2008 Prius hatchback trunk handle broken (pic)

You can remove the bolts that broke off and glue them back. The garnish piece is held together by 4 bolts, accessible from inside the hatch. Use epoxy type (general purpose, mixing 2 agents together) glue sold at walmart or home depot, it's about 3 bucks and is super strong. I had to do the same with mine.

Remove the inside liner of the hatch, it's held together by 11 clips. Once the hatch liner is removed, you will be able to access the bolts. Remove the nuts holding them in place (I believe you need a 10mm deep socket) and glue the broken bolts back onto the garnish piece. Don't use superglue, it won't be strong enough. Once glue dries, put garnish back and put back the nuts into bolts. Make sure you don't over tighten, it doesn't need to be that tight.

While you're at it, replace the 2 bulbs (bulb #168) for your license plate light, it's only accessible when you remove the inner hatch liner. Should be right about the time a 2008 model's bulbs would burn out. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

SM-N900P ?

 

Ok, my hatch handle broke too, but it cracked I've had it attached with screws, but I would like to find a less expensive route to get a new hatch handle other than the dealer, wants 1000.00, ugh. Do you have any knowledge of anyone that sells these replacement parts or used parts??

 

You can get the new part online for about $191 w/o smart key and $221 w/smart key from Camelback Toyota in AZ. Shipping is free and it's fairly easy to replace.

2008 Toyota Prius Parts - Camelback Toyota Parts - Genuine OEM Parts - Free Shipping

 

The exact same thing happened to my 2007 model. I did exactly what JP mentioned except that I used the "Mighty Putty" stuff from the informercials because that worked great with something else plastic I had broken previously. It was junk on the piece to the right in your picture that is broken. Both sides have since broken the same way. I have ended up getting away with just replacing the two small white clips that help hold it on also and am conscious of how hard I'm pulling when opening my hatch over the last year or so. They are a cheap "fix" for a few bucks at the dealer. The white plastic trim clips go on each side closer to the license plate than the broken piece. You can see next to the wire in your picture a small black ringed hole where the clip enters into. If you don't want to pry off your trim and epoxy it, that is an alternative. Not a correct fix, but it may still work if you don't pull too hard. I think I am going to get some epoxy to try though. My wife is part Italian and very heavy handed. Good luck to you!

 

I have repaired about a dozen of these.

This is the best glue for the job:

SEM Insta Bond 2 Component Kit 39310 | eBay

It is expensive but it is incredible. As soon as you position the peices with the glue, spray the activator and it hardens immediately.

 

June 10,2018 This happened to me about 2 weeks ago with my '07 Prius as I tried to open hatch in the dark. Not sure if I pulled on the trim piece more than the handle to lift. The white trim push-in piece was ok and held it together precariously. Thanks to this post I was able to research to come up with my fix. I found a used trim piece for $41 on Amazon and was thinking of ordering it. After showing the break to my mechanically inclined son however and telling him about this post and subsequent thread he advised: the simplest and cheapest fix that would work with the least amount of hassle given my Prius is over 11 yrs old. I decided not to replace the broken trim after reading about how others had glued the broken plastic piece the bolt screws into. Then I had to find a strong glue. I was not impressed with J-B Weld when I used it on my broken cruise arm. After reading reviews and it's holding power in cold, heat and water, I chose Loctite Stik'n Seal Extreme Conditions. I also found 1/2 inch 3M Double Sided Molding Tape recommended for holding spoilers and other exterior trim. Both purchased yesterday at my local Pep Boys for 18.98. I lightly sanded the broken plastic bolt holding piece, cleaned it with alcohol. I cleaned the area on the car and trim that would meet when pressed garnish trim back into place.Next I put the molding tape on the auto getting it under the weatherstripping as far to the left as I could and all the way to the right side and started to press the trim onto the car using a plastic trim tool I had bought to lift the weatherstrip up out of the way so the trim fit tightly to the auto. When I reached as far over where I could still put glue on the plastic holder I stopped and applied the glue to all surfaces that would meet. By using the stopwatch on my phone I waited the 5 mins per directions before gently aligning fastener pieces together and pushing in the white trim holder and pushed the rest of trim piece onto the tape and held it a few minutes. Then I put some painters tape from the trim piece to the hatch area. I had to drive it a couple of hours later and everything held together but waited 27 hours before I removed the tape and tested the repair for strength when opening the hatch. SUCCESS! It is very strong but I will be more careful in future. I also had the piece under the plate light broken so i put the tape there two and covered the sticky top area with clear shipping tape. I called local dealers the low estimate was $688 and high was $991. This was with the garnish in silver with emblem only way it came. If I had needed to replace trim garnish as I said I could have bought it for $41, spray paint $8.99 and glue costs totaling $68.97. I saved $669-$972 from dealer costs. Thanks to all on this thread and for posting.

