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Liftgate garnish broken plastic cheap repair

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by remaker, Aug 28, 2022.

  1. remaker

    remaker Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2013
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    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    V
    The thin plastic bits plastic holding in the square bolts on the garnish finally broke for me, and I didn't want to spend $80 on a replacement garnish. I was sorely tempted, especially seeing the OEM upgraded ones with the metal bracket replacing the poor plastic design.

    My fix? Tie wraps!

    There is a thin pathway under the plastic mount point perfect for routing a tie wrap. I used the thick ones I had from Harbor Freight, but would choose a thinner one if I had to buy them.

    Here are some photos of my hack. Hope this helps someone. I will update the thread if my fix fails.



     
    #1 remaker, Aug 28, 2022
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  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Interesting idea... Didn't think there was enough room for that? I had a friend who doesn't like to spend money and wanted me to glue all the busted pieces together and I used liquid steel epoxy and told her it might not work. But to my surprise after a few months it's still holding strong. Didn't expect that. I might try it again with my own car which has this problem thanks to rear hatch freezing shut at a rest stop last Christmas.
     
    #2 PriusCamper, Aug 28, 2022
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  3. remaker

    remaker Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Everyone seems to say "epoxy won't work" so I didn't try. Not sure if this fix will fare better, but we'll see!
     
    #3 remaker, Aug 28, 2022
  4. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Pacific Northwest, USA
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Yeah... I felt the same way, but when someone is willing to pay you to do it and find out... I did my best to add some reinforcements to strengthen it and if you spend enough time opening the hatch when it's broken, you develop a technique that puts the least amount of force on the weak spots, so maybe that's part of why it's continuing to hold strong?
     
    #4 PriusCamper, Aug 29, 2022
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