Vibration and a rattle

Check to make sure that the spoiler on the rear is tight because that can raddle.
next, check the cabin filter to make sure all the screws and filter were replaced correctly.
Good luck let us know how it went....

 

There are so many squeaks and rattles in the Prius, not sure you can address them all. It's just the way the car is built, too many clips and they can rattle in all different places

 

Driving on broken northern California roads and PG&E created sink holes and uneven road construction in San Francisco...I can actually say my 2013 Prius has no rattles as long as all the gear I've put in the car doesn't rattle.
I would say push on anything you can possibly see inside and out of the car - hubcaps to headliner - and see if anything clips into place or has extra give.

You can also try to remove everything that you've put in the vehicle to see if that helps. I wonder if your 12volt battery is properly tied down in the trunk.

Good luck!

 

I have never sat in a Prius that did not rattle... EVERYWHERE. I confirmed best I could for my Prius that there were no rattles by test driving over the biggest bumps and cracks on the road. I was rattle free for 2 weeks. It started somewhere at the passenger B pillar and slowly spread to every nook and cranny in the car. There is no escaping it. Good luck.

 

It is true. My "12 Prius rattles more than my 12 year old camry. So much interior plastic, and no way to escape it. Turning up the music volume is the only escape choice. However, by gf "09 Gen II Prius doesn't rattle as much as mine. Go figure.

 

This saddens me. One thing I can't STAND is rattles... I just test drove an '11, and it had one that essentially totalled the car in my mind. Worthless. This bums me out to find that it's this common. Not sure I can endure that. I really want the fuel economy and Toyota reliability. Might have to derail my plans now... either wait to see if the 2015 would be better suited to have less rattles, or go with a Subaru Impreza/XV Crosstrek instead. Son of a....

 

^ Google "dynamat"

 

I kind of don't buy the excuse that because so much of the interior is plastic it rattles and that is just the nature of the beast.
My Honda Fit interior was mostly hard plastic and it was rattle free.

IMO the Prius just wasn't designed very well in this regard.

I can live with the degree of rattle that seems to of manifested in my Prius. It's OK. But I can't give the Prius high grades in regards to this issue.

As far as hunting down the cause? It depends on how much energy you are willing to invest.

I'd say, if you parlayed a rattle into a new set of tires, you did pretty well.

I could list a laundry list of places you might check, but there are potentially so many it's almost ridiculous unless you own the car and can actually sit in the vehicle and hear the sounds.

One annoying rattle I was able to track down and easily fix came early in ownership. Toyota in all their wisdom only put two screw inlets for the rear license frame bracket. I have a frame and it was vibrating. A bit of foam/sponge backing behind the rear license plate fixed this rattle specifically for me.

 

I get a rattle from the back of my 2011 Prius as well. I have tried everything and I think it is probably the plastic storage bin. I put some sponge rubber around it and that seems to have helped. Rattles bother me but I have come to the conclusion that you are not going to stop all the rattles in a Prius. You are probably going to have rattles in other cars as well because they all have lots of plastic. Sign of the times unfortunately.

 

I took my 2013 II to the dealer on 5/10 for scheduled appt to look into a rattle. I was not looking forward to going as I figured it was a waste of my time and theirs as rattles are hard to isolate. Even the service mgr was less than thrilled writing this up. My major rattle ( there are many) that bothered me was coming from the rt front dash area; i.e. near the glove boxes. I tried emptying top / bottom glove boxes - no dice. Tried emptying tray below flying bridge - no dice. Seemed worse when someone was actually in the front passenger seat - can't confirm that though. I like my dealer very much, bought my wifes and my car from them; they seem very fair and reasonable - gave me a loaner for the day while they looked into this. Lo and behold they found and fixed it. Turns out it was the rt side - support of the tray underneath the flying bridge ( there is a left and rt support for that tray area...) , guess the rt support was loose. They isloated it, put some padding in it and secured it better than it had been before. I couldn't be happier. Long story short....sounds like your rattle my be near the location of the rattle i had - take a look at this little support / panel on rt side - you may be able to monkey w/ this yourself. Good luck, keep us updated.

 

Like someone above said, the Honda Fit is pretty amazing...my Gen 1 2008 was rattle free...even after smacking it into a few things and smacking a few things inside of the car (everything fits in the FIT!)...
But like I said above, I've had my 2013 for 5 months and don't have rattles...I live in SF and drive around the bay area on all the broken pavement...

The one thing that HAS been bothering me is the Battery Fan which seems to ramp up frequently now...it sounds like road noise as if the rear door was partially open! ugh.