I've had issues with my 08 xB since about 2200 miles, (now has little over 7500). I started having a clunk noise when slowing down and immediately thought it was my brakes. Brakes have been checked inside and out and appears to be no problems.

As time went on I realized a few things...it only makes the clunking noise as I'm slowing down and the speedometer reaches around 15-17mph, sometimes it's a very hard clunk and the entire car shifts a bit, the car also must be warmed up and driven for a while before it does it. It doesn't always make the noise so it's not consistent.

I've taken the car in to 2 different dealers on 3 separate occasions and no one can tell me what's wrong with the car. We have finally called Scion and they are supposed to get back with us later on next week. Does anyone have any clue what could be causing this?

Oh, and by the way, I just started having a loud roaring noise come from the driver side front tire like a wheel bearing may be going out. Had an 05 Scion xB and loved it, but I'm not so crazy about the 08 anymore. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

Sounds like you have an automatic, true? The 15-17 mph makes the tranny a likely suspect. Try shifting into neutral and rolling to a stop to see if it goes away.

 

i had the same issue with my 2004 xb. everytime i would come to a stop going forward or in reverse you could hear a clunk noise. mine happened to be with brakes. somehow my caliper mount came loose, but sense you said they checked your brakes i don't know what it could be.

Keep us posted on what's going on.

 

I had something similar happen to me a couple days ago.

I was going down a hill, approaching a stop light. I was in 5th and put in the clutch, and ease on the brakes when I hear loud clunking noises( like the car was going to stall, but heavier and stronger sputtering). I immediately pull it into neutral and the clunking was gone. This happened when I had my AC on, probably my second time using it in the car.

 

Paris, my car is still making a clunk noise too at around 17mph while slowing down...I remember we posted about this several months ago. I guess nobody else is having this problem, but us?...It doesn't happen all the time, so the dealer says there is nothing they can do about it unless they hear it themselves ...I'm not happy about it either??

 

Someone had mentioned to me that it could possibly be transmission related or even the CV axles/joints but I don't know. The last dealer I took it in to heard the clunking noise and he said he thought it was something to do with the ABS sensors or something yet they didn't do anything to it. I think they're as clueless as I am, but it's frustrating that I can't get anyone to check some of the more major things. What good is a warranty if you can't get any work done?

 

Paris if you ever find out what it is, will you post it on here? I will post it on the board if I ever find out what it is also?...I worry I may end up with some major repairs when the car is out of warranty...One good thing that gave me some comfort is the dealer said all Toyotas's including Scions, have a five year fifty thousand mile warranty on all their transmissions.

 

Molly, I will definitely post if I find out what it is. Someone from Scion is supposed to call us back this evening so hopefully they'll have a plan to get my car problems fixed. Maybe between the two of us we'll get it figured out.

 

The noise on the brakes is the little springs thats is attached to the brake pads and calipers. Since the brake pad move when you brake, the pads move and thats what the noise is. My GF xA does it too and so does my RS5. It must be a toyota thing. The guy at a Tuner shop by my house looked at the brakes as I was going up and down the hill on my block and he said everytime he heard the clunk, he saw the brake pads moving alot.

 

GOLDMEMBER, Thanks, I hope that's it!

 

We call that "pad shift" and it's very common on several models. There's nothing wrong with it.

I work at a Toyota/Scion dealer, BTW.

 

I wonder why it only happens when my car is warmed up? But it doesn't do it everytime when it's warmed up? When I took it to the dealer, of course the car wouldn't do it then? So far, Paris and I are the only two on the forum having this problem with the 2008 xB? Otherwise I love my car, but maybe the xB doesn't like females?

 

Molly, I keep telling my husband my car hates me. I don't believe it has anything to do with pad shift, it would probably do it all the time if that was the case, or that's my thinking anyway.

What's weird though is the fact that I stopped having issues with the popping for a while after my husband worked on the caliper slide pins and thought that was the problem...then it started happening again but worse this time, it had been doing it for over a month and now suddenly it will hardly do it again...it's such a strange thing. What I really can't figure out is what the particular speed has to do with the popping. I now definitely have a wheel bearing out already and don't know if the other problem might have caused it or if it's just simply bad luck.

Scion has not called back yet. I think I will give them another day or two and then call if I haven't heard from them. I've got to get something figured out on this. It's so frustrating to have a new car that I don't even feel comfortable driving because of the issues I'm having.

 

I live in San Francisco and I live on a hill so I hear the clunk noise alot. I mainly hear it going down a hill or when I am backing up to park on a uphill or even flat areas.

Thanks xBones for giving me the name!! Is it common on all scion models though? Cause my GF xA does it more often than mine and seems to be getting louder each time. Could there be a potential problem?

 

Today I had some arrands to run...I put about 30 miles on the car, stop and go type city driving...It made the clunk noise about 8 times. When it does happen, I watch the speedometer while slowing down, then when it gets to around 17mph, that's when I hear the clunk, if the car is going to do it, it will do it then. But if I tap the brakes while slowing down and I take my foot off the brakes and then coast for a while and try to get down below 17mph on the speedometer and then start braking, I can avoid the clunk! Maybe it is the brakes?

 

Molly, it sounds exactly the same as my problem. It always depends on how I'm braking as well. Usually if I take my foot off the gas to coast a bit to slow down and then gradually brake nice and steady it will clunk, but if I let up on the brakes and then start to brake again it won't do it. And from the post before yours, I seem to notice it worse when going down a hill and stopping...is it the same for you or do you notice it much?

 

Pad shift usually happens when going from forward to reverse and back....like backing out of a parking space. But it can happen in other situations like the first brake application after accelerating.

It's hard to diagnose problems through an internet thread, without driving the car. I've also not driven enough xB2s to know what's normal and what's not.

It's possible you guys might have something else going on too. Intermittent problems can be a pain. Your best bet is to take it back to the dealer and if they can't hear the noise, ask to ride/drive with the tech that way you can duplicate the noise if they can't.

 

Thanks everybody , I appreciate your help....It's strange how both paris's car and my car does the exact the same thing...Do you think our cars might be related.? ..Paris by the way, I haven't been on any hills yet to find out whether it's worse going down hill and then slowing down to a stop?

 

Yup it's the tranny.

Zio

 

Sounds like the transmission shifting from the drive to coast side of the gears. What I mean is that the slack in the trans is being taken from being pressed one way from the engine going faster, to the slack shifting over to the tires turning faster.