MAJOR BUYER'S REMORSE

Get the rattles fixed. That's what the warranty is for.

As for noise, FWIW, looking at Consumer Reports ratings, it got the 2nd best possible rating for noise (they don't list db values). CR liked it enough to award Consumer Reports Names Toyota Prius Best New-Car Value, Unseating Honda Fit | PriusChat.

You could try to look for tires w/less road noise and line the inside of the doors and maybe the hatch area with Dynamat or RAAMmat (Mat and Foam Products - RAAMaudio Inc.).

If you really don't like it, sell it, but you'll take a bath on depreciation. Perhaps it's better to wait until there's a gas price spike.

 

Sometimes it's good to vent.

 

FWIW, the five comes with 17 inch wheels, which will transmit a bit more noise and vibration than the 15 inch wheels the lower models come with.

Tell you what, I'll trade you my 15 inchers for your 17s so you can have a quieter ride and better gas mileage.

JK

 

Actually, you bought the equivalent of a $19K Toyota with $5K of hybrid powertrain and $6K of options. Most all $19K cars tend to have rattles and suffer from road noise. If you truly value a quiet cabin over MPG, you probably should have purchased a base Avalon rather than a loaded Prius.

 

sorry for your remorse, maybe it will grow on you. i've never been one for all the extra's, but i paid 30K for my pip and i love it for what it is. it's not a luxury car tho. i don't have any rattles, so, i can see how that would be frustrating.

 

You don't say how long ago you bought the car, but you show a photo of a pearl white package 5 car with my dealership's frames on it. When did you buy the car?If it's been a few days, things can be dealt with.
And, if you are who I think you are, this wasn't a rash purchase made on a whim like you make it sound.
And, you have had the car for weeks... a few months, actually. If this isn't "you" then, who are you?
Incidentally, road noise is utterly relative to prior experience in other cars. It depends on what you're used to, how well you hear (age matters, lots of us suffer from tinnitis), the roads you're on and your driving speeds.... and the 17" wheels and tires on a FIVE package are going to create more road noise than the 15" wheel and tire for sure. While I find little to complain about in the road noise department, I am a Prius driver for years and many many MANY miles... and am not coming out of a luxury car and into Prius, which can be a surprise at first. Also, the lower you are to the ground, the worse the noise can be.

 

^^^
From looking at OP's prior posts, Best time to purchase 2012 | PriusChat says he bought in September 2012.

 

hey di! i just got tinnitus over the last few months, fun huh?

 

Oh Biscuit boy, it's awful... two years + with it now. No getting rid of it.

 

Yes, very early Sept ... it's not that hard to pull him out of it. He knows that.

 

What else did you test drive before buying ?

 

Besides that, what would make the OP happier? Rattles can be fixed under warranty. Interior sound level can be reduced per my earlier post.

Would it be downgrading to a cheaper Prius or other cheaper car? Buying another car that's quieter or "seems" like it's a "better" value? Not many other non-plugin vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel have 45+ mpg combined EPA ratings (Fuel Economy). And... well... some vocal people w/recent Ford hybrids seem to be complaining about their mileage, right or wrong.

There are some other choices w/decent FE but certain automakers and models have reliability ranging from so-so to terrible, in each of those cases much worse than a Prius.

 

no, my doc said the same thing. hopefully, they'll figure something out.

 

Good luck with that. I haven't checked Prius pricing recently esp. model Five, but looking at New 2012 & 2013 Toyota | Camry Hybrid, Prius c, Corolla, RAV4, Tundra, Venza For Sale in Sunnyvale & the Bay Area, I see new '12 and '13 Prius Fives for less than that.

Can't see how a dealer would pay you that much when they'd need to mark it up for resale.

If possible, I'd look at KBB, Edmunds and Nada along w/ads at places like Autotrader and completed (ONLY) Ebay Motors auctions to get a relative idea of how much you'd get.