I just got back from Town and Country Toyota charlotte, NC. They did my oil change and tire rotation. I also told them the rear spoiler is loose and making noise over bumps, they ordered a new one under warranty. I also wanted a new driver side wiper blade, they also are ordering a new one under warranty. So so far they are doing a good job. I have been there one time before.
View 4 RepliesMy wife has a 2008 Prius. There is a annoying rattle in the rear that seems to be caused by the rear spoiler (between the windows on the hatchback) being loose. how is the hatchback inner trim panel(s) retained, and what is the best method to remove said panels?
View 2 RepliesThe rear spoiler on my 2005 has always had a bit of "flex" to it and I've always been careful not to use it to open or close the hatch. Unfortunately, I can't be sure that others not do that as it really is the place someone would think to grab to close the hatch.
Anyway, the other day I noticed that the spoiler had picked up a nasty rattle whenever the hatch was closed. Looking from the outside in I saw that there appeared to be two plastic fasteners (one on each end) that held the spoiler in place. If I pressed down on one side the other side popped up and vice versa. I was able to get the spoiler back to where it originally was (loose but no real rattle).
The car has never been in an accident and the spoiler doesn't appear to be bent in anyway...it just seems as if the fasteners aren't holding it down as tightly as they should. Is this the norm? Should I replace the fasteners and any instructions on how to do it?
I just got a new 2006 and the spoiler shakes when I close the hatch. Is there a way to get in there and tighten things down/make sure I'm not missing some bolts?
View 4 RepliesOne thing that brought me here is the noise of my liftgate when being closed. When the liftgate contacts the latch it makes a rattle-y/loose sound. The trunk is locked and secure however the sound is very off-putting. I bought my 2010 Prius II as a CPO last year and never really thought much about the noise, only that it didn't sound very pretty.
However, I was recently sideswiped and was put in a 2013 Prius II and the liftgate closes with a solid thunk with no loose rattles. What could be causing this squeaky/rattle sound? I thought it could be my license plate frame since rentals typically don't use frames, but it seems really unlikely.
Every car has its "Persian flaw," but this one irks me. A bird pooped on the car (in several places), and I always addressed the problem by laying wet paper towels over the mess to "pre soak" and then I could wipe it away without damaging the finish underneath.
Well, this time, a bird must have had a healthy diet of grit because that poop acted like sandpaper and put nice scratches into the finish before I could stop what I was doing.
It's not that obvious, but it bothers me. I don't want to attempt to buff out or polish out the scratches without knowing what WILL do the job right. I don't want to make a bigger mess trying to fix it.
I picked up my Prius III last month (love it) and noticed some hairline scratches in the black spoiler, but thought they might wax out as they are pretty faint (they didn't).
Looks like the dealer ran a gritty wash mitt or sponge over the spoiler and swirled the finish. In the bright sun you can see many light scratches in the finish.
I thought about using a gentle polish, but wasn't sure if that was a good move as I think it is just a high gloss plastic and not paint. The last thing I want to do is add more damage.
I did wash, clay, and wax my car as soon as I could and spent some time detailing it and thought the scratches were reduced, but had it out today and they are still there.
Saturday, I parked the car and tried to lock the doors with the fob. The car held a constant beep but would not lock the doors. They locked fine from the driver's door.
Later as I was going over a speed bump, the car bleeped, the cabin light came on and off, and the display showed 'key found' in a period of 10 seconds. This speed bump anomaly happened twice later that day. Dark, I want to wait until dawn before getting serious into the debug.
My first thought is a loose ground wire or 12V connector. The last work was the brake accumulator recall. If the technician did not torque down the ground connector, there would be high resistance leading to the key fob lock problem as well as the speed bump triggered reset.
I also have a miniVCI so before doing any work, I'll use it to look for error codes. There are more than one connector that could be loose and having the codes could give us a clue if it happens again.
My car's rear suspension bushes are getting torn and are making squeaking noise in bumps. I am able to get bush for trailing arm and stabiliser bar. My dealer says that i have to replace the whole knuckle assembly as the bush for that part are not available separately. Is this true or the dealer is trying to earn some quick bucks?
View 2 RepliesHaving brake pads making noise while driving on war zone like roads? Sounds like the front end is falling off. It started after a front brake job. Dealer then replaced all the clips and it was fine for six months. Now starting to make noise again.
