Hello, I apologize if this has been discussed in the past. My '10 Prius III has from day one had a quite audible groaning and creaking noise coming from the right rear wheel. It is triggered by the an uneven paving or going up a small incline of a driveway. The dealer has never been able to find it (1.5 years and counting) and now a Toyota engineer who hasn't driven it is claiming it is the normal sound of the unibody flex of the car. They keep my car for three days and take everything off the car and remove the back seat but the sound is still there. It is even getting worse. Personally, I can't imagine such a loud sound that is triggered by even the smallest road unevenness could be normal. They claim all 2010 models do it. With the radio off and driving 20MPH or slower it is easy to hear. Does anyone else have this problem and has anyone gotten any info on it that would be helpful? IMHO the sound is not at all acceptable for a $30K car and a Toyota at that. Thanks.
My car has the same problem. Check the Battery Vent area around the right side of back seats. That piece of plastic(vent) is very loose. When you push it, it will make some creaking noise. That's the noise source. My dealer found the source but they don't know how to solve the problem. I think some IKEA sticking adhesive pads will fix it. I will ask them to open the vent cover and have a look next time.
There is a common problem with the hatch. See this link: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...finder-multi-mic-stethoscope.html#post1294961
I rolled up a piece of the handyman's secret weapon: duct tape and wedged it between the vent and the hole it comes out of. Did the trick but I wasn't getting a rattle from it.
Website uploaded before I was done. Thanks to all. The Toyota field "expert" is driving my car Thursday and I will include all these responses as well as the hatch noise ones too. Hopefully they won't expect me to do the repairs given the road map you all have provided.
