hatch door handle breaking off - need replacement part

Hi Jess,

You might look at the parts website for Champion Toyota, Houston. toyotaworld.com

Then find the body parts catalog for your model year Prius and you may be able to find the hatch "back door garnish", which I believe can be ordered in the correct body color for your car.

May I suggest that you not think of the back door garnish as a "trunk handle", so that the replacement will last longer.

I have previously posted on how to remove and replace the hatch opening switch, in case you would like info on how to remove the back door garnish which contains that switch, the license plate lights, and the camera.

 

Patrick,
Can you provide a link to the instructions you describe?
Thanks,
Dan

 

How to Replace the Hatch Opening Switch | PriusChat

 

Hmmm, I recall seeing 2nd gen Prius taxis running around w/broken (what I believe to be) trunk garnishes. They usually tape them up to keep them together. I hope mine holds up until I sell/trade in mine.

 

Thanks for the link Patrick

Our hatch garnish is a bit loose. Has anyone else had experience replacing or repairing the garnish. The little black square above the hatch release.
Thank you,
Dan

 

Hi Dan,

If the loose item is the square black Smart switch, you can tighten the hardware holding it in place after you remove the garnish. "Garnish" is the body color plastic piece that contains the license plate lighting. My cited link shows how to remove that.

 

Hi all,
Dealership wants $320 for the liftgate trim and $185 for the installation.
Trademotion.com (toyota world) sells the part for $246 plus shipping. ouch on all fronts for a piece that is just plain poorly designed.

Our lift gate trim snapped completely off yesterday in frigid temperatures while the liftgate was unexpectedly in some sort of electronic lockdown mode- with dashboard lights and power button all off/malfunctioning also. I am asking Toyota to replace it for me along with sending me an extension on my combination meter warranty to be replaced which apparently caused the other malfunctions and led to the liftgate trim's ultimate and complete failure. Will keep Priuschat posted on my results....

 

I found it for $106.92 at parts on line, plus shipping. Just ordered it.

 

Highway, where did you find that item? I would love to find that deal as well.

 

you can glue back the broken parts

 

The thing is, if that's not the handle, what is? This just broke completely free on my '05. Sure, it lasted 9 years, but it seems a poor design. And the replacement cost is ludicrous - I'm seeing $250 bucks for a few oz. of plastic. I'm going to try superglue first.

 

super glue will not work. There is an all purpose glue you can buy. It's made from 2 ingredients that you mix together, loctite and other brands, all the same stuff.

 

Exactly - if I don't use this as a handle, then opening the trunk becomes a 2-handed operation: hold the latch depressed with one hand as I lift from under the edge of the hatch with the other. That's seriously bad engineering.

I know it takes two hands because since breaking most of the tabs holding my garnish/trim/whatever on (and using duct tape to keep things in place until I get around to dealing with it), that's what I have to do. And I also know from experience that this is HIGHLY impractical as a large % of the time you're opening the back you have something in one if not both hands - and putting it on the ground until you have both hands free, besides being a pain, doesn't work when the ground's wet or dirty and that matters.

 

I "fixed" ours using washers and kind of jamming them in behind where the two center plastic fasteners broke off.

Knowing it was loose we babied ours for a couple of years. This fix should last a while as we use the two hand method to open the hatchback.

It is more secure now than it has been for a while.

 

I use the hatch almost every day, that's where I put my work bag during the week and on most weekends we put luggage back there. 130K miles and 9 years later, it is as solid as the day it was made. Hardly a "defect". More like usual wear and tear. Plastic doesn't last forever, but it does last a long time. The few oz of plastic in there are very cheap, but unless you are 3D printing it yourself and the only cost is material, you will pay more than the cost of a few ounces of plastic.

 

Hi Jess:
The plastic can be repaired in 2 or 3 steps:
1. superglue the broken plastic back together to hold the bolts at the right angle,
2. cut a couple of strips of aluminum shim (not tape) about 1/4 inch wide and about 3 inches long, smear thick "Automotive Goop" on the relative surfaces and wrap the aluminum strips around so they'll hold the broken parts in place when hardened. it's messy anyway but it can be less so if you shape the parts w/ pliers before you put glue on them. Goop cleans up w/ gasoline or thinner. Leave it over night. When it gets solid, press the aluminum into closer contact with the plastic & bolts using a screwdriver and push more goop into any open spaces w/ your fingers. If you want it to NEVER break again, (good luck) use several layers that extend farther away from the bolts to spread the stress over a larger area.
3. the thickness of the aluminum will make the trunk handle set slightly farther away from the door when the bolts are tightened, so before you remount it, lightly dent around the bolt holes in the door w/ a small hammer so the holes will be slightly recessed from the outside, by about the thickness of the aluminum (<1/16 inch). it matters.



good luck

 

I simply replaced the plastic snaps with bolts and it has since stayed in place.

 

I repaired my 2005's dangling hatch a year ago. More solid that OEM now. If you take off the parts you can see the plastic that breaks from use. Just drill a new hole next to it and put the bolt through the new hole. Super easy.