Body problems of the 2007 Toyota Prius - part 2

The back door latch of my 2007 Toyota Prius has degraded ("melted" almost). It no longer functions properly, and I am unable to open the back hatch door. Sometimes it required considerable effort and perseverance to get it open. I cannot open it anymore as the latch broke. I am concerned that in the case of an emergency, I will not be able to get the door open. This is a major cause for concern and it is a serious safety hazard. Blue 2007 Prius in cupertino, CA.

During the summer of 2011, we noticed the trunk latch mechanism to be sticky and melting, leaving black stuff on our hands. We live in southwest ohio, so temperatures are usually in the 80s-90s in the peak of summer. At times, this would cause the trunk latch not to work, and we couldn't open the trunk. During the fall months, things improved, and it wasn't as much of an issue. Once the colder winter months began, the trunk latch began to stick and wouldn't open when it was cold. I can recall several times trying to open the trunk unsuccessfully. Again, things improved once temperatures warmed up in spring. The whole cycle started again in the summer and repeated over and over. Over time, the part that the latch is connected to began to feel loose. I asked about it during my routine 80k mile service, and they said that the whole part would need to be replaced, not just the latch. Although we have the extended warranty coverage, apparently it was not covered and we could not afford to replace it at that time. Well, this February, the trunk latch was once again malfunctioning and would not open while running errands. At one location, I tried opening the trunk, squeezing the melted button, and the entire part that the switch is attached to (including the push button lock, the back-up camera, etc. ) broke off of the car. I am 30something woman with average strength, and I don't feel I was being overly aggressive on trying to open the car. I believe this was due to the part not functioning and over time, the connections were just too weak. This should not have happened from normal wear and tear, and it is clearly a defect by the manufacturer. I have read online that this issue has occurred on many other Toyota Prius vehicles of the same age. I believe that Toyota needs to issue a recall and refund the $312. 03 I had to spend to repair a defective part.

Parking my Prius, my foot on the brake pedal, I hit a very small patch of black ice with the right front wheel. The car slanted briefly to the left--then there was a sudden surge of engine power. The car rushed over a mound of ice and snow, jumped the curb, rushed forward between a wall and a tree, narrowly missing it, and crashed into a parked Toyota truck facing outward from the curb. My Prius hit the heavy truck with enough force to knock it six feet for their north and three feet to the west. After impact, the engine continued to make a lot of noise, a sound I've never heard before in seven years of driving the car. It was attempting to surge past the truck, which I believe caused the most damage to the front left bumper of the car. I was stunned and didn't think to turn off the ignition before it quit on its own after perhaps ten seconds. The body was sheared back, strips of blue paint hanging in shreds. I crawled out the passenger side unhurt. (the air bags did not deploy. ).

The rear lift gate latch on my Toyota Prius has stopped functioning. The exterior rubber over the latch mechanism/switch has melted, turned gummy and will no longer function to open the lift gate. In cold weather the latch has been even more difficult to open and the trim piece containing the trunk hatch latch fractured in sub-freezing weather while trying to get the latch to release. The car was parked with light snow falling. I can no longer open the trunk of my car from the outside. This is a safety hazard as I can not access the rear hatch of my car in an emergency and defeats the primary purpose of a hatchback car which is access to the car's interior. The car jack and emergency spare tire located just behind the failed hatch latch. I had to pay over $500+ to have Toyota replace the failed hatch latch switch and surrounding trim piece.

Trunk/hatchback opener/latch melted. Latch is now sticky and very difficult to open. This is a hazard as someone could be trapped in the car because the rear hatch will not open.

I have a 2007 Toyota Prius and the rubber has "melted" off if the latch and has made it nearly impossible to gain access to the rear compartment of my vehicle. It began with numerous black and sticky fingers then progressed to chunks of gooey of what I think was plastic coming off into my hands and has ended up being an almost impossible task to gain access via the back end of my car. From a very quick search of the internet, this appears to be a wide spread problem and everyone is getting the same answer I am getting from Toyota. . . . Pay up!! this has to be a mfg defect. I live in north texas so yes, it does get hot here but melt the plastic off your car hot, I think not! please help us!.

The rear hatch release on my 2007 Toyota Prius has deteriorated and has become more and more difficult to open the hatch. Tonight it is very cold out and the mechanism stuck again and would not open. I tried unlocking to make sure it didn't re-lock the doors and pulled again on the latch and the whole back part broke off in my hand. The combination of the sticking and the cold made the plastic piece that is all that it is holding the latch brittle to the point of simply breaking while trying to open the hatch.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius hybrid. The contact stated that the trunk door failed to open. The contact also mentioned that the material that latched the door with the trunk was melted and the trunk could not be accessed. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 69,000.

The rubber cover over the rear hatch latch got soft and would stick onto my hands. I had to pay to have it replaced. Also my breaks grab especially when the weather is damp.

