Using the back seat to access the "trunk space" - reliability concern?

Hi! Folding down the rear seats to access the trunk space should not cause any long-term issues as long as you follow the proper procedure outlined in the owner's manual. The rear seats are designed to be folded down and back up repeatedly for increased cargo space. However, avoid placing excessive weight on the folded seatbacks or using them as a step, as this could potentially damage the seat mechanisms over time. As long as you operate the seats gently and as intended, frequently folding them should not present any reliability concerns.

 

Power lift gates have always seemed a bit of a dud to me, a “feature” with pros and cons, more trouble prone too. Like auto-folding side view mirrors, electronic parking brakes.

 

Yea, must admit that finally getting a powered lift gate was a bit of a letdown. They seemed cool when looking at other cars, but once I got mine it was "meh". It was faster opening and closing manually, than with the motor in the new car.

Getting to the trunk area via the back seats turned out to be really important when I killed my 12V battery and couldn't jump from the hood. I had to crawl via the back seats and jump the battery directly since I couldn't open the lift gate electrically.

Will

 

I'm okay either way with mine. If I'm walking out of a box store with a big cart, I like being able to open the hatch as I approach. Conversely, if I'm unloading and don't have a hand free to close the hatch, I like being able to carry my stuff into the house and then press the buttons on the keyfob to close the hatch and lock the doors without having to walk back to the car. All that being said, I could easily live without it if it magically turned into a manual hatch overnight.

What I really wish the car had was a foot sensor to automatically open the hatch with a wave of the foot if the keyfob was within range. Some other brands have that(maybe Lexus?), and I've always envied the cars that have it.

 

Could you stop the power hatch midway when opening? This is not possible with the manual hatch, which is a huge problem because I am often parked in a low-ceiling garage, and it takes an enormous effort to take something out while trying to stop the hatch from hitting the ceiling and being damaged.

 

Some Toyotas have it too. I have one now, in a RAV4 plug-in.

Don't know how well it works with a trailer hitch receiver, as I had to move part of the sensor while installing the aftermarket hitch yesterday. The Toyota-option hitch is mounted about an inch higher, and instructions for it say to remove the sensor altogether, as its support frame must be cut along with a notch in the bumper skirt. YouTube videos are showing that removal isn't actually necessary, it can be shifted a bit, at the cost of reducing sensitivity. Some aftermarket hitches don't require cutting anything, just letting the plastic bumper skirt bend up a bit.

I wouldn't pay for it as an a la carte option, but it came bundled with other options I did want. With a hitch-mount bike carrier, I'm turning this feature off.

Yes, at least on the RAV4 version. It has a number of different opening heights, I set mine down a bit to avoid hitting kayaks hanging from the garage ceiling. Settable either physically at the door by manually stopping it at the height you want, then pressing and holding a fob key, or by picking a value on a dashboard menu screen.

do not know if it is part of any Prius option bundle.

 

It is. Same system on the Limited/XSE+. Choose between a few presets, or set a custom height.

 

Oh, that's nice. In that case, a power hatch would have come very handy in the low-ceiling parking structure for me.

 

If you have assigned parking or park in the same spot all the time. You can glue or tape a pool noodle up there to prevent damaging your trunk lid, if it gets away from you.

Hope this helps...

 

I have my rear seat backs down almost exclusively. The power hatch is fine by me. I've set it to open at the next one down from fully open.
I'm not in that much of a hurry to wait the 2 sec for it to open or close and it may prevent the plastic piece from breaking that is happening with some.

 

Reserved parking costs three times (~ $200 a month) in contrast to PHEV/BEV parking, and I don't know if they would allow that or I would do that.

 

As it was also mentioned, the power hatch is a blessing because the manual Gen 5 hatches are breaking if they are not babied, and Toyota is not covering them under warranty.

I don't think it is easier to access the trunk from the rear seat anyway…

 

Gorilla tape a noodle or two dead center & parallel to the parking spots. That way you don't have to hit some sort of mark while pulling in; the noodle would be effective if your a few inches to a foot off. Maintenance should be able to figure it out and pull it down; if it conflicts with ordinance that they decide to make-up. Tell the building manager that it will lower insurance cost and claims against their insurance company.

 

Are you asking him to do this to every space in the parking garage where he might park? It sounds to me that he lacks an assigned space, so takes whatever slot is open at the moment.

 

@fuzzy1 is correct. It is a huge university parking structure. I don't have reserved parking. You are lucky if you find a parking spot. Thankfully, I rarely carry large/heavy items. The solution would be to empty the trunk before I pull under the beams that interfere with the hatch, which I should remember next time. In my garage, I also have a low beam, which I avoid parking the hatch under.

 

I think 6'-8" is a common "minimum head room" stipulation, say for doorways, overhead pipes and what have you. Doesn't seem too onerous for auto manufacturers to be cognizant, keep their open hatches just shy of that.

 

Yeah, but that's because so that tall people don't accidentally bang their heads and hurt themselves.

A tall friend of mine was telling me how dangerous for him was to be in Japan with low ceiling fans etc.

 

Death by ceiling fan...

I was thinking of stature by nation, but I think that works against us: wouldn't Japan be more prone to have lower min headroom reg's, and acorrdingly be more concerned about hatches banging stuff.

 

But customers also want clear access to the cargo area.

Public garages are probably sized for vans. Then the hatch could be emptied before parking in a private garage.

Surprised no one mentioned using a strap, rope, bungee, etc. to limit a manual hatch opening.