Problems with 2007 Toyota Prius STRUCTURE

First issue is with the rear latch being useless sometimes depending on the weather as the molding is all melted and access to the trunk being impossible. second and most important i've noticed the braking on this car is very very suspect. purchased this vehicle around 6 months ago from westbury toyota and i've learned i need to apply my brakes at least a good 50 to 100 feet before the vehicle in front of me. couple months ago the car in front of me braked so sudden that i also hit my brakes, the abs sign flashed as if it "was" working but the car just kept going, i ended up pressing the brake all the way to the floor and still no result. if i hadn't kept my distance i would've definitely ended up in that cars trunk. i can say from all my experience as a driver and all the cars i've owned this car has the worst braking system in the history of motor vehicles. feels like braking a 747 plane. extremely dangerous braking

The rear hatch is extremely hard to open in the summer and now in the winter even harder. i feel this is a safety hazard. my car is parked under a carport winter and summer. i have less than 80,000 miles on the vehicle. i need to be able to get in the rear hatch to change a tire or get a fire extinguisher in case of emergency and i sometimes can't get it to open. is there some way toyota can help make this right. the rubber part that you press is harder than a stick and won't release. this happens some times at the grocery store parking lot or at any store parking lot. sometimes it happens when i arrive home and can't get my groceries out because the hatch won't let it release. is this a defect that can be corrected?

Hood latch will not open 50, 60% of the time. many people are having this problem and i feel it should be recalled..

The rear lift gate latch on my toyota prius has stopped functioning. the exterior rubber over the latch mechanism/switch has melted, turned gummy and will no longer function to open the lift gate. in cold weather the latch has been even more difficult to open and the trim piece containing the trunk hatch latch bezel while trying to get the latch to release broke. i can no longer open the trunk of my car from the outside. this is a security and a safety hazard as i can not access the rear hatch of my car in under normal use nor an emergency and defeats the primary purpose of a hatchback car which is access to the car's interior. the car jack and emergency spare tire, battery located just behind the failed hatch latch. i am disabled, i can not put a wheel chair in/out. this is unsafe and toyota refuses to assist with the repair. this replacement part/service only is warranty for 1 year at a price of $675 to repair. under the ada act - please investigate and advocate a recall.

After i noticed that the suv sufficiently ahead of me in the same lane was stopping to make a left turn, i started slowing down with plenty of space. i glanced for a second to my right side to check safety around another set of headlights. when i faced forward i could see that i was getting too close to the about-to-turn car ahead of me. i immediately slammed on the brakes, but the car kept moving forward and slammed into the suv's rear end. thankfully there were no physically injuries, but the collision caused low/moderate damage to the suv and major damage to my prius -- enough that the radiator was clobbered, and that my car had to be towed. at the time of this post, the repair shop has not yet finished evaluating it and reporting on all the damaged parts and the estimate costs. prior to purchasing this vehicle about 9 months ago, i had checked for active recalls but found none, and i confirmed the same shortly after the purchase. apparently, though, toyota has not yet issued a recall on the brake system even after many similar complaints about such a failure during an emergency need for a total stop. i am really interested in pursuing further action, possibly through legal avenues.

When the temperature dips below 40 f, the rear gate does not open. the rubber covering of the switch to lift the gate gets very hard and does not respond to pressure to open the rear lift gate.

The back latch to the trunk/hatch is defective. the rubber exterior part has melted and is all gooey and sticky. in the winter time it freezes. we are unable to open or use the trunk. this is a safety issue and also can not access spare or compartment. this is a faulty part and there have been thousands of similar reports. i would like this fixed as is a manufacturing flaw and defect.

The trunk latch on my '07 prius has "melted" and is no longer working. since the latch is no longer working, the trunk is unable to open, and also unable to remain in a fully latched, closed position. because of this, i am unable to lock the doors. sometimes, i can give the trunk door an extra push to turn off the "door open" sensor to lock the vehicle, but because it is not fully latching and the vehicle is being locked from the outside, the anti-theft alarm will go off.

Hatchback door does not open in cold weather.

Rear hatch door latch failure, starting with softening and then complete melting of the rubber cover and finally to latch not operating at all, especially in cold weather.

The trunk opener switch on my 2007 prius no longer works reliably because it is made of a defective rubber which has at this point melted into a goopy mess. this means that the opener switch can become stuck in the closed position, rendering it impossible to open the trunk until the release mechanism of the switch overcomes the tensile strength of the goop. as a cursory google search shows, this is a common problem which toyota routinely refuses to repair. it is a potential safety issue because a pet or child could be difficult to retrieve from the trunk area if the trunk cannot be opened. an unexpected hazard such as a leaking propane tank or a battery fire in the trunk area could similarly be difficult to mitigate.

