2007 Toyota Prius: doors won't lock, open or latch

Filed Apr 13, 2017 · Body, Locks · NY

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. The contact stated that a plastic piece from the door prematurely melted from an unknown location, which melted into the door latch. The failure made it extremely difficult to use the latch. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

Filed Dec 14, 2016 · Body · 63,000 miles · MO

Rear hatch door latch failure, starting with softening and then complete melting of the rubber cover and finally to latch not operating at all, especially in cold weather.

Filed Dec 7, 2016 · Body · 10,000 miles · NH

The rubber cover on the hatch release handle (the exterior handle of the rear hatch) of our 2007 toyota prius, melted into a sticky tarry black rubbery gooey mess. 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, which makes it difficult to operate the hatch release. I thought that this might be a singular issue, but have found that this has happened to several car owners. Toyota knows about this, and is selling the entire wiring harness for $96 plus repair costs, 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's outrageous. I think a door handle or hatch handle should be made to last more than 3 years. Please review these forum comments of other incidents: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...runk-hatch-release-rubber-piece-melted-4.html

Filed Feb 17, 2016 · 75,000 miles · NV

Rear latch for the hatchback door is inoperable in cold weather (+/- 80*) the covering for the mechanism melts and it gets all over your hands and is impossible to get off. The freezing aspect of this defect is dangerous when the back cannot be opened. I have talked with toyota about this but they will not offer much help in resolving the problem. It is very expensive to replace >$300. I did not notice the problem until I moved to the mountains in the winter time.

Filed Dec 9, 2015 · Body · 59,000 miles · CA

Read hatch door latch switch failure due to rubber cover that has deteriorated and melted into sticky goo. The switch now is intermittent. Black tarry rubber gets on my hands when I try to use it. The price to repair was quoted as $350

Filed Nov 27, 2015 · Electrical · 81,000 miles · OR

Yet another 2007 prius with the rear hatch door latch cover that has decomposed rendering the ability to open the door from the outside impossible. This is a defect that is widely documented on various websites. Toyota should be held accountable and correct this defect at their cost. Safety issues: inability to access equipment necessary to repair a tire failure, potential to be stranded on interstate highways, in remote areas etc. I am 69 years old, have had a hip replacement, a comminuted fracture of the patella on the same leg resulting in wire and screws holding the patella together. The other leg has sustained a traumatic injury that resulted in a rod from top to bottom of the tibia, and muscle, vascular, and skin grafts. Crawling inside the vehicle to access the manual release is not the easy task it may have once been; inability to access first aid or other safey equipment in the event of an incident; inability of rescuers to access the cabin via the rear hatch in the event of an accident.

Filed Oct 9, 2015 · Body · 50,000 miles · CA

The black rubber on the hatchback latch has melted and makes opening the hatchback difficult. The black goo sticks to the hand and is very messy because it gets on anything touched including clothes, door handles and children. The melted rubber interferes with the latch such on some occasions, the hatchback does not open.

Filed Oct 10, 2014 · Body, Electrical · 65,000 miles · CA

The rear door latch cover material has deteriorated and the latch is no longer operating as expected. The rubber material is a soft gummy consistency and the latch mechanism to the hatchback fails to release allowing access to the rear storage area. This area contains the spare tire.

Filed Apr 27, 2014 · Body, Electrical · 110,000 miles · CA

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.

Filed Dec 30, 2013 · Body · 72,000 miles · VA

I have a 2007 toyota prius and the rubber has "decomposed" off the latch and has made it nearly impossible to gain access to the rear compartment of my vehicle. The rubber degradation has made the sensitivity of the hatch door latch erratic and not working mostly. Its cause me to try to yank the hatch door a couple of times which has cause the latch door handle to come loose. Toyota pls address this issue. Thanks

Filed Jul 22, 2013 · Body · 120,000 miles · CA

The rubber cover on the hatch release handle (the exterior handle of the rear hatch) on my 2007 toyota prius has melted making it difficult to open the rear hatch. I can best describe it as being a viscous black glob like roofing tar. The vehicle's smart key locking system has also been affected by the melted switch. It now takes several seconds to find the sensor due to a loss in sensitivity in the switch, caused by the melting of the rubber cover. I thought that this might be a singular issue, but have read numerous complaints online from other car owners. From a safety perspective, this means you can experience extreme difficulty opening the rear hatch (a life safety access point) 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 (ie after 3 years of exposure to the heat). I think a door handle or hatch handle should be made to last more than 3 years. Thank you for your assistance.

Filed Jun 27, 2013 · Body · 45,000 miles · FL

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.