2007 Toyota Prius Body Problems
- 93
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 93 stored complaint records:
- 5 indicate a crash
- 2 indicate injury
- 2 indicate fire
What owners report
- rear hatch · 38 records
- rubber cover · 18 records
- difficult open · 17 records
- open hatch · 17 records
- open trunk · 15 records
- hatch latch · 13 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 60–100k mi | 30 |
| 30–60k mi | 21 |
| 100–150k mi | 12 |
| 150–400k mi | 7 |
| 1–30k mi | 7 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Body · Service Brakes
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…
ODI 11196166
Body
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.…
ODI 11165482
Body
Hood latch will not open 50, 60% of the time. Many people are having this problem and i feel it should be recalled..
ODI 11083823
Body
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…
ODI 11074179
Body · Service Brakes · Unknown Or Other
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…
Crash reported
ODI 11048273
Body
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.
ODI 11045190
Body · Unknown Or Other
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.
ODI 11115076
Body
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…
ODI 10938964
Body
HATCHBACK DOOR DOES NOT OPEN IN COLD WEATHER.
ODI 10935573
Body
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.
ODI 10935312
Body · Electrical System · Unknown Or Other
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…
ODI 10918022
Body · Exterior Lighting
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…
ODI 10870142
Body
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.
ODI 10937226
Body
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.…
ODI 10845786
Body
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.…
ODI 10824384
Body
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
ODI 10809239
Body
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…
ODI 10807840
Body
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.
ODI 10789554
Body
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.
ODI 10788145
Body · Vehicle Speed Control
I got unintended high speed and i could not stop the car. It stopped because the wheel was hit by the curbe
Crash reported
ODI 10809920
Body
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.
ODI 10781151
Body · Electrical System · Unknown Or Other
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.
ODI 10761425
Body
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.
ODI 10746843
Body · Unknown Or Other
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.
ODI 10853174
Body
10700946 update--toyota charged me $331.61 for the part and $182.15 for the labor. *tr
ODI 10701151