2015 Prius four - suspension (?) metallic clank/noise occasionally on random bumps

So I noticed this when I had my windows down and the music off (or very low) for the past few weeks (at this point). About 3800 miles on the car, and maybe once or twice during a drive It is an occasional clank/ metallic noise that sounds like it is coming from either the left or right side depending on which tire hits the bump. But I can go over any number of bumps before and after with no noise at all, and it's not like I'm hearing it on just large bumps/ potholes. I've never heard it on any speed bumps.

I have a feeling it is when only one tire drops down a bit from a small bump, but that is only a feeling, and it's on small bumps.

I tried looking up other threads on here for suspension noise, but mostly only finding things dating back to 2011 or so with brake caliper pins, possibly motor mount but nothing really recent.

I'm going to take it in to the dealer on Tuesday, but my guess is they are going to say they couldn't replicate the noise, please pay up for the diagnostic since they couldn't find anything even though it is under warranty. I remember along time ago taking a previous car (Ford) to the dealership for a noise and they couldn't replicate it, took the guy for a test ride and they heard the noise in the first 30 seconds....very different and reproducible noise though.

Any suggestions or thoughts on what this might be? Thanks for any help.

 

Thanks guys,

I'll try to see if I can get them to do a ride along with me frodoz737, good idea. I have a dash cam and turned on the mic today to see if I could pick up to sound. I did pick up the sound but it sounded more like I just tapped on the camera rather than the metallic sound I actually hear, plus all the wind noise didn't help. Oh well.

I figured it was under warrenty and I shouldn't be charged but the service guy "M" said only if they find something there would be no charge- strange. Then I had set up an appointment last week for an oil change/tire rotation on my prius v, told him about my coupon (from their service dept) for 69.95 and he tried to say that was for conventional oil only. I showed him where it stated it was for synthetic. Ok, no problem he would put the coupon in for me. But it would still end up being 89.95 with what ever fees they tacked on. Seemed a bit excessive but ok. I couldn't wait the 2.5-3 hours it was going to take last week so I rescheduled for today.

Dropped the car off this morning with a different (nicer) guy, saw the 89.95 listed and thought ok, came back to pick the car up and the bill was now $130. I'm assuming the 89 was for labor and the added was for oil and oil filter (from what i saw). So 130 is their standard price. Talked to the guy who helped me out this morning about the coupon the other guy was supposed to have on there- he helped me out and gave me the correct price of 69.95 total. Said there is no extra fees on top of that price and there shouldn't be. So it seems like the first guy was just trying screw me over- not cool.

 

I probably should turn in the first guy, but the second was very helpful.


Brought the car in today and the good adviser had a tech ride with me to confirm the noise. Thankfully I happened upon a really bumpy road and you could really hear it. So not just my imagination . The adviser said a master mechanic checked everything which looked fine and couldn't find anything but did adjusted the backing plate (? - I think thats what he said) on the brakes. Apparently that seemed to help a little bit on their test drive, only hearing it at faster speeds and bigger bumps. They also put a little bit of foam on the back of my license plate (worth a try).

Since they couldn't find anything they are bumping it up to Toyota and starting a case file to see if there are any other reports of this. They said they would contact me within a few weeks and have me back to do a test drive with the Toyota specialist.

So we'll see- keep your fingers crossed for me.

On a side note- my wife drove home early today to pick me up so we could go get the car. Unfortunately that was at the same time we had a big storm roll through and drop golf ball size hail. Now I have a bunch of small dents in the roof of my Prius v and two small dents in the hood

 

Good call on the ABS, but it wasn't just a self-check, something was actually broken ( I can't remember exactly what at this point) and had a slight grinding type noise with it which was very noticeable. The only way someone would have missed that is if they didn't actually take it for a test drive. When I arrived back I went for a test drive with the manager and he heard it immediately. They took care of it under warranty so all was good.

 

I just hate filing a claim, still gonna be a $500 deductible, plus having multiple claims. I had a claim on this car two years ago where something hit the roof/rear quarter panel and put a big dent in it just behind the back passenger door and some weird scrapes. No idea what hit it but someone at the repair place thought it looked like an electrical line and come down on it. Then I have a glass claim on my new Prius from June, and another rear bumper hit and run back in Feb, all of which were not my fault (other than getting a stone chip to the window)

Prior to this past two years I've never had a claim. Not a good track record at the moment. So far my premium hasn't increased....

 

Do you know of any solution to this - other than don't run over the reflective markers?

"Dr Dr my arm hurts when I do this"
"Don't do that"