Prius "v" Rear Hatch Remote Switch Mod

Rear Hatch Remote Switch Mod
This past weekend we purchased a 2012 "v" for my daily/weekly driver. Suddenly we're talking about Prius camping. As we slept our first night in the Prius (bringing it home after the purchase) did bring on some complications...but soon we had a workable (but temporary) solution to our Prius bed.

One thing I became aware of is that there is no way to open the rear hatch from the inside. Old guys need to get up during the night...and going out the open hatch appears better than sliding out the door (when the bed is made!). Upon returning home I began to look at the wiring for installing a remote rear hatch switch. I could not find anything anywhere regarding how to do this. So...it was time to go exploring. The mod was finished in about an hour and is working great.

I have read posts where people wanted a switch in the glove box, etc, but there is no spring to push the hatch up (away from the latch) when it is released...so not really a good plan for that. But, if you just want to be able to open the hatch, easily, from the inside the rear of the v, this is how to do it.

 

I gave that some thought. But since the remote switch button is on the hatch itself...just sort of seemed like more work. Thanks!

 

UPDATE... Painfully I discovered that if the car is in Ready, and you lock all the doors using the drivers switch the hatch mod does not work! Thanks to a user on the Prius Camping group for suggesting that I try "manually" locking each door (rather than hitting the lock-all button). When all doors are manually locked the rear hatch can be opened using my mod! YEA!!!!! However, I did this test with all windows rolled down so I could reach back inside to unlock any door. So I tried several what-if...uh-oh situations. With the smart key inside the car, Ready mode, reaching through the windows to lock the doors and then hitting the window up button...that it is possible to end up with all doors locked, windows up, Ready on and the keys inside. I say this as an FYI...since sometimes things happen when you least expect it!

I always keep a spare manual key available outside the vehicle...just in case.