Rattle or Buzz on Passenger Side? Check Here:

Let us know if this worked over a period of several months. Usually, Prius rattles are more persistant in the colder and dryer seasons. Many of us with the 2010's had hoped by 2012 Toyota would have solved the rattle issues in the G3s.

 

I drive a CT200h. I found this post while searching for a solution to a passenger side rattle for my car. Our cars sharing the same platform I usual look here for answers. The Lexus forums are of limited use. The Lexus guys tend to be less hands on.

This post didn't solve my problem but I wanted to share an observation. On my car, there are no "rabbit holes". At least none that are accessible. Lexus sealed those holes with a metal plates. The windshield cover, clips, etc are very similar but when you take the covers off and try to reach for the rabbit hole, you'll find a metal plate right there. It's part of the body.

I thought I'd note it here since they might have changed this on the upcoming Gen IV Prius. Who knows, maybe they learned from customer feedback e.g. TSB on the fender attachment clips.

 

For those who were able to eliminate the rattle by packing rags into this area, how much moisture do they absorb, if any, when it rains and snows? I just tried this and the noise is gone. This is great, but I don't want to create a much worse problem in the future. Thanks!!

 

Congrats on solving the buzz-rattle. Not everyone was able to do so. The Toyota fix is very expensive as the right fender and triagular window need to be removed to replace the defective fender clip. If you packed the rags deep enough into the holes, I doubt much moisture will get trapped in the cavity. Mine have been embedded in there for years with no sign of corrosion on the fender.

 

Thanks to Canard for posting the video a few years ago, and also to those who contributed their input to this rattling noise problem. My 2010 Prius is experiencing the exact same problem as Canard's video. There are a few suggestions in this thread, including stuffing rags in the rabbit hole and changing of the panel clips. Stuffing rags is not preferred because of the weather condition here. Changing the clip is so labour intensive and expensive if done by dealers. I have to make sure what the cause is before I take any action.

Here is what I did to test it:

On the outside of the vehicle's front fender, bang on the area right beneath the triangular window and above the Hybrid logo with your fist. The thumping sound should be quite solid. If you can hear rattling noise when you bang on it, that will most likely be the problem side. Now you can use a thin piece of rubber sheet (cork, gasket sheet, etc. about 1/8" thick), place it in between where the fender and the triangular window trim corner pointing to the front of the vehicle. This would press the fender panel tight against the body and in return eliminate the noise. Now if you bang on the fender panel again, you'd notice the difference on the noise. If the noise is gone for the next day or two, you know for sure it is the fender clip issue.

 

I would just like to tell you about a rattle I have had in my 2014 Avalon Hybrid XLE Touring since it was new, about two years ago. I live in a Chicago suburb. For a long time I thought it was coming from the hybrid cooling fan. In the winter I never heard the rattle. When spring arrived so did the rattle. Later I thought it was a rear seat belt rattling. Sounded like it was coming from the rear. Two days ago I found the rattle. I have an Illinois IPASS toll transponder attached to my windshield. It is solidly attached with two pieces of Velcro on the windshield and two on the back of the IPASS. The rattle was coming from the inside of the IPASS when it would get hot from the sun. I thought I would never find that rattle and you just can not imagine what a wonderful relief it is to have found it. If any of you have a like device on your windshield and have a rattle inside your car this would be a good place to look. Very weird circumstance.

 

I too managed to stuff some foam rubber into the "rabbit hole" in the passenger's side A pillar. It seems to have fixed the low level but quite annoying buzz. Toyota, it seems, issued a TSB about this some time ago:

T-SB-0064-12.

Here's a description of the official fix:

2010-11 Toyota Prius Fender Rattle Noise - TSB

Much harder than stuffing foam rubber! My dealer quoted me $779 to fix it.

As to the foam rubber picking up water and causing rust, I tried to fix this earlier by removing the wheel well cover over the front, passenger's side wheel and stuffing foam rubber up there, thinking that would solve the problem. It didn't, of course, but when I did my current fix, I also removed the foam rubber I had stuffed up there. it was dry. This lower location is subject to more water spray than the A pillar "rabbit hole", so I wouldn't worry too much about it causing corrosion.

 

I spoke too soon. The buzzing is still there, if a bit diminished. It does not come from the A pillar. I'll try to stuff foam rubber into the other "rabbit hole" beneath the A pillar next time I work on the car.

 

I agree, the noise it transmitted up the A pillar so stuffing foam rubber in its rabbit hole would diminish the sound a bit, but the "outer" rabbit hole is the one next to the clip. Put enough foam rubber in there to stop it from vibrating but be careful not to distort the outer fender wall. I used a blunted jamming tool to accomplish this.

 

Update. I just finished a 725 mile trek in my 2010 Prius, after stuffing some foam rubber into the lower "rabbit hole". The buzzing has gone away!

An unrelated datum from the trip. I drove the first leg, 362 miles, and my son drove the return trip. I heard no buzzing from either the driver's or passengers seat. The Prius is a fairly quiet car. At one point during the return trip we were on an almost deserted interstate, and I happened to glance at our speed after we had passed a couple of semis. 80MPH indicated, 78MPH actual. I pointed this out to my son, who mentioned that the car was so quiet that he had hardly noticed the speed. "My Mazda usually tells me when I'm going this fast by the engine, wind, and tire noise it makes!".

 

As alternative solution, I glued the vent window rubber to the fender. This stopped the rattle, at least for 2 days so far so good.
You may notice a 2- 3 mm play between window and body and this solution completely stops it. Avoid to glue the last 2 cm of the front lower corner, this will allow water to get out when it rains.

 

I'm definitely experiencing the same rattle as shown the videos Canard posted early on...the only difference is I purchased my 2010 Prius back in 2012 with ~14k miles, and never heard anything until last week at ~102k miles when it was returned from the dealership after having the repair mentioned in the Warranty Enhancement Notification ZE3 (which I had to pay for out of pocket as they say my rebuilt vehicle isn't covered)...is it really possible that this is only just now showing up??

 

there was very little rattle when i took it in for the TSB before warranty expired about 50,000 miles (they refused to fix it) and now over 100,000 it's noticeable, although the glove-box rattle is much worse.

I may need to try some of those DIY fixes/

 

WOW!
This is one easy and effective fix.
Based on the info (and PM) from the poster, I noticed myself that the front corner of the triangular window moves in the relation to the fender when pressed. Furthermore, when tapping fender in that area, there is clearance and noise. So, I glued the window's gasket to the fender using crazy glue. I pressed it for a few minutes and the movement and tapping noise are gone. Interestingly, similar issue is present on the driver's side. Sure enough, when the right side was quiet, i could hear tapping/popping on the left while driving.
Many thanks to Abarnabe again!