View 6 Replies2013 Prius IV.... I just noticed that my right side rear bumper cover has a 1/4 inch gap between the bumper and the quarter panel. I think it's from me sitting on the bumper while tying up my shoes or something. When I apply downward pressure on the rear bumper, the gap widens. The left side is tighter, but does gap out when downward pressure is applied. In any case, the gap is annoying.
View 19 RepliesI noticed that in my car the rear spoiler is not flush with the body of the car, Is there any way to adjust it? By looking at it very briefly it seems that the rear hatch will need to sit lower for better alignment.
View 1 RepliesNoticed a squeak noise from the rear suspension when going over big bumps or humps, even going in or out tall driveways?
View 14 RepliesThis bad squeaking, loose rattling and (sometimes) banging noise from the left rear started happening about a couple weeks ago. I've removed all interior panels, even the exterior bumper thinking there was something loose and nothing. I suspect as a last resort it has to be the suspension despite the car having only 17k km.
What is strange is the rattle increases in sound volume and occurs more often the longer you drive and also if temperatures get colder.
In other words, if I have the car parked in my garage overnight (slightly above 0 C) and immediately drive next morning into sub-freezing temps and on bumpy roads, you don't hear it. But after 5-10 minutes of driving, you start to hear it and gets louder and more frequent.
Searched other threads and some have reported the shock as the problem for 2010/2011 models, but none had any sound or video to compare.
The video shows how bad it is : [URL] ....
I just got a 2006 prius with a wobbly rear spoiler. I pulled it off and took some pictures....It seems like there might be something missing, or is it just that the plastic round things are chipped and thus, the spoiler recesses are not grabbing on? It looks like the round plastic things are riveted in, which I assume will make it difficult to replace.....
View 3 RepliesI almost bought a Gen 2 Prius, right before the introduction of the Gen 3. Then I waited a few years before I finally bought my Gen 3 Prius.
Don't let this out. But it's bothering me that I'm no longer at the top of the Standard Prius evolutionary chain.
The Gen 4 tribe is chipping rocks to make arrow heads... and using fire to cook meat and provide warmth...
Every time I go over a bump, the term Independent Rear Suspension pops in my head. An instrument panel that has multiple colors. I can only grunt and slobber and take what comfort I can from the pale light of the vacuum tube like glow of the Gen 3 instrument panel.
The kid came out today. My friend has a late E320 MBZ and went for a spirited drive. from 20 I pulled on him hard. But back to the title..
I made a U turn in 1st gear with light throttle and then half way through the turn I nailed it causing the rear to break loose and get sideways. My buddy saw smoke coming from the rear tires too.
Lately and quite randomly while going over bumps I am hearing a noise that sounds like one of my struts is loose. I checked both struts to make sure that they were solid in place and they are. I go over several bumps in my neighborhood and I can hear the noise, but at the same time I went over a speed bump fast and when the car came down there was no noise. Today I put the car in neutral to let it roll and drove over some reflectors with my right tire and the noise was a bit worse. I took it apart again just now and nothing seems out of the ordinary.
View 3 RepliesI forgot I had my lift gate open and backed out of the garage...crunch! Broke off the plastic air spoiler thing. It was attached with some kind of adhesive covering 5 bolt heads and a snap on grommet at each end.
I drilled out the old adhesive on the plastic panel and chipped it off the bolts. I hope I can get two new plastic fasteners at Toyota or a body shop. Question...should I just use a two part epoxy (or what else is recommended) on the bolt heads to mount it again?
I just brought home a brand new 2011 Prius base model (it was the dealership's last one...their showroom model...=D)!
Unfortunately, I forgot that the hatchback door opens up REAL high and the spoiler kissed my garage door. Now there is this white mark and I was wondering if I can fix it at home? What is the difficulty level? I'm not really a handy-man so don't want to try to fix it and end up making it looking even worse (unless it's super easy to do).
The mark is not too too noticeable...it's about the size of a pencil tip. It just happens to be white so stands out slightly against the black.
Also, most important, will this small blemish get worse over time and cause the mark to get larger over time (I'm thinking of how a crack can propagate and eventually cause a failure...except this won't be as serious)?
Our 2010 Toyota Camry makes a squealing noise as we back out of our garage.Does this mean we new rear brakes?
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