The rubber covering the external hatch latch at the rear of my 2007 Prius has degraded to the extent that the latch no longer functions properly. This is a design flaw for the 2007 Prius and very dangerous as it will not allow access into the trunk area in case of emergency. Because of the melted/degraded rubber my wife can no longer get into the trunk and I can only get into the trunk at random intervals with severe pressure placed on the rubber/switch area. It could be impossible for me to reach the spare in an emergency. It could also damage the electrical system with the pressure needed to make it work. This is clearly a Toyota design and materials problem and should be fixed by Toyota before someone gets hurt.

Rear hatch handle liquefied.

The hatchback handle/lock has melted. Now when it's very cold you cannot open it without considerable force. My 16 year old daughter is driving the car and she can't get it open.

I have a 2007 Prius. The car was involved with an accident on August 30, 2013 because "no brake". It was in a stop and go situation travelling at about 20 miles per hour. The car in front stopped, I slamped on the brake and total no brake. My 16 years old son sitting at the car observed the "no brake" scenerio. There was a 25 pound of rice at the truck did not even more. No skip mark. . . Nothing. Took my car to longo Toyota and found nothing with the brake system other than the front pad is thin, tire is marginal etc. None of the findings expain the no brake scenerio. For some reason I cannot make this no brake to appear again. I want people to aware of this and gather information. It appears to me the Prius cannot response to a quick stop at slow speed. Somehow the car takes more than a second for the braking to kick in - the reaction does not appear to be instaneous. And if you are too close, that extra one second wait will cause an collision. . . .

Rubber hatch latch cover has deteriorated and it has become difficult to open the hatch, and very difficult in cold weather (my wife cannot open it and it is her car). I consider this a safety issue.

The rubber on the rear hatch latch was defective and degenerated into a pile of goo, making it difficult to open the rear hatch door. This is a well-known defect for this model and year, but Toyota has so far not made an extended warranty to have the problem repaired at no charge to the owner of the vehicle.

Rear hatch latch release button is rubber. It has deteriorated releasing black substance onto fingers, it is sticky and button does not release as well as before.

2007 Prius liftback black rubber switch-handle is melting and black rubber tar is all over hands when touching the switch-handle. . Read more...

The rubber trunk release melted this summer, creating a sticky mess and making it difficult to open the trunk. Had to try numerous times with great force to open the trunk. Now that the temperature has dropped, the rubber bar is frozen hard and I cannot depress it to open the trunk. This is a serious safety issue in the event of an emergency.

The rubber on my trunk release has turned to a tarry mess making it very difficult to open and leaving black tar all over my fingers. When the release does not work, I have pull out my keys to press the unlock button or open the car to press the unlock button which sometimes releases it but not always. I opt not to use my trunk because it is so terribly inconvenient and frustrating now, especially when I am juggling packages and/or kids. I am terribly disappointed that Toyota is not taking ownership of this problem as I see many posts dealing with this very same issue.

Within the handle for the rear hatch of the 2007 Prius there is a strip of rubber which I assume is to prevent moisture from penetrating into the interior components and it may also shield some electrical wiring. This piece of rubber is becoming soft and melting. Whenever we open the hatch, our fingers and hands are stained with a black gooey substance that's difficult to remove from our hands. This has been a problem ever since we purchased the vehicle in 2011. It seems to me that a body part should last more than 4 yrs and since we purchased used, it may have already been gooey before we purchased.

For some time now, the rear latch has been sticking and has been needing several attempts to release. Finally, now it has stopped operating altogether. The dealer says he is not aware of the problem. With the complaints I have seen online, I am surprised at the response. It can also be a safety problem at the right conditions. I feel disappointed at Toyota motors. After many years of trouble free Toyota ownership I am certainly disappointed with the recent developments with their products.

The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the vehicle rear hatch door seal failed and allowed water to penetrate the rear passenger side floor board. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The dealer denied assistance with the repair. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 86,000.

The trunk latch cover has melted and the latch will not function most of the time. The problem started a couple of years ago. I have not replaced the latch due to the cost, but now it is worse and I often cannot open the hatch. The rubber cover on the latch gets soft and gummy in warm weather and gets black rubber on my fingers. I see numerous complaints on this issue and would assume there are many more owners who have not registered a complaint and may have paid a high price to get this fixed. It should be a recall by Toyota to fix for free and reimburse owners who have already had this repaired.

Brake system: abs warning malfunction light will illuminate when brake is tapped, but there is no malfunction or issue. Have to turn off vehicle to reset it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- handle on rear door/hatchback door: handle melted into a black gooey mess, hatchback could not be opened. Went to dealership, they would not fix without charging me even though they admitted it was a known issue with the vehicles. The first quote we got was almost $300 to fix, waited a couple of months, dealer finally dropped to $138 to fix it. This is obviously a known defective issue--no one should be charged anything. It is a safety issue as the door cannot be opened in an emergency. Why Toyota will not fix this without causing their customer's potential danger/harm speaks volumes to them not caring about the customer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ dashboard warping: dashboard on driver side buckles up where it meets the edge of the windshield, was told it was in issue with the material that the dashboard was made from. Very poor quality to have this happen.

