This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
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.
The contact owns a 2007 Toyota Prius. The contact stated during the winter, when he attempted to open the lift gate it failed to open. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection but they could not determine the cause of failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 79,000. The VIN was unavailable.
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 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!
- Allen, TX, USA
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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.
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 release has deteriorated causing difficulty or impossibility of opening the rear hatch. This could pose a safety issue in an emergency.
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 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.
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Somerville, MA, USA