 

congrats, well done!

 

Just adding my 2 cents. When I took my trim off for the liftgate handle one stud rusted out ( there’s 4 studs) and broke when I took it off. Fortunately it was in the middle and not on the end. After I put in the new smart key handle I just put the original trim back with 3 studs. It was now secured with one stud in the middle and one on either end. Seemed strong when o was finished.

One suggestion I have is to touch the handle gently with one hand and take the other hand and lift it from the very bottom of the liftgate, close to the bumper. That way you are not putting any pressure on the liftgate handle. Should last until studs rust out.

 

I think the reason many of these handles break is from too much force as the hatch strut supports weaken. With new struts you should only need to use enough force with your fingers to activate the unlock mechanism and the struts then do the actual lifting. It's not a difficult fix and new struts are less than $30 a pair.

 

How tough is it to install new struts. I did the front hood struts on my son's 2004 Audi a few years ago. Not SO bad -- but then, everything on an Audi is sort of bad....

 

Very easy. Plenty of videos. No unscrewing required, the ends of the struts fit over a ball and little clips in the sockets keep them in place. All you should need is a broom handle to prop the hatch open while you back the little clips off with a tiny screwdriver.
Most importantly only back off the clips slightly (do not remove!) on the new strut, slip over the ball and push the clip home. The metal used for the clips is very poor and will not tolerate much bending at all.

 

Well I just want to update that it now has been totally broken so over time it will probably need to be replaced. Others opening it pulled on it and it broke. So now going to have to go through the replacement procedure

 

After all these years and forgetting to tell people to do this it is totally broken. The only reason it doesn't fall off is the wires. I hit back into place and think I'm in for a lengthy and scary repair. I've broken so many plastic clips doing things to my poor car. It is almost 16 yrs old and has 194400 miles. Thanks to PriusChat I have been able to do simple things. I'm almost 70 now and not as strong but I just replaced my broken passenger mirror. Probably takes me longer but the job was a success. Thanks to everyone who posts how to posts and videos. I am grateful

 

Yes, I agree. It’s not hard at all to replace the struts. After watching a lot of videos showing how it’s done, I eventually got the courage to replace them. Two people, no broom handle needed.

Unfortunately, as you posted earlier, we’ve had to put extra force (for too long) to keep the hatch open due to the bad struts.

Now the handle is broken, and I’ve been opening it carefully, as other people here are doing. I also make sure it’s unlocked before I even touch the handle. otherwise, it comes off with just the wires holding it when I try to open.

I will find the courage to try the different fixed mentioned and will report it once I get it done.

Thank you all for your posts. I’ve been checking this site for years but I don’t remember ever posting. So glad this exists.

 

Gorilla “Permanent” Tape is the fix for the broken hatch handle if you don’t want to spend the money to get a new one installed. Just piece it back together the best you can like a broken ceramic dish and then start taping. Overkill on the tape. Basically cover the whole piece from tail light to tail light up as close to the back hatch window as possible. And also do some vertical strips as well as horizontal, taping down under the license plate as well. If you go overkill on the tape, then you won’t have to do a patch up job for 5+ years, I estimate. My tape job is still running strong 3 years later.