After only about 2 years use, the rubber cover on the hatch release handle (the exterior handle of the rear hatch) of our 2006 toyota prius, started to be sticky. Now, after nearly 5 years after purchase, I notice that it has melted into a sticky tarry black rubbery gooey mess which has spread over a much larger area. I can best describe it as being a viscous black glob like roofing tar. To open the hatch, you have to touch this black goo each time (it takes 2-3 days to remove the stain completely from fingers/nails), which makes it difficult to operate the hatch release. It is obvious that this melting process started when I noticed the sticky feel. I thought that this might be a singular issue, but have found that this has happened to several car owners, particularly in the south. We live in mobile, alabama. It seems that toyota knows about this faulty material, and has done nothing about recalling this. From a safety perspective, this means you can experience extreme difficulty opening the rear hatch (a life safety access point), and will get sticky black tar on you from the melted down rubber cover of the exterior hatch release handle. To me, this is both a serious life safety issue and a serious quality defect that toyota is opting to ignore and only fixing on vehicles with extended warranties, since the failure appears to occur at around the 3 year mark. I am aware of the outstanding work done by the federal safety agency on other safety issues, including the problem with rusty frames on 02 isuzu axioms, and I find this problem to be similar in nature, so I am asking for your agency to take a look at these instances and also to inquire from toyota why they are not recalling these handles that are melting (it is outrageous). I think a door handle or hatch handle should be made to last more than 3 years. Please review this.
2006 Toyota Prius body complaints
Page 2 of 2: complaints 11 to 15 of 15, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tailgate struts are rusting and will fail soon.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. The contact noticed that the two front fenders on the vehicle were separated from the body and rocker panel. He also noticed a quarter inch gap on both front sides of the vehicle. The dealer stated that he should be more careful driving over railroad tracks and bumps, which they determined to be the cause of the failures. A case was filed with the manufacturer. The contact is awaiting a return call. The failure and current mileages were less than 43,000.
Temperature-stress cracks in windshield of 2006 prius. Seems to be brought on by heat snap.
On our 2006 toyota prius, purchased june 27, 2006, night-time driving vision is impaired by the reflection of the dashboard onto the windshield. The image of the dashboard information lights is strongly reflected right into the center of the driver's vision necessitating looking under, over, or around the reflections. Poooooor dashboard design. Very disappointing and scary.
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