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How do you open the hatch from inside?

Discussion in 'Prius v Main Forum' started by zenMachine, Nov 9, 2011.

  1. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Is it any easier than in previous models?
     
  2. walkwithme

    walkwithme New Member

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    it's actually much easier, you just press the button
     
  3. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Where is this button?
     
  4. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

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    View the hatch or the wagon back as just another door.
    You wouldn't want a car's door to fly open - you just unlock the doors and it unlocks too.
     
  5. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Thanks, Dianne. I don't know why this is such an issue.

    Tom
     
  6. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

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    and...

    I think they want it to fly up or power up like a Lexus SUV - but no one's stoppin to think that it's got to be simple!
    ONE CAN'T WEIGH THE CAR DOWN WITH LOTS OF MOTORS... or the fuel economy will be even worse. It opens like a hatchback or regular wagon. Lock and unlock using the key fob or the door switch. Or, the hatch opener itself with the smart entry on ya.
     
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  7. dhanson865

    dhanson865 Expert and Devil's advocate

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    I'm wondering if you are talking past each other?

    The general question in the Gen II/III Prius on how to open the hatch from the inside is because the 12V battery is dead and the hatch won't open from the outside.

    All I see in this thread so far is discussion of how to open it in day to day use. What about if the 12V battery dies? Or are all these comments about the button/locks/doors saying there is a handle on the inside of the hatch that works just like the handle on the inside of the other car doors?

    If so that is a change from the regular Prius where you have to know how to open the hatch from the inside as it isn't obvious.
     
  8. milkman44

    milkman44 Active Member

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    I'd like to know how to open the hatch from the inside also. If it was obvious, I'd have figured it out by now, still watching this thread for an answer.
     
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  9. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

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    While I am unsure why it would need to be opened from the interior, since there's no seats back there ... and where there are seats, there are doors and such, but IF the remote dies, there's a spot under the hood to jump the car and make the lock-unlock button function to open said hatch.
     
  10. ggood

    ggood Senior Member

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    I slept in my car last weekend in lieu of using a tent. Would have been nice to be able to pop the hatch open from the inside. I can think of lots of other examples, such as dropping off recyclables at my local recycle center (it has people who unload) or signalling to a grocery carrier that the hatch is open. It doesn't have to fly or be powered up, it just has to release the latch in an unmistakable manner.
     
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  11. runukraine

    runukraine New Member

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    I had a 2003 Matrix XR where the glass hatch could open with the door itself still closed.

    I loved that feature. I used to fold the back seat behind the driver down and open the glass hatch. I would then put in three or four surfboards and bungee cord them down. Then I'd head to the beach with a few friends with the surfboards hanging out the hatch.

    As far as I can tell, that is not possible in my Prius v Three. Is that correct?
     
  12. DianneWhitmire

    DianneWhitmire High PRIUStess

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    Well, you SUTHERN boys can always kick out the back window with your boots on...........

     
  13. jcl410

    jcl410 Junior Member

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    check out page 77 of the owner's manual. It shows you having to remove a cover in the door and using a screwdriver to trip the mechanism.

    Aloha,

    John
     
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  14. tgant

    tgant New Member

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    I have a 2005. It has had lots of battery problems. At least in my model, what you have to do is lower both of the back seats, then take out the spare tire boxy cover. Then you will see a small rectangular cavity on the hatch, below the level of the floor.(This is why you have to remove the tire cover to find it) You reach in there and you will eventually find this infintesimally tiny manual lever which you have to pull towards you, i.e towards the front of the car ,while you push on the hatch from inside like a charging bull. I am not making this up.
     
  15. dhanson865

    dhanson865 Expert and Devil's advocate

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    So the OP was

    and the answer is

    at least that's what I'm seeing as the result of this thread.
     
  16. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Let me plead with you to get a new battery. For $140 (Toyota) to $200 (Optima) you can protect your Inverter. ($4500)

    If you ever mix up the jumper cables, you can ruin the inverter, perhaps the second most expensive part in your car. (You protect the MOST expensive part by changing your transaxle fluid every 60,000 miles, right?)

    Toyota Prius 12 Volt Auxiliary Battery with install kit for 2004 - 11
     
  17. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Every door on the Prius v has a handle to easily open it from the inside - except the hatch door. Am I correct?

    I fail to understand the designer's rationale for this complex hidden mechanism, especially when power is lost. Aside from being a pain in the neck (and back), it could also be a serious safety concern.
     
  18. M8s

    M8s Retired and Lovin' It

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    I agree zenMachine.

    There is one very obvious situation where you'd want to open the rear hatch from the inside. Say your 12 volt battery goes dead. You have to replace it. You can't open the back door because the battery is dead. You really don't want to do this job (or remove interior body panels) while hunched down in the cargo bay.

    Wouldn't it be nice to have an easy way of opening the rear hatch from inside? Like a button to push or a tab to pull. I hope Toyota is listening.
     
  19. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Is the hatch a normal path of egress on the Prius v?

    Tom
     
  20. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    No it is not. Is that why an easy opening mechanism isn't really needed?