The plastic weld process or other type of gluing process used to make the vehicles exterior front and rear turn signal, brake and back up light lense assemblies or housings fails. All four, two front and two rear, exterior combination light lense assemblies suffer this premature and serious failure. When these exterior lenses begin to fail they allow water intrusion from the exterior of the vehicle. This allows moisture to penetrate into areas of the lense assembly which support all of the light bulbs used to warn or signal other drivers or pedestrians. At a very minimum this problem results in premature bulb failure for all of the signaling systems specified above. Researching your site this problem has been reported to you many times and Toyota motor corp. Is also aware of this problem. What you don't seem to be aware of is the most serious concern resulting from this problem; if the right (passenger side) rear lense suffers this problem and begins leaking, the water runs or drains directly into the interior 12vdc starter battery well. This battery well is as deep, or deeper than the factory installed 12vdc starter battery is tall and can result in water overtopping the battery. This causes shorting/grounding across the positive/negative 12vdc starter battery terminals. This prevents the operator from starting the vehicle and cuts off power to all 12vdc electrical systems including emergency flashers. It could easily result in serious damage to the 12vdc starter battery and many expensive 12vdc electronic components or systems. This problem is more serious in areas that receive high amounts of rainfall. I called a Toyota authorized dealership, lum's auto center, and reported my car wouldn't start. They suggested I bring it in. After 4 days they were unable to find the problem. No diagnostic codes were logged. This is a serious problem needing immediate attention!.

The rubber trunk latch has melted increasingly over time. When the weather is warm, opening the trunk leaves my hand covered in tar-like goo and the sensor is difficult to engage. In winter, the latch does not work at all and the trunk cannot be opened whatsoever. In addition to being incredibly annoying, this is a safety concern as it is a possible egress point should the car ever become wedged. Please get Toyota to repair this problem.

I cannot open the hatch of my Prius. This is a major safety concern. In all Prius base models that I know of the handle literally melts off of the car making it impossible to open the hatch. This is a serious issue in the case of an emergency. The dealership charges up to $300. 00 to fix this issue when it is quite obvious it should be a recall. It is completely insane that they are making Prius owners pay this and are making an insane amount of money off of its consumers when we were sold a faulty part.

The rubber trunk release is cracked, melted and does not function in cold weather. It is a sticky gooey mess in hot weather. The estimate to replace it is $187. It is not covered under the warranty. The dealer claims it is not a safety issue. I think that if you are not able to open a door to your car, it is a safety issue. How, for instance would I be able to remove my spare tire in the event of a flat tire. Big safety issue. What if I was in an accident and the only accessible way out was the hatchback? big safety issue. Really.

The rubber cover to the external trunk latch has melted to the point where it is either gooey to the touch in warm weather or frozen solid and immovable in colder temperatures. This is a safety hazard because, at times, due to the inflexibility of the rubber I am unable to open the trunk and, thus, access the spare, any of my repair tools, our earthquake kit, flares, jumpers, etc. There is no alternative internal method for opening the hatchback/trunk. Toyota needs a recall of this defective part as the cost to repair it is exorbitant, quoted to me as $352.

2007 Prius rear hatch latch melted off. The rear hatch will not open. There is no way to get to emergency equipment and spare tire. This is an extreme safety issue. Please issue a nation recall as this repair is not covered by under warranty.

The trunk rubber on the hatch latch is disintegrating. It's sticky and gooey making it difficult to open the hatch. The situation has worsened and sometimes, I can't open the trunk at all. This is happening to many 2007 Prius owners. I believe it is a defect in the rubber.

I was driving in heavy traffic about 20 or 25 mph the cars in front of me stopped, when I applied the brake nothing happened, my car crashed into the rear of the car in front of me. The time was about 2:30pm July 10/2012 the car had just been serviced by a Toyota dealer on June 28th/2012 for the 30,000 mile check up. We live in west los angeles.

The material in the trunk door handle is dissolving and or disintegrating. I recently researched the defect on the internet and observed what I was experiencing has been previously documented in other complaints. In a recent visit to a Toyota service center for routine maintenance I presented what was happening and was told the vehicle repair was out of the warranty period and there would be a charge if I wanted the repair. The charge imo was excessive for something that imo was a built in defect and deserves a recall.

The rubber cover on the rear hatch latch has deteriorated so severely that the latch handle will no longer work. The rubberized cover has become gooey and sticky, and comes off on your hands when you touch it. There is no alternate trunk release on this vehicle, so with the handle mechanism gummed up by the deteriorating rubber cover, there is no way to access the trunk of the vehicle. This piece has been deteriorating over the past three to four years. We've been trying to hold off for a Toyota recall on this piece, but now we have no choice but to pay to have it fixed.

On my way home from work on the frontage road along I-5. My tires hit the gravel and I lost control. I went through the grass on the side of the road down a dip and landed on the passenger side of the car on the railroad tracks. I began to roll and rolled the car from side to side at least 15 times. A row of trees is what stopped me. The engine was still running and I was still buckled in the drivers seat. I had to kick out the windshield in order to get out of the car. I went to emergency that night where I was x-rayed and checked out. I ended up with only major bruising on the left side of my body, the chp that responded was sure I was dead. They told me they expected to see a dead body in the car. I barely escaped with my life and the air bags never deployed in the car.