MANY door locks, actuators going in many Toyotas & Lexus?

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Michele de Lucca-Lowrey, Jun 20, 2016.

  1. Michele de Lucca-Lowrey

    Michele de Lucca-Lowrey Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    39
    7
    0
    Location:
    FL
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    I find everywhere that the actuator goes first in the drivers door, then the passenger shortly after. This seems to happening in my PriusV, Lexus and all others that take the same actuators. I had a friend help me take the door of my 2012 Prius, bought in 2013, off and replace it purchasing a lost cost new one with an Ebay company which worked fine....but the company has sold out of all the ones for the cars above due to demand! NOW the other is going the same path, starting to not always work, then works, etc. It seems too early for this to happen in many Toyota cars so early. It never happened previously in my other Toyotas in the past..never had to replace them, especially so soon!
    WHY hasn't Toyota recalled this item?
    What else should I expect at 76,000.00 miles?
     
    #1 Michele de Lucca-Lowrey, Jun 20, 2016
  2. rdgrimes

    rdgrimes Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 7, 2013
    1,740
    448
    4
    Location:
    New Mexico, USA
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    N/A
    Perhaps because its not a widespread issue?
     
    #2 rdgrimes, Jun 20, 2016
  3. Michele de Lucca-Lowrey

    Michele de Lucca-Lowrey Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    39
    7
    0
    Location:
    FL
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Actually....is seems to be more and more.
     
    #3 Michele de Lucca-Lowrey, Jun 20, 2016
    Bmr4life and JeffMN like this.
  4. Michele de Lucca-Lowrey

    Michele de Lucca-Lowrey Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2013
    39
    7
    0
    Location:
    FL
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    You can find tons of YouTube on replacing them and I am finding many under 100 thou. miles with the same problem...maybe just the 2012 models?
     
    #4 Michele de Lucca-Lowrey, Jun 20, 2016
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    25,682
    16,776
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Among the first customizable settings that I changed on my 2010 liftback, I turned off the automatic lock and unlock of doors with every shift into or out of Park. Now the car is blissfully silent when I shift or power-on/off, and a bunch of useless wear on the other three actuators is avoided. I pretty much always get in through the driver's door, and I don't mind pressing a button to lock or unlock things when I want them locked or unlocked.

    Of course I bought the car used, so it has already had six years of gratutious actuator cycling for all doors every time the previous owner shifted, so we'll still have to see how long the actuators last.

    I wonder if that whole auto-lock-unlock-every-time feature was designed by the actuator sales dept.

    -Chap
     
    #5 ChapmanF, Jun 20, 2016
    CR94 likes this.
  6. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2008
    9,126
    5,528
    7
    Location:
    Texas Hill Country
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Can you give us the part number you were buying on ebay or elsewhere?
     
    #6 rjparker, Jun 20, 2016
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    111,181
    50,612
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    sorry for your troubles, but i don't feel like it's been a big problem here. my third prius, and fourth camry/hycam, and we've never replaced an actuator. but i have no idea what the total toyota defect rate is.
     
    #7 bisco, Jun 20, 2016
  8. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2010
    6,035
    3,855
    0
    Location:
    Rocky Mountains
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    We have/have-had a 2006 Toyota Prius, 2001 Lexus RX300, 2004 Lexus RX330, 2008 Lexus RX350, 2012 Lexus RX450h, and 2013 Prius C and not a single one has had a door actuator failure.

    Considering the millions and millions of vehicles out there, there are bound to be some that bite the dust.
     
    #8 2k1Toaster, Jun 20, 2016
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)