Prius Prime sounds like in B gear at all times

The first and only thing that has failed on our Prius thus far was the right rear wheel bearing at 71k miles.

I've seen the same type of bearing made by the same manufacturer fail in other-brand cars at similar mileage. Even Florida has curbs and potholes, contacting either will stress the item.

They just don't make 'em like they used to.

I'm surprised that it's two bad bearings on yours though. But... maybe it was just one and once they realized the warranty was paying for it... wink-wink.

Hope it's quiet now!

 

the gravel roads probably did it, and i don't think there's anything you can do. speed probably has an effect as you generate heat.
hopefuly they installed quality bearings.
we've never had a bad bearing, even here in salt country

 

I suspect the right front wheel bearing went bad from a curb collisions at some point and the Toyota Stealership is replacing both of them because they get more money from the warranty transaction with Toyota that way... It also might be in their antiquated repair manual that you need to replace both.

 

This Prius will go way beyond 300K miles if you don't get scammed by the stealerships trying to sell you a new one. Once your warranty work expires with them, find a friend or family member or Prius expert on here for all future maintenance if you want to still be driving it in 10 years or more.

 

Lots of people never noticed the bearings going bad in their last car because

1) in most cases the noise comes on very gradually

2) most peoples' last car had a gas engine making noises to cover for it.

Then they trade in the car, rave about how quiet the new one is and the next owner of their old car shows up on a forum asking about soundproofing, almost like clockwork.

There was a time when these cartridge bearings could be expected to last well over 100k, but we are past that manufacturing quality peak and some shareholder is getting the better end of it now.

I don't think your car will have any difficulty making it to 200k. As far as mechanical repairs go, this is both ordinary and low-impact. It would be weird not to have something break on a path that long.