rear hatch lift cover melts in summer, hard in winter
the rubber cover on the latch for the rear lift melts in the summer heat and leaves your fingers coated with black crap. In the winter, the rubber turns so hard that it is sometimes impossible to open the rear hatch.
This is a very annoying problem when you are trying to open the hatch, because there is no other way to open it. There were times that I was out in sub zero temps trying to warm the latch cover with my bare hands to get it soft enough so I could open it.
The toyota dealer looked at it, and told me it worked just fine. Of course that was inside a 70 degree climate controlled garage. If the world were always 70 degrees, I would have no complaint. Unfortunately, sometimes it is 90 degrees, and sometimes it is freezing, and then the latch cover is not acceptable.
The toyota solution is to replace the whole mechanism for hundreds of dollars. All they need to do is offer to replace the rubber cover. I also have a 2008 Prius, and it does not have this problem.
Several issues with this Prius. Appreciate better mileage than most, but it has gone down since I've owned it. Changed tires to a different brand, that altered the mileage, too.
Had the interior steam cleaned and upholstery on the cover to the compartment between the front seats came up-glued, a pain.
Rear spoiler and handles have peeling protective coating, ugly.
Lots of chips in the paint from stones on hood of car.
Heating OK, slow to adjust. Air conditioning has bad smell at first - wonder what I'm breathing.
The hatch back release is melting, as I said earlier.
- Sara U.,
Oakland, CA, US
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
rear hatch lift cover melts in summer, hard in winter
the rubber cover on the latch for the rear lift melts in the summer heat and leaves your fingers coated with black crap. In the winter, the rubber turns so hard that it is sometimes impossible to open the rear hatch.
This is a very annoying problem when you are trying to open the hatch, because there is no other way to open it. There were times that I was out in sub zero temps trying to warm the latch cover with my bare hands to get it soft enough so I could open it.
The toyota dealer looked at it, and told me it worked just fine. Of course that was inside a 70 degree climate controlled garage. If the world were always 70 degrees, I would have no complaint. Unfortunately, sometimes it is 90 degrees, and sometimes it is freezing, and then the latch cover is not acceptable.
The toyota solution is to replace the whole mechanism for hundreds of dollars. All they need to do is offer to replace the rubber cover. I also have a 2008 Prius, and it does not have this problem.
- Harold H., WASHINGTON, PA, US