Soft Clicking/Clanging From Under Prius At Low Speed??

I only notice this while driving at very low speeds around 5mph. My Prius is only two months old and I've been noticing this noise since I purchased it. It's a light clicking/clanging coming from under the car. The noise sounds like it's coming from the driver's side wheel. The noise is not noticeable when driving at normal speeds. It is easily audible when the car is driving very slowly 3-5mph on battery power. Very strange! Any advice would be appreciated. The car has been perfect except for this little clicking noise at very low speed. The clicking/clanging noise is coming from inside the wheel well or under the car almost like the sound of something in your bicycle spokes. At some point I remember people talking about this noise happening in the newer Prius's but I can't remember... Thanks PC!

 

Thanks for the advice. No, it's definitely not something stuck on the tire. That happens all the time and it's usually just a large pebble. The clicking/clanging noise is coming from inside the wheel well or under the car almost like the sound of something in your bicycle spokes. At some point I remember people talking about this noise happening in the newer Prius's but I can't remember...

 

Yes!! Thank you, yes that's it... You can only hear it with the windows down at slow speeds. It's totally random. Sometimes you don't hear it. What do you think it is?! I've heard others reporting something similar. I'm guessing it might not be anything to worry about but WHAT is it???

 

That's not it. The sound is not a whir and does not occur while the engine is off, only while driving slowly. problem child knows exactly what I'm talking about. What you are describing is normal and is covered in the manual.

 

The noise has nothing to do with turning. It happens while the car is going straight at very low speeds.

 

Richard,

Thank you for your concern. No, it does not happen all the time when going slow. Seems to happen right after turning the car on. I can only hear it with the window open while going at a crawl with the engine off. Sounds like a clanging/clicking inside the wheel. The clicking gets faster when I speed up and gets slower when I slow down. It's like the sound of something in your bicycle spokes. When I start to accelerate to normal driving speed it is no longer audible and doesn't seem to affect normal driving. Like I mentioned, it's sporadic but seems to occur more when I first start the car and drive slowly. It's like there's something inside the driver's side wheel because the clicking noise sounds like it's reverberating inside of something metal giving it a "clanging" quality. It's audible while going straight or turning at low speeds. Let me know what you think. Thank you!

 

Holy 08 Prius weirdness!! What is going on here? Maybe there's something loose inside the tire tube? At this point I'm stumped. I hear folks describing similar sounds on the new Prius but no explanation... Someone will figure this out.

 

Possible Explanation!

The hub caps on the new Prius are made of a polymer/plastic material and make a similar crunching sound when I push them with my hands. Maybe the caps are just making the noise at low speeds(that's the only time it's audible). Did Toyota change the design of the hubcaps in 08? Maybe this is what's causing the clicking at low speeds?