Rattles & creaks in my new Prius GEN III

We have this rattle on bumpy roads! Its going into the garage on Thursday, may be wheels need balancing, will wait and see!

 

unfortunately, a hatchback is prone to a lot of rattles because the body flexes more than a sedan or coupe since it is missing the cross structure behind the rear seats...

 

lots of threads here about the noisy interior...I, for one, am surprised and disappointed my Toyota wasn't put together better...

 

I'm now approaching 8,000 miles, and I've had a couple of different sounds. The first was a bit of a rattle from the right rear seat area. It was somewhat pronounced at first, but then it simply disappeared. Possibly something in the mechanism that locks the seat in its upright position, but there is no longer any noise.

The second sound continues -- it is a window rattle in my driver's side front window. The rattle exists at about any speed when the window is open (and the glass is not fully receded into the door), and it also exists when the window is fully closed -- at least at speeds of about 45mph and higher.

I've taken the car back to the dealer for the window. They tried something that lasted about a day. This was something they told me might happen and that I should bring it back in for a more complete investigation (looking into the guts of the door) if the noise returned.

Because the car has been in the body shop more than in my possession for the past six weeks, I haven't yet had a chance to get this addressed. Just today the dealership told me to bring it in anytime this week and they'll get working on it right away. (When I get it back from the body shop tomorrow, it will go right to the dealer's.)

 

I have the exact sasme issues with my car. It's four months old and any semi coarse road causes my center console to creak and rattle. The air vent on the passenger side rattles also. On a smooth road it's fine however, like you stated, the quality of the car suffers from these annoying issues.

My opinion is that the car was designed to be efficiently light therefore the materials are thin plastics and prone to rattles. Just look at the glove compartment plastics they are thin and light.
I wrote a post about the plastic scratching easily. Another quality issue probably from recycled plastics. Because there is a groovy pattern in the plastic surfaces any light scratch is permanent and can't be rubbed out like other cars I've owned.

Bottom line, the 2010 Prius is a great high tech car that isn't rock solid. Turn up the stereo is the only solution that I know. :-[

 

Three months now . . Only two thousand miles. . .but. . . not a single rattle or creak. I am super sensitive to this.

 

I think you are one of the fortunate ones who got a Prius that isn't a rattle trap. Probably luck of the draw which doesn't say much for Toyota quality overall. I've owned Hondas, Mazdas, VW's and Subarus over the years and have never had rattles when the car was under six months old. My concern is that there will be more as the car ages.

Enjoy your car!

 

IF you are getting rattles from the front of your car...PLEASE check under the hood to make sure your hood prop is secured in it's holder. This has happened to many other people, and the rattle is fixed when hooking the prop back in it's holder.

Hopefully this is your case. My car is completely quiet, and I even have coins in my cupholder...

 

Is there a fan in the rear seat battery vent, b/c it sounds like it could be that. I also heard of similar rattles on the fourm being from the rear license plate too...

 

I've been getting a rattle up front around (I think) the front passenger seat area. I have not been able to pinpoint its location. I don't hear it when driving on relatively smooth roads, but it is quite noticeable when going over bumps. I thought I had it remedied when I repositioned the retracted passenger's seat-belt buckle, but with the next bump it was back.

 

The temps up here are getting down in the low 30s(F) and boy the dash rattles bad until the interior warms up! It is worse than my 97 Camry. Oh well a few notches up on the stereo seems to help.