My Toyota Drove Me Crazy For Six Months With A Mystery Noise And You Won’t Believe What It Was

“Click-click-click.” That was the sound I heard when I drove my wife’s Toyota, maybe six months ago, for what was supposed to be a quick errand run. The frequency of the clicks increased as the wheels turned, and eventually, the sound turned into what could best be described as metallic nails against a metallic chalkboard. An independent mechanic and a dealership both failed to correctly diagnose what was wrong with the car. I only figured it out on Friday and my, the cause was profoundly stupid.

My wife’s 2012 Scion iQ has been a reliable workhorse since she picked it up in December 2023. Sheryl never intended on buying the car, but found herself in the car market after our friend wrecked the Toyota Prius we let her borrow, and her then-reliable BMW E39 decided that it was done being a daily driver.

Sheryl has driven her beloved ‘Ike’ nearly 60,000 miles in the time since getting the car. The folks of Toyota never designed her car to be driven 40,000 miles a year, but the Scion has done it without complaint. The only real failure we’ve had thus far, the gas pedal, occurred due to the car’s aftermarket cruise control.

Still, driving 40,000 miles a year is hard on any car, and issues are bound to crop up. In recent months, the CVT has infrequently and randomly stopped engaging and let the engine redline while not actually providing forward momentum. Restarting the car fixes the issue, and while both a Toyota specialist and a dealer have been able to replicate the issue, neither had any idea of a solution other than replacing the whole CVT. However, since the issue hasn’t gotten any worse, both have said to just send it. Maybe it won’t get worse, maybe it will.

Another big problem, at least to Sheryl, is the darn racket the car has been making for the past six months or so. Now, I’m not particularly bothered by certain sounds as long as I can be fairly sure it isn’t serious. Sheryl had taken the car in for numerous inspections, at every inspection concluded with a clean bill of health. Some advisories were usually noted, like the poor condition of the rear drum brakes, but the car was otherwise safe.

That was good enough for me, but not for Sheryl. The clicks began driving her practically insane. In fairness, six months of driving equates to about 20,000 miles for Sheryl, and that’s quite a long time to listen to non-stop “click, click, click, click, click.”

Sometime later in 2024, Sheryl finally had enough time to take the car in long enough to get an in-depth check-up. An independent Toyota mechanic had found that the rear drum brakes were basically spent. The hardware was rusted out, and the shoes had basically no material on them. The indy then spun the rear wheels, and sure, they did make a somewhat similar clicking sound when on the lift. He concluded that the sound had to have come from the drums.

We finally tackled the drum job a little earlier here in 2025. The car now has new shoes, new hardware, and even the drum housing has been replaced. It’s so nice seeing fresh parts. The sound even disappeared, so we declared victory, and Sheryl was happy to have her little ‘Yota back with even better brakes than before.

Then the clicks came back. The clicks weren’t as loud as they used to be, but they were just as persistent. At parking lot speeds, the clicks seemed to come once per tire rotation, and then the frequency increased with vehicle speed. I thought I had tried everything in my diagnosis book. I tried to see if the noise changed with the application of the brakes. I tried to see if the noise changed under cornering. I tried to see if the noise changed under acceleration. I even intentionally hit potholes to see if the noise changed under shock.

Your only hint is what’s missing from the picture below:

I did notice that the noise made a surprising change under the shock of a bump. If I hit a pothole, a distinct metallic scrape and rattle sounds followed the impact of each axle into the pothole. But aside from that, no sort of braking or handling maneuvers changed the clicking noise. The noise always started immediately upon rolling and didn’t stop until the car stopped.

On Friday, I discovered the cause, and it made me do the biggest facepalm I’ve done in a long while. That day, I drove into Chicago for a doctor appointment. Don’t worry, I’m in good enough health! I also got to see this wicked imported Nissan truck. I love that someone is using this thing like a quirky alternative to a Ford F-Series.

Anyway, I heard that rattle every single time I hit one of Chicago’s speed humps and driving in the skyscraper canyons only amplified the noise. It seemed like Cubs fans on every street corner were staring down Sheryl’s clicking Scion.

At one point, I stopped for gas. The pump was slow, and I got bored. Sometimes, I sort of just fart around, like I’ll kick my own car’s tires or check for an oil leak, or whatever. That day, I decided to kick the trim rings that decorate the Scion’s steelies. I was shocked when the trim rings immediately made a familiar click and scrape sound. I then kicked them faster, and my mouth dropped. No way, it couldn’t have been this stupid, can it?

See, Sheryl has had trim rings on her wheels for a very long time. Some of you readers have even complimented them! At first, Sheryl went with plastic trim rings, but these had a knack for popping off of the car after potholes. The ones that survived also had issues with the chrome finish peeling off. So, about halfway through last summer, she switched to trim rings made out of metal.

These rings have held on and keep their finish. They have a better latch design, too. However, I noticed that over time, the metal latches do get weak, allowing the trim ring to sit a few millimeters or so from the face of the wheel lip.

Sure enough, when the tires rotate, the trim ring moves slightly in and slightly out, making the scraping sound we’ve heard for the past six months. It also appears that when the rings do this, they also throw the wheels slightly off balance, making for a high-speed vibration.

Here’s a video showing the noise from just one of the wheels.

Still, “it couldn’t be this.” I thought. “Multiple mechanics didn’t say anything about any trim rings.” However, I had nothing to lose, so I took the trim rings off. Sure enough, it made an immediate, night-and-day difference. Not only was the noise gone, but so were the vibrations.

Sure, it doesn’t look as good now, but the peace and quiet seem to be worth it to Sheryl.

I also realized that in my attempt to diagnose this, I ignored the number one lesson I learned in trade school. When you’re troubleshooting a problem, make sure all affected parts are returned to stock condition first. That way, you can weed out modifications as the cause of your problem. I kept looking for brake problems, but never considered that these trim rings also rotate with the wheel and thus, could be the cause of an issue.

In fairness to the multiple mechanics who looked at this car, they did their inspections on lifts, and I’d be willing to bet that the trim rings didn’t do the clicking thing when no weight was on the wheels.

So, there’s a six-month mystery solved. My wife’s very simple modification became her own nightmare. For now, I’ve bent the latches back and the trim rings are holding ok. Long-term, I might cobble together some sort of securement using zip ties. I’m not entirely sure yet. Sheryl loves the trim rings, so I’ll figure out a way to make them work without her coming home one day unable to say anything but “click-click-click.”

Maybe this can be a lesson. The next time you hear a really weird sound coming from your car, check even the little stuff. You never know when a tiny, harmless mod is the reason for your misery.