Gen 4 Prius- dashboard rattle from the infotainment area

[Toyota Prius fan]

Hello All, I'm wondering if any other Gen 4 Prius owners have experienced an intermittent (but quite annoying) rattle/ resonance which seems to originate from the infotainment screen area? My (very good) Toyota dealer has tried to fix it and the padding they put in worked for a while but the noise has returned. It's usually ok on really smooth road surfaces but not on anything else. I test drove another Prius Gen 4 before I ordered the car and the rattle from the same area was a lot worse! The car is going back to the dealer in a few weeks to try to resolve things. Also, I'm not sure if a service bulletin has been issued on this problem. Any advice and help would be much appreciated. Many thanks in advance. 

[Cjohnston1982]

This sounds familiar as I once had a Prius Gen 4 and it's quite noticeable. The sound for me appear to come from the large plastic panel just below the drivers speedometer/display unit. The dealer was unable to solve the problem, I padded the unit out but to no avail. The only way I could get it to stop is by pressing the panel down when driving but obviously this isn't a solution.

Interestingly the Gen 4 Plugin doesn't appear to have the same issue 🤷

[Toyota Prius fan]

Many thanks for your reply. That's interesting what you say about where the sound comes from and about the Plugin which is on my shortlist as a replacement. I really like my car and don't want to change it but the sound can be constant on a poorly surfaced road. The dealer wants the car for a couple of days and for me to drive it with them in it so (socially distant I guess!) so hopefully the sound will appear then and they can sort it out. 

[HughL]

Yes, in a 2016 BusEd+. I'd call it a creak rather than a rattle; it does sound like something plastic rubbing against something. Not there on smooth roads; definitely builds up on roughened surfaces. So far dealer has said can't hear anything so won't get inside to see. I need to find a road near to them that sets it off. Annoying rather than intolerable, but it shouldn't really happen at all in an expensive modern car.

 

I've tried to press that panel down while driving but didn't seem to make any difference in my case.

[Toyota Prius fan]

Thanks very much Hugh for your reply. I went out in the car yesterday and paid extra attention to the noise which does sound like what you describe. It also seems to originate from the plastic panel underneath the speedometer unit as per the first reply above. I guess the sound may then come through the centre air vents. The car is due back with the dealer on 2nd December and I really hope they can solve the problem. This is my first Toyota and I'm generally really pleased with it but you're right, it shouldn't happen in an expensive car. If they can't solve it, I'm not sure what to consider next: a Prius Plug-In or Lexus UX maybe. 

[Toyota Prius fan]

Hi All, the Prius spent a day at the dealer last week trying to sort out the dashboard noise. On the way back home it seemed much better and on a longer 100 mile drive yesterday, it only made a very slight noise over the roughest surfaces, the worst being about half a mile from home. The dealer put a lot more padding inside the dashboard generally- hopefully, this will stay in place. I was really pleased with the effort they made to sort it. I was asked to bring it back if needed but hopefully won't need to!