I have an 2007 touring that is about 4 months old. For a while I have noticed an occasional rattling sound coming from the rear left door area. It mostly happens when I am driving over some uneven road. I think I may have tracked it down to the door panel by the handle, not the door lever, but it is hard to truly pin down. After living with it for a while I have finally lost patience and made an appointment with my dealer to see what he can do about it. In the past, with other cars, I haven't had much luck taking cars in for odd noises. Besides the problem with reproducing the noise on demand, there is the famous "they all sound like that" excuse given by many dealers. Has anyone else had similar noises from their cars? The amplitude of the noise varies, but it can sometimes be loud enough to hear over the radio. Thank you in advance for any feedback.
I am having what sounds like a similar issue to yours on a 2007 Standard Prius. I had a mechanic sit in the back seat behind the driver's seat and they said they couldn't hear the sound while I drove the car. Interesting enough the sound was not as pronounced with someone in the back seat. Also, the mechanic took the car out for a drive and claimed they couldn't hear any sounds. My sound appears to be a metalic tapping sound and is audible when I drive over rough road areas. It seems to be coming from either the door pillar area or as you pointed out the rear left door area. Let us know if you are able to locate the issue. Good luck.
One of the common causes of such rattles are the back seats. Make sure they are completely latched. If they are not, you will get a rattling sound over uneven road, but when someone sits in them, the rattle goes away or is muted. Fold them forward, then give them a good shove back into the upright position. Make sure they click into place. Tom
Once you've confirmed that the rattle is coming from the door (and not the seat), one thing you can do is drive around with the panel removed and see if the noise goes away. If it does, that means the panel is rattling against the inner skin of the door somewhere. But if the noise persists then it's something else inside the door (like a loose wiring harness etc.) The rear door panel is very easy to remove; there's even a secret handle at the bottom to help you pull it straight out.
Thank you for all the replies. I'll try the suggestion of removing the door panel and see if that solves the issue and report back. Thanks again.
About two weeks after I brought home my Prius I heard an intermittent knocking sound. My heart sank to the floor. Did I buy a lemon? Nah, it was just a bottle of water rolling around in the storage space in the door. I hope you find your problem is just a simple one too.
