Annoying Rattle

They are aluminum with plastic inserts. Gen3 was aluminum with plastic hubcaps. Aluminum makes wheels lighter, and plastics lower drag.

Gen3 wheel without hubcap:


Gen3 with hubcap:


You could probably remove those plastic inserts if you prefered the look, although nobody yet posted how those wheels look without the plastic inserts. If you try it, be sure to post some pictures.

 

It's the Touring wheels that have plastic inserts between the spokes.
I'll bet if the inserts were removed, wheel turbulence would increase and MPGs would go down a couple.

 

congrats and welcome. of course, we know nothing about the idiosyncrasies of the 2016. i would advise taking the service manager for a ride and let them diagnose.
when you have time, please do a thorough review for us, with pics if possible. thanks, and all the best!

 

Gen 3 17" rims were/are solid aluminum. That tipped us to going with that model:

 

Do we know what the backspacing on the new wheels is? If the Gen 3 wheels would fit, I think it would look a lot nicer than the new two-tone 17".

 

I've assumed they're the same, but nothing to back it up. The tire sizes are the same, I would hope they're the same.

That's our wheel in the pic btw, love the look.

 

Did you try to "bang" on the interior door below the window? It may be just a loose piece of molding that isn't all the way snapped into place.

Also, do you have your stereo playing at a louder level? I had an issue with the driver side JBL speaker "buzzing" the housing when listening to music with heavier bass.

 

I just picked up my new Prius 4 last week. Great car. I appear to have the same problem. The car exhibits an intermittent buzzing from the dash area to the left of the steering wheel that is related to engine speed. I'm thinking that it is a harmonic resonance. Keoka, did you ever find a resolution to this problem? I would love to know what it was. Thank you. Dave

 

Dash buzzing on uneven roads on wifes, is the area near dash speakers. Press that area and noise goes away.

 

Here is my post from the troubleshooting thread.
Hope this guys help you find your rattle. Here was my fix. View attachment 111455

Attached is a Pic of under my driver side dash that a annoying rattle was coming from. The 2 white vents located under the driver side dash is what was causing alot of annoying rattles in my 3 touring. Putting 2 thick rolled felt between the black piece / white vent resolved the rattles.

 

I drove the car in February, it was a 2 Eco, and noticed the buzzing coming from the door as soon as I started driving.

 

I thought mine developed a rattle/buzzing on week two and, every time I drove on the highway, both myself and my wife thought it was coming from different places. I swore it was on the left side of the dash and she thought it was closer to the center vents. We never could find the buzz and said screw it, turn up the radio. Two months later we went to dinner with the family and while on the highway my BIL reached over and pulled the garage opener off the drivers visor and said it was driving him nuts because it was making noise. Boy did my wife and I feel like fools.

 

Thanks a lot for the tip! I hear the rattle for almost two months now. Finally found this post and looked under the driver side dash. This cover that is underneath is very week and it is trembling. I did exactly what you did. Hopefully it is fixed. Will need to test in the next few days. If my insertion does not hold, I will have to think how to attach it more permanently (double side tape or something).