volusiaguy

My rear hatch release (held on only with 4 pieces of plastic!) broke off. Covered under warranty, but over $300 to replace. Anyone built or sell a rear hatch release button to reduce the use of the cheap hatch mount and postpone the inevitable breakage?

Thanks for any ideas!

ack154

iTrader: (7)

Mine is a 2005 with over 70k and I've never had any problems with the hatch release.

But no, no alternatives that I'm aware of. I really don't think they're that big of a problem.

User 112921

we have a hatch release...???

Danger_Darren

^ how else would the hatch open?

User 112921

oh wait just kidding.. i thought you meant like a button

TruAmbitionz

There's a whole thread of people who have had problems with the hatch. It's 100 bucks if you order the part online.

ahatch133

or u can be careful make sure its unlocked press the little rubber piece hear it open and carefully open the hatch. never had a problem

captainlaziness

Over 60k miles no issues. I rarely use my hatch, but when I do I lift from the bottom of the hatch itself and not the garnish.

Domo

iTrader: (3)

lol yea the title is misleading..any who the garnish only breaks if you man handle your trunk

DJ08tC

Yea you can get them from trd sparks for like $105. I lift up carefully enough to get my fingers under the hatch then lift by that.

volusiaguy

yeah...I learned the hard way...and I have 4 teenagers to help destroy the "garnish" in record time. Maybe I'll figure something out and post it once I do. Thanks for the replies.

datdude1119

or if you have two powerful 12inch subs

Crimson_Sky

if you swapped out the little shocks for stronger ones, then if you had a remote started that had some extra buttons left over that work off of impulse...it could be programmed, i could see that being a possibility...

volusiaguy

I was thinking along those lines, too. I've been thinking about upgrading the shocks since they seem to be losing a bit of their oomph. We use the hatch a lot with sports and stuff so they seem to be a little weaker and it definitely takes more effort to get the hatch to lift up. I want to look at the schematics to see if I could wire a switch into the system that would force it to pop and then run it up the carpet to the driver's seat or into the dash panel.

ecko04

If you happen to get a remote start system or alarm, say any one that DEI sells which would be the Viper, Python, Clifford, etc. series, simply take the red/white wire on the main harness (1st auxiliary) and attach it to the orange wire in the drivers kick panel, it is in a gray 12 in plug. That will have you set for a remote trunk pop instead of the teens ripping your garnish off.

In case you don't install it yourself just tell the installations guy to hook up your trunk pop. It doesn't require any relays since it is negative trigger so they should be able to do that for you with no problems.

tweetertc

um... no.... you need a relay... the alarm only has a 200 milliamp output and if you connect it straight to the trunk release wire it can burn out the output on the alarm... ALWAYS use relays to drive accessories with an alarm...

rosedaleny806

yeah my hatch garnish snapped off aswell but it was cracked from my gf lifting it while it was locked ebay has Brand New genuine Garnishes any color for 105 shipped frm a toyota dealer. or they also have fiberglass ones for 89 shipped and CF ones for 149.99 shipped

jnepywoda

My garnish just broke off yesterday. So this is definitely something the Toyota Platinum warranty will cover?

toeveryhour

iTrader: (3)

no warranty will cover that.

if you just lift from the hatch itself, you should never have a problem.

maybe we should create a sticky: opening the hatch 101

10PieceNuggets

You would expect to not have it break. If that is the way to open the trunk, then you dont expect to have that piece broken off. It's bad design on Toyota's part. They should have known people are going to press and lift on the garnish at the same time. You woudn't even know that the garnish is prone to breaking til it does break.