ready to cry

Return it. Usually there's some sort of period (150 miles/3 days) for you to return a car, at least that's how it is for used cars.

 

wow, no idea. i have never experienced anything like this in my gen II. hard to believe gen III would be worse. maybe new tires and sound deadening?

 

Huh.

First, check tyre pressures all around. The front should be 2 psi over the back tyres. Try either lower or higher pressures. Higher will be more bumpy, but maybe not vibrations.

Are harmonics at play here ? Try driving either slower or faster.

Lastly, is it you or the car ? What do passengers say ?

 

Did you happen to have only the rear windows rolled down a bit? That's like the worse thing on the ears.

 

white noise headphones?

 

i get the buffing sound that resonates like a sub woofer when the back window is rolled down more than a few inches. as far as anything else. the car is much quieter than most cars i have driven before (not counting Leaf since it does not make any noise)

 

yes, i get that too, but in many cars.

 

My daughter lives in West Chester, Ohio. She bought a 2011 III in October, and is thrilled with it. Surely the roads are equally good or bad throughout the state? Tire pressures, balance, lateral runout and possibly a damaged wheel or alignment might be causing the problem. Did you test drive the same car that you actually bought over those same roads? Time to take it back to the dealer and have the service manager or a technician ride with you. Good luck.

 

If only a rear window is open, some cars set up quite a racket from the wind.

Oops, missed your edit about the white noise earphones.

 

How far do you drive on the rough, country roads? My 3 week old Prius 4 (2012) travels a half mile each way on a gravel road and driveway. I don't get much speed on the gravel,(and that is certainly a possible difference) but I haven't noticed the noise you describe. Can you get your service guy to drive with you so that he can hear what you are experiencing. Maybe there is a piece of missing insulation somewhere or a window seal that isn't (sealing). It surely shouldn't be roaring.

 

the aerodynamics of the car creates a vacuum as airflow is directed around the car and the vacuum is strongest (or at least seems so) at the rear windows.

when they are open and no other windows are open they create situation where there is air being sucked out of the car due to the vacuum but being impeded because there is no pressure relief (another open window) so you have a situation where the air is flowing out and in at the same time trying to create a balanced air pressure which is impossible due to the forward movement of the car.

this is a very low pitched vibration=like sound like a subwoofer but with no beat that is very very annoying

 

How would a bumpy road figure in ?

 

A rhythmic vacuum correction. ;D

 

bose makes noise cancelling headphones by introducing 'white noise'. you can't hear it but it blocks outside souds to the brain. and, you can listen to your favorite music at the same time.

 

We also notice road noise. My wife is a horse trainer in Ocala area and some of the rural roads are washboarded or just a coarse surface...so the noise transmits into the interior. Fortunately we don't need to travel very far or very fast on these few roads.

I'm sure the application of sound deadening material in the doors (under carpets too) would help cut down.

We traded a 4 Runner for the Prius and the 4 Runner was really quiet on those surfaces.

 

I thought your advice was tongue-in-cheek but in case you're serious, wearing headphones while driving is illegal here in Texas. Probably so in Ohio too.

 

If you cannot overcome the noise, then get a different vehicle.
End of story.