Clattering noise from suspension

I have the same problem and often get the same noise when I hit those raised lane dividers. Today I phoned all three local Toyota dealers and they all said they have never heard these complaints. I set an appointment where I bought the car and in a few days will take it in to be checked out.

It seems suspicious that with all the posts in here in Prius Chat that none of the Toyota dealers are admitting to knowing about the problem.

 

That is standard operating procedure for the dealers, unfortunately.

 

I took my car in this morning and the service manager rode with me while I drove over some lane dividers and he clearly heard the noise. They kept the car for another three hours, while I waited, but could not find the cause. I saw them working on the car for quite some time and they took it out for a test drive two more times. The service manager said he contacted a national Toyota tech center and was waiting to get a reply from them. They also lubed the front brake pads/calipers but that did no good. I couldn't wait any longer so I left. But the manager wants me to bring the car back and said they will loan me another car at no cost so I can leave mine with them all day. I'll soon be due for the 5,000 mile servicing so I'll probably leave it with them then.

I got the impression that they do want to diagnose and repair the problem, but they were stumped. Nothing to do now but give them another chance. If that doesn't work I'll take it to another local dealer and let them give it a shot.

This is very strange.

 

I hope all dealers do the same so toyota can finally put out a tsb.

I'm pretty sure this happens to all 2010 Prius out there. It's definitely not an isolated problem. I'm afraid of the long term affects of all that clattering. I dd through nyc so the banging of the calipers will eventually cause some damage.

 

No clattering at all from mine. And we have a good amount of bumpy roads in Chicago, since there's so much construction here.

 

^You're the first in this thread to *not* have heard it (you've verified with windows rolled down?). What's your manuf. date?

 

This is an update of my previous posts in this thread (see above).

I just spoke with the service manager at the dealership where I purchased the car and had taken it in yesterday because of the clattering noise. They couldn't determine the cause after almost four hours of inspecting and test driving so they contacted Toyota Technocal Assistance. I left yesterday before they received a reply because I couldn't wait any longer. Today the manager told me Tech Assistance told him they are aware of the issue and the noise is a "normal characteristic of the suspension."

This sucks.

The service manager is willing to give me a loaner vehicle (at no charge) while I leave my car in the shop all day for them to continue searching for the cause. I'll do this during the scheduled 5,000 servicing. I don't suppose there is much else I can do at this point, except maybe see if another dealership wants to try and solve the problem.

At this point I am not optimistic that Toyota will solve this problem. This is a big letdown for me. I was excited about my Prius when I bought it two months ago but not so excited now.

 

So, the suspension is designed to alert you that you went over a bump?

This is obvious BS. Time to inundate Toyota Customer "Care" with a barrage of calls.

 

Isn't it great of the entire dealership service system?

First they try to get you to go away by making you think your crazy and the only one...because they've never heard of these complaints before...

and if it's so obvious they can't get you to ignore it, then they get "Tech Assistance" to say....the exact opposite.....that they are aware of the issue and it's "normal".

Good Luck. I'm afraid you might need it. At least it sounds like the dealership IS trying to find a reason, even if Tech Assistance is being less than helpful.

 

Better yet, maybe it's time for everyone who has this problem with a car still under warranty to take it to a dealership and have them spend time looking at it. These service departments don't work for free, they charge the time to Toyota. If it begins to cost Toyota $$$, then maybe they will try to resolve the problem.

 

I do think the service dept. at the dealership I am dealing with is indeed trying to help, but it seems obvious Toyota Technical Assistance is full of BS. Although I am not going to obsess over this, I am not going to ignore it either. I'll continue to pursue a resolution to the problem, but keep the inconvenience to myself to a minimum.

There is a likely long-term effect here. This is my first Toyota and perhaps my last. If this problem persists with no resolution, then it's likely I will trade in the car for another soon after I hit the 60,000 mile mark and the drive train is no longer under warranty. This will probably take three or four years. I can always go back to Honda.

Overall, this reflects poorly on Toyota.

