Do All Dashboards Rattle - Help Putting Me Off Getting Prius

[Rich2508]

I am choosing my new Company car and deciding between a Prius T4 or Lexus CT 200h. I really want the Prius for the following reasons

Looks so much better

Feels more futuristic

Much more space (important have 3 kids andprius+ £200 more so no option)

More gadgets

£35 pm cheaper

However I am really worried by the number of posts mentioning dashboard rattles, I really hate this and could not live with this for 25,000 miles a year. So, is it really that bad or just confined to a small number and is there a dealer fix, or has it been solved on the latest versions?

Please let me know. thank you for taking time to read this.

[MichaelM]

I got my Prius TSpirit December 2009 so it was one of the early series 3.

It did have an annoying rattle in the centre of the dash but my dealer soon cured this.

The side panels of the centre console sometimes make a slight noise but nothing too serious.

These rattle problems of the early series 3 should have been eliminated by now as the model has been

in production for a few years.

I agree the Prius looks much nicer than the Lexus and whilst the Lexus is probably more upmarket inside,

most road test reports comment that its ride comfort is not that good.

[Sagitar]

No rattles in mine . . . . :)

[wass]

We have both a CT200 and a Prius gen2 .The Lexus has the optional 16" wheels and the ride quality issues raised by the expensive to replace low profile 17" rims is no issue at all. The Lexus is a very good car which suits us 2 fine and we have no issues at all with it. I wouldn't recommend the CT200 to anyone with more than just one child. There just isn't sufficient space.

Our prius ,albeit a gen 2 is another excellent car and is far more suited to a families needs, covers a high mileage,in comfort and total reliability. Dash board rattles are purely subjective. One persons annoying rattle simply isn't noticed by another person ( mainly due to the in car entertainment being switched on) I also wondered whether parking the car in the sunshine a lot had the effect of warping some of the plastic panels on the dash very slightly hence causing rattles.... therefore some people have endless issues which their "useless Repairers" cant seem to fix; whilst other people never encounter a problem. Both the CT and the prius are very quiet cars and any noise seems to be loud (like the old story of the clock ticking in the Rolls Royce).

[Parts-King]

You are reading forums, by their very nature, forums bring out the worst in cars, people don't post on how wonderful their car is, (rarely) they post to say they have a rattle, or servicing was expensive or they had a problem with the dealer or whatever. They don't post to say their Prius was rattle free

I ran one for quite a time, no problems with rattles for me

Kingo

[Phlipper]

We've had our 2009 Gen III for two weeks and no dash rattles. Seems pretty solid to me. You do tend to notice every little brr, pip, beep, click as when it's running in EV mode everything seems louder as there's no engine noise but they're hardly worth mentioning really.

We have two toddlers and the car fits us, them and pushchair with ease. The kids love it.

[Chris Dance]

Our 2011 Prius T Spirit Gen 3 has had no rattles. It is a good reliable car; please note Parts King here is a very satisfied Prius owner putting it in writing on a forum.

On a recent fast hard drive to and from Colchester using M25 and A12 achieved 60.9 MPG.

[Rich2508]

Thanks everyone who has replied so far, much appreciated. Getting less worried about the interior build quality now, but also just seen the CT Advanced Model with beautiful tan interior! What a dilemma, hopefully solved at the weekend when I take the family down and find I can't squeeze them in the Lexus, whereas I have tried them in the Prius and they fit fine.

[aCactus]

I cured my rattle by wrapping the charger cable for my phone in a cloth before putting it in the glovebox.

[Dave R.]

Had two GenIII T-Spirits now since 2009 and no rattles in either of them.

You say yours will be a company car.... then clearly if you do get a rattle, the solution is to turn up the stereo! :)

[kithmo]

I cured my rattle by wrapping the charger cable for my phone in a cloth before putting it in the glovebox.

I found the same, the rattles I had in the Gen 3 were down to various items I had put in the car. e.g. sun glasses in the overhead holder, my house keys in the drivers door pull, a can of de-icer under the front passenger seat, an ice scraper in the bottom glove box, coins in the cup holder and a tyre pressure gauge in the centre console. Not one creak or rattle from any other source.

Most of the above could have been avoided though if Toyota had thought to pad the various storage areas with felt. That is my next project with the Prius+.

[AGL]

The centre console of my 2010 Gen III rattles a touch. Nothing that a good bit of pressure here and there doesn't fix.

As for the OP, mine's a company car and there really is nothing out there to rival it for size and BIK. My previous car was a 320ED, which was more comfortable and better to drive, but still not sure i'd swap back. Even more so since the ED went to 13%? BIK in April.

[Mkuk0]

Had gen 2 for 4 years, and now a gen 3 and never had a rattle yet. I would love to love a CT but it just seems so small compared to the Prius.

[johalareewi]

I would love to love a CT but it just seems so small compared to the Prius.

Couple of posters have said the Prius+ is like a large CT.

You might want to take a look.

Edit:

Here's one

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/148271-changed-from-a-gen-3-to-a-prius/