I've recently noticed a low level squeak coming out of the steering wheel where it meets the column. It happens when the wheel gently turns, mostly to the right. Sounds like something rubbing together, perhaps vinyl or plastic. Wondering if anyone else has had this issue, or what it might be. The car is a 2020 Prius Prime Limited, bought it in August. The car runs like a dream, but have to admit that darn squeak is driving me crazy!
I have not had any problem like yours with my 2020 PP LE. But on my previous 2017 PP Premium, I had rattles coming from the center dash that drove me crazy. It was a GPS antenna or something that was loose and hitting the plastic casing. A visit to a dealer fixed it free. Yeah, that's what a warranty is for.
I had the same problem, but ended up trading in my Prius before dealing with it. The dealership I bought from is not very good with consumer relations. I had an early problem and wanted them to look at it. It was under warranty, but they said if they didn't find anything that the would have to charge me. What?? We settled that quickly.
No one else has experienced the steering wheel squeak? I've made some recordings of it and will go to the dealership after the first of the year. Hopefully they can resolve it. And hopefully they would give me a lot of crap.
Yes, I ran into this with an earlier model year Prius Prime: squeaky steering wheel in cold weather | PriusChat At least another person on here also had it happen. For me at that point, they ended up replacing the steering column after a fairly thorough diagnosis -- see the notes here: squeaky steering wheel in cold weather | PriusChat Interesting that Toyota hasn't "fixed" whatever the issue is through the several model years that have passed since then.
Many thanks for your reply. The situation has not occurred again, but if it does I will certainly refer to your situation. As I said, I also have recordings of the sound, albeit faint. Thanks again, most helpful!
It may be far more expensive to change tooling or modify the supply chain than to just pay to have a very small number of them fixed.
I had some fluid coming down my steering column area, I wonder if thats related to the squeak. Any of you guys that have the squeak also see some fluid (water/oily viscosity) coming down by the steering column?