The headlights work intermittently and have needed bulb replacement 3 times so far. also all the tail light and the tag lights went out at the same time recently and required bulb replacement. when driving we had no idea the lights were out and only found out when we were pulled over by police. this constitutes a very dangerous situation in my opinion. also the hatchback handle sometimes fails to work due to the rubber cover deterioration.

Hatchback will not unlock. the rubber that covers the latch has degraded to the point where it is sticky in the warm weather and rock solid in the cold weather where you can no longer press it to open the truck.

The rear hatch latch rubber cover has dissolved over the last couple years to the point you can no longer open from outside. if someone was in an accident you could not open the rear hatch door and you are trapped inside of the vehicle with no time to get yourself out or pull anyone else out, i have seen online complaints about this going back into 2011. this is happening on a lot of cars, especially toyota prius's. as of right now i can not open the hatch door on my 2007 prius. it has just gotten worse until now when it will not open. i used to have to fight by pushing down and pulling up, but it will not open at all now.

Faulty liftgate handle. the rubber melts in warm weather, leaving a sticky black tar on your fingers that will not wash off. this rubber melts into the mechanism such that the liftgate is no longer operational. toyota knows about this faulty batch of rubber that was used, but so far refuses to recall the faulty mechanism in the us. the liftgate would only open intermittantly, with a lot of effort about a year ago. now, it will not open at all, so we are taking it to the dealer for repair.

Read hatch door latch switch failure due to rubber cover that has deteriorated and melted into sticky goo. the switch now is intermittent. black tarry rubber gets on my hands when i try to use it. the price to repair was quoted as $350

Liftgate handle latch mechanism deteriorated (inside the exterior handle, not the actual connection down near the bumper). this is a known 2007 prius problem both within this database and in online forums, if you search. probably part of the 'rubber parts / gasket turning into goop' problem discussed elsewhere. should be a dealer warranty repair as it is expensive defect to fix, $600 or so, entailing removing panels from the inside etc and replacing the switch. i called toyota and they gave me a case number but that is all thus far. lexington toyota dealer (mass.) said they had never heard of it, which seems unlikely.

Trunk release hatch button degraded. turned sticky, felt like, tar. to open the trunk took considerable effort. this is a safety issue, not being able to open the trunk or opening with difficulty. trunk release hatch button "melted" then the entire garnish broke off when trying to open it.

The rubber cover on the rear hatch handle is defective and melting. this causes the rear hatch to stick, not allowing access to the rear hatch when the vehicle is parked. this happens multiple times when trying to gain access to the rear hatch space.

I got unintended high speed and i could not stop the car. it stopped because the wheel was hit by the curbe

The black rubber on the hatchback latch has melted and makes opening the hatchback difficult. the black goo sticks to the hand and is very messy because it gets on anything touched including clothes, door handles and children. the melted rubber interferes with the latch such on some occasions, the hatchback does not open.

the rear hatch release on my 2007 toyota prius has begun to deteriorate and turn into a rubbery and sticky black mess. this issue interferes with the use of the hatch as the rubber not only gets on your fingers but appears to be blocking the release mechanism. the deterioration started during the summer.. the issue has worsened and today i was unable to open the rear hatch whatsoever.

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. the contact stated that while the vehicle was parked in the sun, the dashboard melted and left a shiny substance which caused a reflection on the windshield that obstructed the contact's visibility. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 71,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. the contact stated that the exterior rear hatch handle melted and left a melted rubber residue on her hands. the failure recurred on multiple occasions during warm weather. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 20,900.

I bought a used and regularly serviced 2007 toyota prius in september 2014 with 69,000 miles. this week of april 5th, the airbag symbol showed up on the dash along with the headlights not working properly. when i took the vehicle in to the local toyota dealership, i was told that the steering wheel spiral coil was broken and ;that my airbag system was disabled. this happened at 85,000 miles. it cost me almost $500 to have this coil replaced. the service manager said this was simply due to normal wear and tear. i also have outside hatch rubber opener that is gooie and sticky and the hatchback door often will not open. updated 10/31/2017*js

Back hatch handle melts in hot weather and gets tar on fingers and drips on car body. the only way toyota has to fix this is to make consumer pay for a new rear handle assembly.

