2007 prius trunk hatch release rubber piece melted

please send ordering details

 

please send ordering details

 

My 2008 is being fixed right now under extended warranty in Central Texas. Service advisor says it is a regional thing involving combination of heat and humidity and not limited to the Prius...

 

My 2008 is being fixed right now under extended warranty in Central Texas. Service advisor says it is a regional thing involving combination of heat and humidity and not limited to the Prius... Says that he has never had to fix one a second time.

 

My 2008 is being fixed right now under extended warranty in Central Texas. Service advisor says it is a regional thing involving combination of heat and humidity and not limited to the Prius... Says that he has never had to fix one a second time.

 

Please send details. . Working with Toyota Customer Service but I may have to fix it on m own.

 

After reading many negative and only a few positive posts about Toyota's response, I ended up replacing the switch myself. The good news is the next time I took my Prius in to the dealer for service and asked about it, my service guy took me in to talk to the Service Manager.
Since I had already replaced he part myself, Toyota couldn’t reimburse me for the part or labor, but my dealer performed the $100 brake job I was having done at the time for free. Kudos to my Dealer and my Team Service Manager. If you actually have some work done at your Dealer occasionally, at least give them a chance to make it right. I had most of my oil changes done there up to 120,000 miles.

It's not a complicated job if you get the right new switch. My Gen II 2007 Prius has Smart Key. The correct part #84840-47010 for WITH Smart Key is about $100. NON Smart Key is Part # 84840-47020. I bought it for about $55 with tax and spliced only the new switch in, leaving the old Smart Button Assembly and electrical connector which were still good. If you don't have soldering tools or heat gun, you have a choice. Spend the extra $50 for the tools you get to keep and get the $55 84840-47020 switch and splice it in or pay the $100 and no splicing.
I have attached a photo essay of how to replace the switch. Hope it helps someone get the best solution for their gooey mess.
Also suggest changing license plate lamps at same time if you have 60,000 miles or more, since trim board needs to be removed to do this and the fewer times the back door trim panel is removed the better. Once Trim Board is off rotate lamp socket counterclockwise enough to remove it, replace lamps (168LL), reinsert rotate clockwise to lock.

 

I contacted Toyota Customer Service about the same issue. I live in the Tampa Bay area, own a 2009 Prius, and experienced the melting of the switch cover. After a week of deliberation, Toyota said that the will cover the ENTIRE cost of the repair, $300 at my local dealer.

 

Presumably this was after the warranty ran out?

 

Yes, my Prius has 70k miles. No warranty for body parts. Toyota Customer Service came through for me. Phone is (800) 331-4331.

 

I've reported this to the NHTSA, and -- after discovering here and on the NHTSA Web site just how widespread this problem is, and outraged at the company's inaction so far -- I'm renewing my complaint to Toyota. But I'm taking it to the next level: Blogging, posting to Facebook and Tweeting. If you share any or all of these with your friends, we may collectively be able to get Toyota to Do The Right Thing.

As a newcomer to this forum, I'm unable to post direct links. But you should "Like" my fresh posts on the Toyota and Prius Facebook pages, look for me on Twitter (Meyerson) and retweet my complaint. And Google "Meyerson Strategy" to find (and share) my detailed blog post.

Prius owners, unite!

 

A month and a day after I posted a blog piece on this problem -- and after multiple rounds of phone tag with Toyota customer service and our local dealer -- the company's agreed to pay for the fix completely. I hope this represents a new policy for the company. Feel free to cite my experience and my blog post to help make your case. (This forum won't let me post a link (yet) so you'll have to Google "Toyota Meyerson prius sticky" (without the quotes) to find it.) Good luck, comrades.

 

I just called Toyota and they said the vehicle is out of warranty so I'll have to pay for this myself.

 

Did you call Toyota Customer Care number or your local dealer? I don't think Big Toyota will really take action after warranty has expired unless prompted by a dealer who values you a past and future customer.

 

I called Toyota Customer Care #.. I bought this car used directly from a private person.

 

Unless you just love the fight to get it replaced by Toyota, I suggest you just find the cheapest place to order or buy the replacement switch, with or without Smart Key and install it. If you just buy the complete replacement and avoid the soldering, you can be done in less than an hour and be done with it. I posted a "How To" for this about 8 posts up from this one. About $50 without Smart Key, around$75-$100 with Smart Key.

 

I'm in Colorado and just bought a 2007 Prius 2 days ago that came from Texas. It too has the melted rubber on the hatch release. I'll try to remove the excess rubber using Goo-Gone sometime this week and try using the scotch tape approach to cover it. We'll see how long that solution lasts.

For those of you that have also experienced the melted rubber issue, is the paint on the roof around your doors starting to bubble and chip? I've the going on on both sides of the car. I'll start a new threat for that issue but wanted to see if anyone else has both issues going on at the same time, like I do.

 

Same thing happened to my 2007 Prius, here in Los Angeles. My Dealer's parts department quoted, as I recall, $68 for the entire switch assembly.

EDIT:
Just saw the step-by-step DIY instructions (How to Replace the Hatch Opening Switch | PriusChat) Thanks for all the help. Can't wait to get this done.

 

Happened to my 2006 (with a replacement hatch assembly from a 2008) and my wife's 2008 sienna. The original rubber from the 2006 hatch assembly never melted so I wonder if they changed sources for that part?