hatch door handle breaking off - need replacement part

Thanks, I ended up repairing ours through personal ingenuity.
My dad would call it "duct tape and bailing wire". Lol. Anyway, it seems to be holding up pretty good.


iPhone ?

 

Can you supply more details as to how you accomplished this? Many thanks.

 

Can you give us some specific details for your repair? Sounds like the best way to go. Thanks!

 

There are instructions here in prius chat for removing the garnish.(when the button gets sticky) Once removed, there are blue or white clips the hold the garnish on. The bolts the originally held it in too I moved to the place where the clips were. The trick then is getting your hand inside the hatch to tighten the nuts since there are not access holes like the original bolt locations. I also used jb weld to affix the bolts to the garnish reenforcing and making reinstallation easier.

Sorry for no link to the sticky latch thread.

 

Thanks all. I am having the same problem. I will post a picture of my solution when I am done.

 

It's a bit pricey, but here's a potential solution for those looking for a real handle for the hatchback - other than the molded plastic one inside the hatch. Found it here on PC thanks to someone else.

 

Ok so this is what I did. If you don't mind your car looking jacked up this is what I did.

After going to three "pull your own stuff" junkyards (no avail), calling around, and looking at Ebay prices I decided to just drill it out.

So what I did was I went to Home Depot and purchased some toggle bolts. I bought 5" x 1/4" but that was way to long. I ended up grinding them down to ~3.5". And two large 1/4" washers.

Then from the back of the trim out I drilled holes on either side of the Toyota symbol. I drilled the holes through where the old connections broke. Put the trim back on and pushed the toggle bolt through (with the washer) and attached the toggle on the other side. I put the interior trim back on and bam...I am done. Looks a little ghetto but it is done. I am happy and I am moving on with life.

 

Yakoma - Handle looks tight. Thanks!

 

Update: I purchased one for my daughter's 2008 and it turns out there is no place to bolt it to on the hatch. There are only 2 holes for the license plate on our Prius - the top holes. This handle would mount in the bottom holes if they were there. I'm not keen on putting new holes in the hatch, so this handle may go back. Or I might put it up for sale to anyone who has a Prius with 4 license plate mounting holes. Sorry.

 

Does anyone else have problems uploading photos? I wanted to add photos of what I did but cannot. It says "the following failure has occurred" when I try to upload files.

 

Sorry man that stinks. I would take the trim off the inside of the Hatch and see what you would be drilling through. If nothing important is on the other side why not?

 

The new trim is available inexpensively on ebay. Here is one vendor:

The forum will not let me post a link but if you search ebay for 2004 prius liftgate garnish, you should come up with it. $43.45.





If they are out of stock there are other vendors on ebay as well.

 

My liftgate garnish on my 2005 Prius is also loose. It seems that the middle two bolt connections got broken off when I tried to open the trunk one day when it had iced all over. Anyway, I found some instructions and photos at the link below elsewhere on this site. Going to give it a try:

Options for Broken Rear Garnish Fasteners? | PriusChat

 

Mine has also completely snapped off I think it first happened on a winter road trip. It was about ten degrees or something and had snowed the previous night. Even though I unlocked the car, or at least I thought I did, I pulled up on the handle only to find out it would not lift. I heard a cracking sound and it came loose. I was able to pop it back on with some force. Later on that trip I parked next to another second generation Prius and I noticed lift handle was completely taped down with packaging tape. It was quite a good job and looked almost invisible and very professional. I thought I hope mine never gets to that point. I wish I took a picture of how they did it. As time went on through out that cold winter it kept snapping off more and more. My first few months of ride sharing led to people snapping it off completely. It is to the point where it barely stays on with packaging tape now.

In 2019 is it easier to completely replace it or glue it back on like in this video:

?

I cannot seem to find a replacement online in my color which is the Silver Pine Mica (aka the light grayish green one) the same exact color and model Emma Stone’s character drives in “La La Land”.

Also this third party chrome one is becoming an interesting option for me:
Rear Exterior Outside Tailgate Liftgate Handle Garnish Chrome for Toyota Prius | eBay
I am not sure how difficult it is going to be to remove the backup camera assembly and the Toyota logo and install them on this one though.

Well it is Summer vacation I have the time, good weather and lots of daylight to work with. I figured it is time to fix this and the bumpers. I am open to suggestions and in need of a lot of help please and thank you.

 

Amazon sells a reinforced, unpainted black one for about $50. Hit it with a light colored primer, then an 8 oz. can of Duplicolor spray paint (around $10) in your color. Finish it up with an 8 oz. can of Duplicolor Clear Coat (again, around $10) and you'll have a new, reinforced rear hatch garnish in Silver Pine Mica to install. Total cost under $100.

 

Next question, how do I remove the backup camera and keyless entry assembles and place them in the new garnish? I cannot seem to find a video that covers that part.

 

I repaired mine I took it off and glued the studs back in their place with 3m 5200 marine sealer takes a few days to harden but when it does they will never move again we use the stuff on boats you can glue down a cleat and pick boat up with it waterproof and even drys underwater

 

I just did this. Can anyone tell me as to why it would've done this? Its been giving everyone trouble opening and as I was trying to tonight, it broke.