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.

- Baltimore, MD, USA

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

- Atascadero, CA, USA

Hatchback latch does not respond to smart key and will not open to touch as it is supposed to. This problem has occurred intermittently for about ten months. Also, the rubber latch covering has deteriorated into a soft, sticky black substance that stains my fingers when I try to open the latch. The deterioration problem preceded the hatchback operational problem by four or five months as best I can recall. I was able to tolerate the messy problem but cannot put up with a hatchback that is inoperable because it prevents me from accessing the spare and safety equipment, and makes it impossible to use the cargo area. I think Toyota should notify customers of this defect and provide a free repair.

- Takoma Park, MD, USA

The hatchback release 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 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.

- Corrales, NM, USA

The rubber cover on the hatch release handle (the exterior handle of the rear hatch) on my 2007 Toyota Prius has melted making it difficult to open the rear hatch. I can best describe it as being a viscous black glob like roofing tar. The vehicle's smart key locking system has also been affected by the melted switch. It now takes several seconds to find the sensor due to a loss in sensitivity in the switch, caused by the melting of the rubber cover. I thought that this might be a singular issue, but have read numerous complaints online from other car owners. From a safety perspective, this means you can experience extreme difficulty opening the rear hatch (a life safety access point) to me, this is both a serious life safety issue and a serious quality defect that Toyota is opting to ignore and only fixing on vehicles with extended warranties, since the failure appears to occur at around the 3 year mark (ie after 3 years of exposure to the heat). I think a door handle or hatch handle should be made to last more than 3 years. Thank you for your assistance.

- Burbank, CA, USA