catalytic converter is easily accessible and there should be a recall to have a safety operation and stop all these cars from being sold in the market because there is a rise in many thefts of the catalytic converter due to it being very easily accusable without any guard in place to prevent thieves from getting to it to remove and sell for parts. Spray paint can be cleaned off and vin numbers can be sanded down. simply trying that will not work. i was unaware that it was stolen off of the vehicle until i drove it a little ways to where the vehicle was then burning and i could smell it catching on fire

- Richmond, VA, USA

The main dash.display, speedometer, will not show up due to electric problem. Power from rear, aux, battery is interrupted some how. The cruise control will be inop in this situation. There is no way of knowing when the condition will show up, but when door is opened, the indicator light will not come on. Car will have been parked, turned off. Different fixes on the net. My fix is to in plug rear battery's 2 connections, wait then hope, and try again

- Lancaster, PA, USA

Sometimes the dash won't light up other times the car won't shut off plus on the tailgate the little electrical piece fell off where you open the trunk

- Glendora, CA, USA

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 months ago the car in front of me braked so sudden that I also hit my brakes, the ABS sign flashed as if it "was" working but the car just kept going, I ended up pressing the brake all the way to the floor and still no result. If I hadn't kept my distance I would've definitely ended up in that cars trunk. I can say from all my experience as a driver and all the cars I've owned this car has the worst braking system in the history of motor vehicles. Feels like braking a 747 plane. Extremely dangerous braking

- Levittown, NY, USA

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. The rubber part that you press is harder than a stick and won't release. This happens some times at the grocery store parking lot or at any store parking lot. Sometimes it happens when I arrive home and can't get my groceries out because the hatch won't let it release. Is this a defect that can be corrected?

- Clearfield, UT, USA

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.

- Vineyard Haven, MA, USA

Hood latch will not open 50, 60% of the time. Many people are having this problem and I feel it should be recalled..

- Akron, OH, USA

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 outside. This is a security and a safety hazard as I can not access the rear hatch of my car in under normal use nor an emergency and defeats the primary purpose of a hatchback car which is access to the car's interior. The car jack and emergency spare tire, battery located just behind the failed hatch latch. I am disabled, I can not put a wheel chair in/out. This is unsafe and Toyota refuses to assist with the repair. This replacement part/service only is warranty for 1 year at a price of $675 to repair. Under the ada act - please investigate and advocate a recall.

- San Jose, CA, USA

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 slammed into the SUV's rear end. Thankfully there were no physically injuries, but the collision caused low/moderate damage to the SUV and major damage to my Prius -- enough that the radiator was clobbered, and that my car had to be towed. At the time of this post, the repair shop has not yet finished evaluating it and reporting on all the damaged parts and the estimate costs. Prior to purchasing this vehicle about 9 months ago, I had checked for active recalls but found none, and I confirmed the same shortly after the purchase. Apparently, though, Toyota has not yet issued a recall on the brake system even after many similar complaints about such a failure during an emergency need for a total stop. I am really interested in pursuing further action, possibly through legal avenues.

- Bainbridge, PA, USA

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.

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

The rubber handle of the rear liftgate latch has "melted" into the operating part of the latch, making it totally inoperable in the winter, and cooler months. This is not due to exposure to heat extremes - the car has always been garaged in a northern part of the us, where summer temperatures rarely exceed 80 degrees. In an emergency in the winter, there is no way to make use of the hatchback. The operation is problematic in the summer - sometimes it can be forced open, sometimes not. It has taken a few years for the latch to become inoperative; it became increasingly difficult to open over the last several years, and sticky black residue transferred to hands touching it for those years. This is not normal wear and tear; clearly defective rubber was used.

- Essex Junction, VT, USA

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 locked from the outside, the anti-theft alarm will go off.

- Richmond, CA, USA

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.

- Penfield, NY, USA

Hatchback door does not open in cold weather.

- Willowbrook, IL, USA

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.

- Chesterfield, MO, USA

The rubber cover on the hatch release handle (the exterior handle of the rear hatch) of our 2007 Toyota Prius, melted into a sticky tarry black rubbery gooey mess. I can best describe it as being a viscous black glob like roofing tar. To open the hatch, you have to touch this black goo each time, which makes it difficult to operate the hatch release. I thought that this might be a singular issue, but have found that this has happened to several car owners. Toyota knows about this, and is selling the entire wiring harness for $96 plus repair costs, and has done nothing about recalling this. From a safety perspective, this means you can experience extreme difficulty opening the rear hatch (a life safety access point), and will get sticky black tar on you from the melted down rubber cover of the exterior hatch release handle. 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. I am aware of the outstanding work done by NHTSA on other safety issues, including the problem with rusty frames on 02 Isuzu axioms, and I find this problem to be similar in nature, so I am asking for your Agency to take a look at these instances and also to inquire from Toyota why they are not recalling these handles that are melting. It's outrageous. I think a door handle or hatch handle should be made to last more than 3 years. Please review these forum comments of other incidents: priuschat.com/forums/gen-II-...runk-hatch-release-rubber-piece-melted-4.html

- Plymouth, NH, USA

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 which Toyota routinely refuses to repair. It is a potential safety issue because a pet or child could be difficult to retrieve from the trunk area if the trunk cannot be opened. An unexpected hazard such as a leaking propane tank or a battery fire in the trunk area could similarly be difficult to mitigate.

- Portland, OR, USA

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 fractured in sub-freezing weather while trying to get the latch to release. The car was parked with light snow falling. I can no longer open the trunk of my car from the outside. This is a safety hazard as I can not access the rear hatch of my car in an emergency and defeats the primary purpose of a hatchback car which is access to the car's interior. The car jack and emergency spare tire located just behind the failed hatch latch. I had to pay over $500+ to have Toyota replace the failed hatch latch switch and surrounding trim piece.

- Severna Park, MD, USA

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 rubber cover deterioration.

- Trappe, MD, USA

Another complaint regarding the rubber cover of the 2007 Prius hatch release/latch. The rubber covering has deteriorated and degraded in a way that causes it to melt and become sticky in warm or hot weather; touching the cover causes the material to stick to fingers, and is very difficult to remove, requiring the use of a solvent cleaner. In cold and freezing weather, the cover becomes very stiff and not flexible, and is impossible to press, causing the hatch to be impossible to open. This is a basic operational problem, rendering the hatchback non-functional - it can't be opened, or if it can be opened it leaves a substance on the driver's body. Also a safety issue, as when the hatch can't be opened this is essentially being locked out of the trunk where the spare tire and safety equipment are located. Dealer will charge approximately $300 for part and labor to repair this. I've called Toyota customer service, and their response was: "it is no longer covered under the warranty, and there is no recall for this, so Toyota will not be covering this repair." I did a search in the NHTSA complaint database and found 147 owners with the exact same problem. Very discouraging and irresponsible that Toyota will not take responsibility and assist owners with resolving this issue.

- Bethesda, MD, USA