 

MFD BY: Toyota Motor Corporation 10/09

I've driven over all sorts of roads with my windows rolled down, and haven't heard anything odd. When I go over bumps I don't hear any clattering, I just hear a nice solid "thunk". I even have my tire pressures at 40/35. Odo is at 10992. It would be great if someone had a recording of this clattering.

 

^Yes, a recording would be most helpful. I don't have a digital recorder available (and I'm broke) but hopefully someone in this thread can do so.

 

mine started clattering at about 9 months old (5k miles). Seemed to start right after an oil change (only) at the dealer. Haven't had time to bring it back yet.

 

So I got a call from my local Toyota dealer after I had a ride with the tech that was going to fix my car. He was able to reproduce my noise like everyone else here hears. They said the problem is fixed. It was loose brake shims. I had the noise coming from the front. I did have my rear brake shims replaced with the TSB for squeaky brakes last year. Anyway, hopefully it fixes the problem as mine was quite loud and annoying. If there is any more news to report on my invoice when I get my car back, I'll list it here. Hopefully after hearing the noise for 10,000 + miles it is gone for good. Also, they said no residual effect with it being loose for that long. I don't know much about brake shims so I guess I have to take their word for it.

 

I just got my Prius back from the dealer. It was the second time I had taken it in for the rattle/clattering (see my earlier posts in this thread). This time they "removed calipers cleaned and lubed pads back." This eliminated about 95% of the noise, although afterwards I ran over a lot of the lane dividers and I could occasionally BARELY hear it. My car is much quieter now, and the shims/pads/calipers do indeed seem to be the source of the rattle. The service manager told me he has heard the same thing in other cars (specifically Scions) and it is nothing to worry about. He also said the lube job is probably not a permanent fix. But I should be able to have them lube it whenever necessary - and without cost - as long as the car is under warranty.

I left my car with them for several hours and they gave me a loaner without charge. It was a 2010 Camry and I drove it over many lane dividers and it didn't make the same sound. It does seem to be something that occurs with some frequency in the Prius. At this point I am satisfied and will not obsess over it.

They also ordered new brake shims for the rear squeak and will install them under the warranty. This will take about an hour and I will take the car back next week.

My dealer's service department kept looking until they found the source of the noise and then took reasonable steps to alleviate it, all at no cost to me, even giving me a loaner vehicle today. I would rather it never have rattled, but it did, it's been taken care of, and I am happy for now.

 

I have had the same problem with my 6 month old (5Kmile) 2010 Prius 4. After several test drives with the tech (Hollywood Toyota in Hollywood, CA) and a day of inspection, he finnaly mentioned it to the shop foreman and he told us that it WAS the front brake calipers and that it requires a "brake fit kit" and that it had not been designed yet and Toyota was aware of this and "working" on the kit? Who know's if they really are working on it? This was about 2 months ago and I have just made a call to Toyota corporate/cust. svc. and am trying to track down where and when this "brake fit kit" will be ready?? This sound occurs going over uneven pavment, road seams, patches, railroad tracks and the reflective lane markers. It does sound like a heat shield, motor mount, shroud etc.. but they say it's the front brake calipers. I guess the "brake fit kit" will supposedly make them tighter or whatever?

 

Took mine in to have them look at it (Toyota Irvine). I get a crazy loud rattle when going over 'bots dots' - changing lanes - but most notably when going over 'cross walks' with lots of dots. Used to think it was my hitch - but it clearly is from the front brakes.

Toyota looked at it, said no problem. I had the service person drive with me, drive over dots (lane changes), and he noted - yes it makes a clanking sound. 30 min later, he said it was normal 'all cars do that'.

The paper work wrote up said something to the extent of "makes noise over extreme bumps".

Before leaving, I kindly asked the service person to reword it - explaining that there is nothing extreme about dots in the road. Took 10 minutes for me to calmly explain that this is not an extreme condition. He said he would reword it and I drove off - kinda doubt it really gets reworded.

I'm surprised others don't hear this as it is very very pronounced, and when running quiet (with windows down), quite annoying...