2006 Prius Replace Liftgate Handle Garnish replacement?

For $30 I don't think you can expect a replacement garnish to show up with the electrical lock and unlock buttons, backup camera if you have it, and so on. Those have to be taken from the old one, as shown. There might be one connector for the lock and unlock buttons, and another for the camera. I think he is taking the license light sockets out just for easier access.

 

I was just going to say you're going to be facing some frozen screws I just saw the post Very good now usually what I do is right next to the backup lights on the inside of the garnish I drill a little tiny pilot hole that goes through the garnish you just bought and into the sheet metal and insert a little black screw You can't even see it when I'm done this makes it hold a little bit tighter so that when you're lifting on the lift gate it spreads out some of the pool on two of the vehicles I have here this is worked very well The screws are like number six one inches I think 3/4 might work but you see it has to go through the garnish a little bit of dead space and into the hatch metal that's why I put a pilot hole and put it in my hand don't use a driver drill and just touch the garnish and you feel it touching and turning into the sheet metal and that's it you leave it

 

I would replace the lift pistons for the tailgate. That garnish panel is quite thin and often breaks because you (have to) pull on it when trying to open the tailgate. Stronger lift pistons mean less force on the panel.

(There is at least one of those panels that has a metal reinforcement but I'd expect it to cost more than $35)

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I ordered one of those metal-reinforced ones, think it was about $70. Still a bargain compared to Toyota's price for the non-reinforced original.

Or it would be a bargain if I could actually get it. On my first attempt, the seller sent me a bent one. It was in kind of a V shape. Maybe that happened in shipping, there was no protection in the box.

When I asked how the seller wanted to handle that, it was "send it back for a refund". So I put a useless V-shaped garnish back in a box and sent it back, then placed another order.

Second time, the seller sent me an empty box. I got lucky, because the shipping company actually figured out it was empty and put that in the tracking record and didn't deliver it. If it had shown up and I had opened it myself, not thinking to video it, I'd probably have had no way to prove it came empty.

It was for a family member's car, and after trying to open that hatch myself, I'm pretty sure the issue there was the rubber weatherstrip. The hatch was sticking to it so well I wasn't even sure the latch was releasing, but it was. On my next trip out there I took some Shin Etsu grease and did the hatch weatherstrip all around. Opens easily now.

 

@KitsuneVoss - You may find this thread interesting concerning the hatch trim: Hatch garnish loose only at driver's side edge | PriusChat