I had a creaking noise that sounded like it was coming from the rear seat passenger side, near the top corner. I removed the trunk cover and it was still there. Folded that side of the the seat down and it went away, even after I put the seat back up, but came back after a little while. On cold mornings (when the dash is a rattle machine...) the noise wasn't there until the car warmed up. In another thread (which I now can't find) somebody mentioned a similar issue that was solved by adjusting the seat latch. I mentioned this to the dealer and they were unable to fix the issue, so I had to bring it back another day after they researched it with the Toyota field engineer. It turns out it was the hybrid battery vent panel making the noise, so they removed it and "insulated contact surfaces" (probably with felt or Teflon tape) and no more noise (at least from there...). Thought I'd share in case somebody else is having the same issue.
Great timing! I have a 5+ month old '10. Virtually perfect over 4500 initial-miles. Only interior noise is a crackling when I press harder on the console armrest pad. Yet to look at it as it's so minor. And a very-occasional rattlesqueak from the middle right dash area. But on Saturday, a cold morning here (45-50F), during a drive I did hear a moan or creak from the right rear hatch area on twisty or bumpy roads. Sure sounds like the sound you've described. Plan to look at the battery vent area and check out a fix - either DIY or dealer. Thanks!!!
All you hearing rattlesqueak and the like, don't you ever hear what can be best described as a faint fluctuating high-pitched whine coming form the dash during acceleration/breaking? You can really only hear it going low speeds where tire noise doesn't take over and of course with the radio off. It almost sounds like a whistling at times. Can anyone relate to this?
Update. After a few days the noise came back, so back to the dealer it went. The Toyota field engineer said to replace the rear seat, so after they came to a decision that the creaking was from the center headrest in the rear seat, they replaced the right seat back, and it seems to have fixed the issue. That's what I thought last week, so time will tell...
Final (hopefully) update: It's been a week since the dealer replaced the right rear seat back, and no noise, so it appears to have resolved the issue.
I am having the same creaking noise from the back seat area, I believe from the right back seat. My question is if the noise is from the center head rest, why did they replace the right back seat area? Also did you just bring it in under warranty service and they gave you no hassles to do all that work? I made a copy of your postings to take it in with me to correct the same noise I'm having
The rear seat back is a 60%/40% split, with the larger part (including the middle headrest) being on the right side. It was covered under warranty. As I mentioned in my posts, they tried 2 previous times (unsuccessfully) to fix the issue, so the Toyota field engineer said to replace the seat back.