10700946 update--toyota charged me $331.61 for the part and $182.15 for the labor. *tr

I tried to open the hatchback and the entire handle came off (over a foot long), connected to the car only by wires. i have previously reported to you (last year?) that the rubber gasket that gets pressed to open this hatchback was melting and sometimes would not open the hatch. i noticed many other similar complaints and have been waiting for toyota to issue a recall. in the colder winter weather this was not such a problem. i called the dealer and they ordered the part and said they'll charge me $400 to replace. i said that i should not have to pay. i go in tomorrow to do this. *tr

The gas tank design toyota prius from at least 2007 and until 2010, contains no actual fuel gauge. in the northern states with severe winters this results in owners frequently running out of gas when they think they still have ample fuel as shown by multiple complaints found on the internet, and for us on a trip in february to march 2015 we were in serious fear of running out of gas when in fact if the specification for capacity has any meaning we still had over 4 gallons of fuel. we got so worried, we stopped at a brothel in nevada so my wife could ask how far to the nearest gas station. when we got to the gas station the fuel pump indicator was even blinking to indicate we were in danger of running out of fuel, yet the car filled up with only 65% of its rated fuel capacity. running out of gas unexpectedly is especially dangerous in the toyota prius because so much depends on electricity including the steering to get the car off the road. there is no guarantee it cannot happen when the battery is already at maximum depletion or the main battery itself has failed but not yet been replaced in which case the car is totally dependent on continuous fuel flow. it certainly came as a shock to me to learn that what is displayed is no better than a grossly inaccurate estimate of remaining fuel, or about to run out fuel level. toyota should be forced to recall all of these vehicles for fuel system replacement in the interests of safety and keeping people from being killed for running out of gas at the wrong time and stopping dead on the highway. as these cars age, they become more dangerous because it is only a matter of time before they will be driven with a bypass of a defective main battery, but epa regulations preventing alteration of anything emissions related will make these cars road hazards across the nation if the problem is not dealt with.

The rubber covered latch to the trunk/hatch has disintegrated so it is impossible to open. this causes a safety hazard as i cannot access necessary safety equipment, including car jack, emergency sign, and jumper cables. i have read many other complaints about this piece on this model, and so believe it to be a defect of the substance used in the latch.

The trunk latch has melted making it very sticky/gooey in hot weather and frozen solid (immovable) in cold weather making it difficult to open the hatch. the situation continued to worsen to the point of while attempting to open the trunk yesterday the entire back piece fell off the car. i can no longer open the hatch at all. this is both a serious safety issue (a life saving access point) and a serious quality defect that toyota has chosen to ignore. in addition, the cost toyota is charging for repair is exorbitant (over $500). also, i've noticed that there are no complaints on later model prius', so it appears that toyota has fixed the problem at the expense of many. i do hope that nhtsa will look into this issue. *tr

The rubber handle of the rear liftgate latch has "melted" into the operating part of the latch, making it totally inoperable in the winter, and cooler months. this is not due to exposure to heat extremes - the car has always been garaged in a northern part of the us, where summer temperatures rarely exceed 80 degrees. in an emergency in the winter, there is no way to make use of the hatchback. the operation is problematic in the summer - sometimes it can be forced open, sometimes not. it has taken a few years for the latch to become inoperative; it became increasingly difficult to open over the last several years, and sticky black residue transferred to hands touching it for those years. this is not normal wear and tear; clearly defective rubber was used.

The rubber external trunk latch cover on a 2007 toyota prius has melted to the point where it is either gooey to the touch in warm weather or frozen solid and immovable in colder temperatures. this is a safety hazard because of the location of the battery is in rear compartment on the passenger side and if there was a need to disconnect the battery, it would be nearly impossible to get at, due to the inflexibility of the rubber i am unable to open the trunk and, thus, access the spare tire and any of my repair tools, jumpers, etc. there is no alternative internal method for opening the hatchback/trunk. toyota needs a recall of this defective part and replace at their cost, as the cost to repair it is exorbitant and it is a faulty design. *tr

The rear lift gate latch on my toyota prius has stopped functioning. in 65 degree weather today the exterior rubber over the latch mechanism has melted and will no longer function to open the lift gate. in cold weather the latch has been very difficult to open and now the melted rubber mess has ceased to perform. i can no longer open the trunk of my car. the rubber has melted out onto the metal part of the lift gate and over the screws that hold it in place. this is a safety hazard as i can not access the rear hatch of my car in an emergency or in any typical situation (i would have to crawl into the trunk from the back seat and remove the interior plastic panel to open the hatch from inside the car if i needed to open the hatch door.) *tr

As the weather gets colder and colder in the pittsburgh area this fall, the back hatch is becoming harder and harder to open. today is the coldest day and the back hatch won't open at all. i saw that other owners have this issue. *tr

The back latch of my 2007 toyota prius has degraded ("melted" almost). it no longer functions properly, and i am unable to open the back hatch door easily. sometimes it requires considerable effort and perseverance to get it open. i am concerned that in the case of an emergency, i will not be able to get the door open. this is a major cause for concern and it is a serious safety hazard. *tr

