I'm really hoping someone else has experienced this and/or has some advice. A very long story short.... after about 10 visits to the dealer and recording the noise last spring, we finally discovered the source of the clanking noise whenever I would go over a bump. They replaced the bumpers where the rear hatch meets the car. It's an absolute maddening noise and one I thought was gone. Now that the cold weather has also returned, the noise is back. Combination of wear and tear on the car and cold weather?? Not sure at this point. I called the dealer again and I'm beyond frustrated with the lack of service. The underlying attitude feels like I should just deal with it even though the noise started before the 36,000 mile warranty expired. Potentially I could pay to have the bumpers replaced and just count on having to pay for those twice a year, but that seems ridiculous as well. I guess what i'm looking for is advice on how to deal with this as well as if anyone else has experienced this noise. I'm at the point I want to take a loss and trade the car in at another dealer and be done with it. I love the car otherwise and just want the noise to stop. Thank you! Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
welcome! it seems to me that if they replaced the bumper, and the noise left with the old one, they must have been on the right track. ask them what was making the noise. perhaps the same is happening to the replacement. call toyota customer service and open a case. hopefully they will put a little heat on the dealer. all the best!
My bets are on the hatch latch needing adjustment, replacing the rubber cushions may have just raised the hatch enough to take up the slack and now they've bedded in there's some slack again.
