okay had my Xa for a month with 1500 miles on it now.. all of a sudden im hearing a semi quiet clicking noise kinda like a bike with a card in the spokes when im driving -- and yes it does speed up/slow down depending on my mph. any ideas on what that could be - im pretty much mechanically impaired so any suggestions would be appreciated.

HUMMMMM. Lets see.... anythin stuck under the car... plastic bags,sticks, dogs? lol?UMM where does it seam to come from?

Dave

Do you have any mods on the car?

If not, take a look at your tires. You may have some crap stuck inside one ofthe treads. Maybe even a nail or screw. ;)

Check for cards in your spokes yet?

I would say it's something hanging from you wheel wells and smacking against your tires.

Sound coming from front or rear? Could be the splash guard in the wheel well!

I had the same issue - I believe it's one of the hubcaps (mine is stock for now) probably up front. What I did was just take them off and put them back on in nearly the same spot, and the clicking vanished.

it may be that -- my car is completely stock so it could be a definite possibility.. im just praying its something insignificant.. its come from the front of the car usually more pronounced when im turned towards the right or angled right.

Sounds like one of two things ...

One, the metal wire that holds the hub-caps into place. Sometimes the wheel gets dirty, ( good possibility on front with brake dust ) or wears where the wire holds the cap into place. Pop the cap off, and take a look for any wear patterns. If so, try readjusting the cap, or repainting the spot that is worn.

Second, I have a clicking sound some times in the front due to the aftermarket wheels and tires i have installed. In some spots, if i turn, the tire rubs the plastic and makes a clicking sound.

I had a Plymouth Acclaim that had squeeky hub caps. Turned out to be the first thing i listed above. I washed the wheels off really good, and repainted them, no more squeeks.

Does the sound go away when you press the brake?
Sometimes the front pads will move around on the calipers.
The pads might need shims.

If the click gets worse with the wheel turned I would think it was one of the CV axles. Check to see if the boots are torn.

it may be that -- my car is completely stock so it could be a definite possibility.. im just praying its something insignificant.. its come from the front of the car usually more pronounced when im turned towards the right or angled right.

Yeah, mine got worse when turning too, it's probably the same problem- thankfully, it's minor. :)

OK. xA, born on 7/19/04. Suddenly, the other day after going to the polo matches (really), I heard a clicking in the left front of my baby.

Sounded similar to the other posts here so I decided it had to be:

The hubcap - NOPE
The brake pads and or caliper - NOPE
Something in the hubcap - NOPE
Something in the wheel - YEAH BABY, YEAH.

Found it by taking the hubcap off, took the wheel off and poked around BEHIND the rotor with a soft piece of wood.

Turns out the road to and from the polo field was loose gravel. A tiny chunk of rock (about 10mm max) had gotten into the metal dish behind the rotor and would rattle about at slow speeds bumping into the caliper and the metal plate. Once I got rolling above 11 MPH it would disappear.

SO, after the poking about, the rock fell out and no more noise!!!!

I suggest that anyone with the issue of clicking in your wheel check the hubcap first then dig a little deeper. I shudder to think what a shop would have charged to track down that little rock.

****ONE TIP, when I had it up on the jack, I had to put the car in neutral so I could rotate the front wheel. Without the rotating you can't tell if the item making the clicking is still in there.

Later,

I once had a clicking noise on a relatively new Ford Ranger. Traced it down to the left front wheel. Could see nothing wrong so I pulled the hubcap with intention to pull wheel to look behind it. I found one of the lug nuts loose and rolling around in the hubcap. Later I checked out the owners manual and found instructions to retorque the lug nuts after 1000 miles. So I learned a new thing that day.

I had the same problem and one of my lug nuts was loose so b4 you get worried check the lug nuts on the car and see if that fixes your problem

i have a 2005 xA, standard transmission, less than 11k mileage. i have a clicking noise that comes from the left front wheel. the noise decreases and stops as i slow down the car and stop. i took it in and the dealer tightened the suspension which stopped the noise for a while but it came back. my dealer then told me that all scions eventually develop these noises and it's not something i should worry. i tried removing the hubcap but the noise was still there. anyone else had this issue? thanks.

It's funny how dealers tell you crap like that. It's never normal to hear noises that shouldn't be there. He was just too lazy too lazy to fix it for good!

i am having this same issue. its been doing it for awhile now, but it seems louder today. its been to the dealer about 3 times, to no avail. that was when it was under warranty of course. now its not. im going to take off the hub cap today and look at the lug nuts. they really shouldnt be loose at all. but ill look for something in the tire tread as well. hope i find the problem and its not the cv joints or axle. i can see the cv boot andf its not ripped or torn or anything. so i dont know.