Sound issues in 2008 Prius - What would you do??

Hi to my fellow Prius owners out there! My husband and I have a 2008 Prius. Not sure which pkg came with, but it has the smart key system which works when you touch driver or passenger door or the hatch, , 6-CD changer with the 9 speakers (or is it 8?), Nav system, etc. We bought it brand new after my husband had an accident in our 2007 Prius. We loved it, so went out and bought another as soon as we received our insurance check!

The problem w/ the sound system is a weird one, and I've never read about this anywhere. It has bugged me since Day 1, and I've talked to our Dealer about it at least 3 times. At first, they put in a whole new radio, which did nothing. So they must have heard it then, right?? Here's the problem in a nutshell: There is a "fuzzy sounding" speaker somewhere in the back half of the car, which annoys me to no end. When I turn the balance so as to hear only from the very back speakers, it sounds fine, but as you move the 'line' on the display up toward the middle of the car (where I would normally keep it - so it's fully balanced) the fuzziness starts. I've even narrowed it down to the driver's side, 2 lines up from the back, I believe. The last time I had it in for a tune up at 15,000 miles, I made sure to mention it again, and naturally, the mechanic who actually went out to the car with me, didn't hear a thing wrong with it. So I end up sounding 'nuts' . I KNOW it's there, and so does my family. My next move, when we have a day off I guess, is to take it to another Toyota dealer and see what they have to say. I generally just leave the sound coming from the very back speakers, which sounds fine.

Given the supposed magnitude of problems with recalls and all, I haven't done much about it beyond mentioning it to the dealer at least 3 times. Not to mention we both work full time, have a family, etc, and are as busy as everybody else these days! It sounds so silly, or petty, or nit-picky

Oh, and one more thing - the sound system on our 2007 with the same 6 CD changer and all the speakers, worked GREAT! That really frustrates me no end.


SO, WHAT WOULD YOU DO ?? :wacko:

 

Thanks for this one lone reply!! I forgot to mention the other factors in this problem - it happens in ALL modes; radio, Aux, CDs. And since I realized while writing the post that I wasn't sure, I tried having it come out of just the front on the way home last evening - my husband and I were both in the car - and the fuzziness IS there. I also tried both right and left sides and, sadly, still got the fuzz . Could it be two speakers??

I might also add that the dealer I've been going to has done all the maintenance on the car from the beginning, but it's NOT the place where we bought it. My son knew the Sales Manager in a dealership further away, so we bought it there, and a really great price, but too far to go for routine maintenance.

I even thought about the Lemon Law. I would write directly to Toyota, but again, they pretty much have their hands full.

Thanks again! Anyone else, feel free to add your thoughts!

 

Out of warranty? I'm not understanding what you are referring to. The car has less than 20,000 miles on it, plus it has been an issue since we first brought the car home. As far as sitting in the car with someone at the dealership, that might be an idea...I only sat in the car with one of the mechanics, and didn't 'bounce the sound around' to try to pinpoint exactly where the fuzzy sounds come from. A car audio shop would probably be the best, though not cheapest, way to get to the bottom of this. Thanks for that!

 

The fuzzy sound is there the entire time, whether there is just talk on the radio or music from a CD and everything in between.

The test tones are something I never would have thought of on my own. I appreciate your input!