The cover to the back hatch latch has melted into a gooey black mass this makes it difficult (at best) to open the back hatch. there is no alternative internal method for opening the hatchback/trunk,. since the spare tire and tire changing gear (jack, wrench, etc.) are stored in the back, this is a serious safety hazard. this is an obvious defect in the material used for the latch cover - the deterioration of this part can in no way be attributable to neglect or abuse on the part of the driver/owner of the vehicle. should be recalled and replaced by toyota. *tr

Back hatch latch or opener is sticky and rubbery and failing. seems like melting. *tr

The rubber handle on my 2007 toyota prius melts in the summer and freezes in the winter. if it's cold outside it's impossible to get into the car through the tailgate which could present a serious safety issue should the rest of the doors be unusable in an emergency. in the summer, i'm able to get into the drunk but it leaves a black residue on my hands that takes a few days to clean off entirely and it can be very hot to the touch if left outside on a hot day. *tr

The back latch of my 2007 toyota prius has degraded ("melted" almost). it no longer functions properly, and i am unable to open the back hatch door easily. sometimes it requires considerable effort and perseverance to get it open. i am concerned that in the case of an emergency, i will not be able to get the door open. this is a major cause for concern and it is a serious safety hazard. *tr

The rubber on the handle / latch on the back hatch of my 2007 prius has degraded to the point of melting / falling off. sticky tacky rubber has been a problem for a while, but now the piece just melted onto the bumper. it is not a particularly hot day comparatively, so must have just finally degraded to the point of falling off while i was parked. this appears to be a common defect, and i would like toyota / dealership to cover fixing this: http://www.meyersonstrategy.com/2013/09/toyotas-sticky-2007-prius-hatch-problem.html. *tr

Cover over hatch has turned to goo and hatch release no longer functions. this appears to be a potential safety issue since the door can not be operated. the vehicle has been kept in a garage when not in use since purchase, so weather would not be a factor. am wondering whether this was a factor in the early demise of the 12v battery. *tr

Exterior rear hatch latch handle sticky/melting. must use rag to avoid touching the mess when using the door. latch and lock operation has become unreliable and hatch must be slammed to ensure closure. practically identical to complaint id 10632829. *tr

Rear hatch release latch has been getting stick to the touch and increasingly difficult to open. tried cleaning the latch and discovered that the rubber covering the latch seems to be melting. checked online and discovered that this seems to be a common problem and, if not corrected, will likely result in latch release switch failure. the location of the rubber latch release cover protects it from direct sunlight and there seems to be no reasonable explanation for the failure of this part other than a defect in manufacture. *tr

In july of 2014, i bought a 2007 toyota prius from a family member in nevada, a warm state; i live in minnesota, a cold state. the hatch release rubber seal had deteriorated, and it was tacky to the touch, but the hatch released and opened. when november came, the hatch release would not work; it was a cool november. i believe it is a danger to not be able to open the back hatch in case of an accident. the maplewood toyota dealership service person inspected the hatch release seal and said that someone must have put a chemical on it to damage it. toyota does not believe that this is a defective part; i believe the part is defective. i am going to have the part fixed, but i believe toyota has created a dangerous situation, especially if someone with a defective hatch release seal travels to a cooler climate than the car has experienced in the past. *tr

Latch on my 2007 prius is melting and sticky, leaving black residue on my fingers when i open it. it is difficult to open at times in addition. *tr

On our 2007 prius, the rubber cover for the rear trunk hatch has melted into black goo. this degradation doesn't appear to be due to heat, since the car has been kept in a cool garage. the rubber itself effectively turned into tar, coming off on our hands and dripping onto the bumper at times. the melting has also made it difficult to open the rear trunk, as the gooey rubbery mess appears to be interfering with the action of the switch that releases the hatch. *tr

Over time the black rubber on our hatch has melted. it has gotten harder and harder to open the trunk. finally we popped the plastic part off due to the pressure needed to open the trunk. it no longer opens. my husband had a flat tire on 6/13/2014. he could not get in to the trunk and had to drive the car to a tire place to buy new tires. the fact that he couldn't get in to the trunk was inconvenient and expensive. my greatest concern is that this is a safety issue. you can't get in or out of the trunk in case of emergency. that is pretty scary, especially since we are traveling with 2 small children. *js

The rear hatch release on my 2007 toyota prius has deteriorated and turn into a rubbery and sticky black mess. this issue interferes with the use of the hatch as the rubber not only gets on your fingers but appears to be blocking the release mechanism. the deterioration started during the summer of 2014. the issue has worsened and this winter i have been unable to open the rear hatch whatsoever. this is a serious safety concern as i cannot access my spare tire, jumper cables, or anything else in my trunk in any other way. *tr

The check engine light for the electrical system illuminated. i contacted a-1 toyota dealer and they diagnosed leak on rear window. heard water sloshing in the car. water leaked into cargo area. the weather strip was replaced.