Has anyone noticed that the driver's side exterior door handle makes a louder sound when the door is opened? It almost feels like something is loose. All of the other handles have a smoother opening and no sound. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
I just now tested all 4 of mine on my 3 day old Prime and there's no difference in sound. Let the dealer check it out to be sure.
I tried it again and maybe it's in my head. I had a Highlander before so these handles are much smaller and not as quiet as the Highlander door handles. How do you like yours? I drive 18 miles to work and have 10 Mike's to spare. I can't wait to see how little I actually have to go to the gas pump. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
I love it, but it's only my 3rd day. More of a mileage workout coming in the next few days. It's a massive improvement over my 2010 Prius II. So far it's all been EV, I have not even tested the engine yet.
Awesome! You have driven less than 30 miles each time you drive ? Or after 30 miles your averaging mainly EV miles? The dealer put door guards on mine and I'm noticing that the driver's side door tends to pop open when I open the door from the outside. It also has a louder knocking noise vs all of the other door right when it opens up so I gotta take it to the dealer for some warranty work. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Right, all my drives have been less than 30 miles round trip, so far. That will change this week with road trips @ 90 and 250 miles. I actually get to see if the engine runs. Good luck on the dealer trip. Probably minor stuff.
Dealer says the handle feeling/noise is normal. It’s isn’t though. I tested out Gen 4 Prius’s on the lot and they all open smoothly. Mine has door edge guards so I’m wondering if that has something to do with why only the drivers door feel like it pops open like it’s jammed on something when I pull on the handle. The sound it makes also makes me believe something is wrong with it. It has a loud popping sound.
I have door edge guard on mine. Not exactly sure what you mean by lauder noise, but I don’t feel or hear anything out of ordinally from my driver side door handle.
That sounds more like issue is with door hinge area rather than the handle. In any case, I'm not feeling anything unusual.
If it is an older car out of warranty, I may try something simple like lubing door hinge. But since it is a brand new car, if I am in your shoes, I would let dealer take care of it. It may be as simple as lubing hinge, but could be much more complex. I own Sienna minivan, and it had a factory recall on door with popping noise, not sure if that is similar to your problem though. It was something like welding of door hinge arm to the door frame was defective and tend to come off. I would not be able to fix that problem if it wasn’t done by professional. Goof luck.
Anything visually obvious about how the door aligns when closed? Are the outer edges aligned with the rest of the body. If so, I would look to something providing pressure on the inside like a door panel that is not pressed in all the way or the rubber buckled or such. I just tried all four of my doors and could not notice anything different or unusual. If I very carefully opened them with minimal handle pressure, they only "popped" open an inch or so. If I slowly closed them, they each made it to about a 1/4" of closed before any notable resistance. Basically engaging the first latch but then requiring a bit of force to get past that last 1/4" and fully close. I would recommend getting the dealer to understand what they are trying to fix. They must understand the problem before I would have any faith that they can fix it. Exploratory surgery by a dealer with no experience and no idea of what they are looking for would make me nervous. Once they can acknowledge the problem, I would feel better about letting them try to fix it. If they can't, ask to talk to a toyota rep.
