Sometimes my steering wheel squeaks. It sounds like plastic rubbing against plastic. The first dealership said the compartment under the steering wheel was rubbing against the column or something inside and that they made an adjustment and the sound stopped. It didn't. The second dealership told me they couldn't figure it out unless they heard the sound. Since it's not every time I drive, sure enough it made no noise at the dealership that day. The head of the shop looked into it and couldn't figure it out. He dry-lubed behind the steering wheel to get to a spring back there. He did the same for where the steering column comes into the car at the bottom of the car. Good for a few days. Squeeking's back today. Anyone heard of this?
Is your "creaking" the same noise you hear when you lean on the armrest? Try squeezing the ends of silver plastic on your steering wheel. Try pulling your steering wheel up or down. I had this problem about a month after buying my prius. Get a can of WD40 and spray within all the edges of the silver plastic on the steering wheel. Wipe off any excess wd40.
This sounds like it could address the problem. I will look into it. Where is the "pane" near the steering wheel?
Also, I'm not so sure spraying wd-40 all over is a good idea, especially on the interior. Wouldn't that get messy?
My mechanic did the spraying. I just watched him do it. Don't do it if you feel uncomfortable. Take it back to the dealership if you are still under warranty. I'm still not sure if you have the same problem as me. The silver piece(s) on my steering wheel was creaking when it was put under pressure. I showed my mechanic the problem by: 1) Squeezing the bottom of the end of the plastic piece. (When you make turns you end up randomly grabbing different parts of the steering wheel. If you are unluckly you end up grabbing the plastic part to make it creak) 2) Pushing the steering wheel up and down. (this causes the top part of the silver plastic to compress and creak) The mechanic fixed it very slowly using the red straw that comes with a can of wd40. He pressed the can nozzle very lightly. He wiped and caught any excess liquid as he sprayed. He turned the streering wheel upside down and in every direction to ensure that he always sprayed from the top. He paused after every spray to let the liquid settle. He sprayed on all outer edges of the silver plastic (not on the buttons). I am just trying to share where I found my creaking and its solution. Spray at your own risk.
May be off topic, but my 01 Classic had a squeaky steering noise, and was driving me batty. Some folks have changed the steering racks over this, trying to rid the car of noise. It was not the firewall thru packing, as that is a bearing, but was in the rack at the steering shaft outputs, but not really accessible as they are sealed behind the rubber bellow boots, and the solution was to poof some lube into the boot to relube the shaft and seals. Five minutes or so per side, squeak gone instantly. Good luck
