations over the weekend (up to 5200 ft. above sea level) and it was louder, but now that we are back at 300', it is quieter and makes fewer "chirps" or "chucks"

 

Well, it is less than 3k miles or 3 months, but the car was an "as is" purchase. I tried to get them to give me a 3k, 3mo and they wouldn't, claiming that because they are a Nissan dealer, they didn't want to get into warrantying a different make. This is the first time I've ever bought a used car from a dealer. All other cars I've bought were from a private party, so my thinking was this: "AS IS" is what I'm used to.

I did register it for the CARFAX buyback guarantee, but I think that only covers things like unreported salvage or mileage manipulation. I have to re-read it.

All this begs the question: What might this be, how much might it cost, and how reliable is the car now? If it is the brake actuator issue, I might opt not to fix it unless I can get some consideration from them on the issue.

 

And yet you are still PriusMaximus, so you must still love the Prius on principle I guess I shouldn't lose hope, although the reason I bought this is that I was sick of my Subaru having constant abs problems....but those only cost $300-500.

Any sign Toyota is going to own up to the faulty design of a piece that seems to fail prematurely and frequently and cost so much?

I'm looking into extended warranties...might spring for one afterall. In the meantime, does this problem seem to happen with 2008 and 2009's as well, or did they change that part. Maybe I'll sell it in a year or two and buy a newer one.

 

Thanks, Patrick. And, yes, it is still an IF, but yesterday it didn't make the noise at all (now that I'm near sea level). I'm thinking an extended warranty might not even cover it since the part is not technically "broken" but perhaps wearing quickly. I'm doing a wait and see on whether to go to the shop with it. Might just wait until the oil change in a few weeks. It's just a bitter pill to have such a "screwed up car sound" on such a new vehicle, but maybe I just have to get over my pride.

 

I would be interested to know how many of these are occurring in places with signficant elevation changes. Mine has not made the noise since Monday. Two days near sea level seemed to resolve the main symptom. I go back up into the hills in a week or so, and I'm expecting it to come back.

Unfortunately, I can't stand the console look of the 2010, so I'll likely live with it until there is another design change. I guess I can console myself that I've saved 2k on gas and a newer model already.

 

So many of the ones at Toyota were Certified and 19k for package 3 etc, or were from back East, and I didn't see those as a good bargain, so I guess you're right. I'd rather pay 15k and have 4k for repairs if necessary ;-).