Driver door lock actuator not working. This seems to be a common problem for Toyota over the last decade, but they yet to put more vehicles to their recall list. Actuator just stopped working. I have to use key out of FOB to manually open. This is a safety issue if I’m trying to get in my car quickly for safety reasons and it does not open.
Toyota Prius door locks problems
77 of the 12,530 owner complaints about the Toyota Prius describe doors won't lock, open or latch, most of them for the 2007 model year.
- owner complaints
- 77
- worst model year
- 2007
- typical repair cost reported
- $400
- typical mileage
- 56,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
Won't start 2Key fob 2Headlights 2Tire blowout 1Sudden acceleration 1Pulling 1Stalling 1Seat belt 1
What owners say
Front door locks defective. Remote control doesn’t open the doors, even after replacing battery in key fob. It started with the driver door and now the passenger door doesn’t lock or unlock.
When I parked my car and stopped the engine after driving for 90 min/62 miles on June 22, 2023, I found that I couldn't lock my car's door, through my remote, door handle or the switch inside the door. Upon further examination, I saw complete loss of the power: no light, no audio, no other accessory power, no start of engine. Foot press on the brake feels heavy/less responsive. One hr after the incident I went back (because I had some business to attend) to the car, everything looked normal (with full functions recovered) as if nothing happened before. 6 hrs later the car still behaved fine. I measured 12-v battery and it registered 12.3 v (I bought the car new 8 years ago and I haven't changed the battery yet). I noticed that my the clock in the car lost 10 mins (behind correct time) and I concluded the complete loss of battery power lasted about 10 mins. By the time of this report, I have started the engine 5 times without any problem but this loss of power gravely concerns me. I saw recalls for similar problems affecting similar prius models/years however my car is not on the list.
The contact owns a 2022 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the driver's side front power door lock button failed to illuminate during the night. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the model vehicle was not equipped with illumination for the driver's side front power door lock button. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 10.
Our car has approximately 65K miles on it. THREE of the door lock actuators have failed already. This is terrifying that we might not be able to lock or unlock doors in an emergency particularly with our kids in the back seat. We have had our Prius serviced regularly by an independent well regarded local hybrid car mechanic and they think it is very odd that these have all failed so quickly.
Three doors stopped opening and closing with the remote key and inside lock/unlock buttons in a span of three weeks. Not able to open and close the door with the remote key or lock/unlock button is a safety risk. Toyota confirmed that all three door lock actuators failed. Each one costs $800 to replace with a total cost of $2400. It is inspected by Toyota dealership, Toyota 101, 386 convention way, Redwood City, 94063. The car had only 36,448 miles. The problem appeared all of a sudden. First one lock failed. Soon all three locks failed.
The driver door and passenger door locks only work sometimes and it seems to be a electrical issue because I have noticed other odd things with the electrical in the car
The trunk latch on this model is faulty and dangerous. The material used for the latch is too susceptible to temperature and either become rock hard in the winter cold or melty and gooey in the summer heat. It is almost impossible to get into my trunk through the back latch in the wintertime. I try and maybe if the weather is warm enough and it's just right, I can get into my trunk about 10 percent of the time, if that. Recently, I tried to open my trunk unsuccessfully. It opened enough to not be securely shut, but not enough to pop open. I was then also unable to shut the trunk. What ended up transpiring was a trunk that would register as opening and shutting, without the actual ability to fully open it or shut it. So the car door light must have come on at some point and drained my battery which then left me stranded on a winter day in a cold parking lot away from home. All because toyota effed up and used a very poor choice in materials for their trunk latches. This is something that they should correct so other people don't have trunk issues that end up causing problems. If someone needs to open their trunk in the winter time to retrieve medicine, like an epi-pen, then they are screwed. If someone needs to open the latch to help remove an animal or child out of a car for whatever reason, they are screwed. If they just simply want to have trunk functionality for hauling groceries, they are screwed. And if they are like me and manage to unfortunately find that sweet spot where the trunk only partially opens, but not fully, and their battery ends up becoming drained and they are stranded in the middle of nowhere, they are also screwed. Toyota made a mistake, and they should do something to fix it. I love my prius, but this one trunk latch issue is enough to make me reconsider other cars with functional door latches.
Since a couple of weeks ago the left back door won't open from the inside. It can only be opened from the outside. Since thursday, feb. 28, 2019 the right back door also can't be opened from the inside, only from the outside. That door hardly ever is used. The passenger was trapped inside. I had to open it from the outside to let him out. This has never happened before to any car I ever drove or was a passenger in. It's very dangerous to be trapped inside. Something is seriously wrong with how the door was manufactured.
Three different door lock actuators (front left, front right, rear left) have failed and been replaced. Symptom is that door does not lock or unlock from key fob or lock control on driver's armrest, also fails to lock automatically when shifting into gear if that option is set. Door must be locked and unlocked manually using the rocker switch in the inside door handle. Clearly there was a batch of defective parts used during manufacturing.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Toyota Prius door locks
Which Toyota Prius years have doors won't lock, open or latch problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2007 (31 complaints), 2008 (13 complaints) and 2006 (7 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix doors won't lock, open or latch on the Toyota Prius?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $400 (median of 16 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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