Cracked Trunk Trim Piece - Not Warranty Covered?

+1 post 17.
Good luck.

 

Do you have a screenshot of the strip of rubber either in the manual or on your car? Mine is a 03/2023 so I'd like to compare.

Do you have a copy of the repair manuals or are they only available on the paid website for it?

 

I have screenshots of the parts diagram, but the site isn't allowing uploads for me at the moment...

On the car, you can clearly see a strip tightly wedged between the plastic and the paint. I assume that's the protector part in the diagram, as there's nothing else shown aside from the plastic and metal body.

 

I'll have to wait for the weekend as it's usually night time by the time I can check and take a picture. I did check tonight and the area where this trim is around has a side plastic cover that seems to obstruct the view. I didn't see any rubber at all other than at the bottom of the glass part. The car is black so a bit hard to differentiate at night.

Anyone know if I can safely pop the side plastic covers on the trunk door?

 

No need to pop anything off, I think - on mine you can just see it looking straight on from the back. All along the whole bottom edge of the plastic light assembly, there's a strip filling the gap. Looks like rubber or some sort of squidgy foam being squeezed a bit.

Although maybe there wouldn't be a particularly visible gap without that part? Maybe it's pushing the light assembly up? It's maybe 1mm thick. If your car was manufactured 03/2023, then there shouldn't be anything there

As I said, the assembly/disassembly instructions don't include the new protector part - it seems they haven't been updated.

It looks like the light assembly is just bolted on to the hatch with the only other distinct "padding" being the rubber seal for the glass, which the assembly/disassembly instructions have you use tape to hold up out of the way.

Maybe the light unit can end up taking too much force from the glass, and can't transmit it to the body successfully through the bolts holding it on. A tightly wedged thing underneath it would help transmit the force. Although if the plastic part wasn't designed for that, could cause new problems.

It's not clear to me whether the failures do or don't have the protector.

 

My vehicle was manufactured 03/2023 and it has the rubber strip between the plastic trim and hatch body panel. I would post a picture but the this site is giving me an error every time I try to add a picture to a post.

 

My Gen 5 LTD was built in Feb 2023 and I also see a thin rubber strip along the lower edge of the plastic trim between it and the painted metal body panel of the hatch.

 

Right then, that's suggesting that the parts diagram's "from 05/2023" is inaccurate, or the protector piece shown isn't the rubber bit.

Still can't upload pictures, but they're not conclusive anyway. The parts diagram doesn't definitively show where the protector goes - it's just shown below the light assembly in the exploded parts diagram with no connecting lines - and it's not in the assembly instructions. The protector appears to be full-width, flat, maybe an inch deep, flat edge towards the rear, various cut-outs towards the front.

But if the protector isn't the rubber bit, then where's the rubber bit in the repair instructions? Maybe it's pre-installed on the light assembly part?

 

The bottom line is that this spoiler/handle/(un)light bar easily breaks. So, be very gentle when you open and close your hatch—or else spend hundreds of dollars to replace the spoiler/handle/(un)light bar. Apply only finger pressure when you open and close your hatch.

 

Most P5 have an automatic hatch though

 

Not in the US—only the Prius Limited (or Limited AWD) and Prius Prime XSE Premium, which are the least common top trims here, get the power liftback.

 

@Gokhan
My bad - here it seems reversed. Theres just one trim without it and its kinda in the minority.

 

Yeah, Euro cars seem to be more well-equipped in general.

 

Ha, so it's much easier to see it during daylight on a black car.
I'm attaching pictures from mine (03/2023) for this. I see the strip, it's about an inch wide and covers the base of the plastic between the body except for the last inch on each side. Maybe later models have it extending all the way?

IMG_C288 hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB
IMG_DD08 hosted at ImgBB — ImgBB

It also seems like the unlit centre light bar on the lower trims is actually opaque. So between that and the brittle plastic, it seems like a pain to add it back in.

From the many reports, it doesn't seem like a matter of when and not if that plastic will crack. I usually use the handle in the trunk to close it but that doesn't inspire me confidence.

 

The other day, I was paying attention to how I open and close my trunk hatch on my Gen 4 Prius Prime. I realized that the handle is attached to under the metal piece at the bottom. I almost always grab it from that handle on the metal. I almost never grab it from the plastic light-bar trim piece (that only lights when the brakes are applied) out of common sense because I don't want to break it, and if I have to, I am extremely gentle on it.

Where is the hatch handle on Gen 5? If it is on the plastic trim piece, it is a serious design flaw and no wonder it often breaks.

 

Wow, they did put the hatch handle on the plastic trim piece after all! That is your unfixable serious design flaw right there!

 

To open yes, to close they're a handle in the metal on the underside

 

On Gen 4 Prius Prime (probably on Gen 4 Prius as well), the handle on the metal piece is exposed—yet concealed—which you can also use for opening.

It looks like they completely hid the handle on the metal piece inside on Gen 5 for the sake of aesthetics and at the expense of reliability and convenience.

 

For Gen 2 and Gen 3, the Toyota emblem was a perfect place to force the hatch to close. You start with the handle on the inside, pull your hand out once the hatch starts down, and finish it by pushing on the Toyota emblem. You get a huge amount of leverage there, so pushing in or down both forces the hatch to close.

For Gen 4, if you palmed the Toyota emblem, your fingers rested on the sill below the rear window, still having you work with the hatch body and not any frilly attachment.

I can't speak to how to complete the closure of a Gen 5 because the Limited uses a powered closure. You can push a button or pull the handhold on the right-side bottom. Either way engages the motor that completes closing the hatch.

 

My XSE doesn't have the power hatch but the amount of force needed to close the hatch is very minimal. I guide it down to a couple inches before it latches before letting go and letting gravity do the rest. I never need to slam it.