Scion TC Back Hatch Door Handle Garnish Easy To Break

Scion TC Back Hatch Door Handle Garnish easy to break! Split from the back door just like that, no reason, just fell apart when I open my back door, I think Scion uses thin, cheap materials in their cars and it's pricey to replace when it's broken. If you've been victimized by the similar incident, please post your report. Together we can make it better, thank you for your support.

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I have had my scion tc for a few years now, and have never had any problems with my trunk. However i have always notcied other TC,s with the trunk handle either missing or duct taped on. Just the other day i went to open my trunk and my handle popped off extremely easily. There should definitely be a recall on these because they are obviously defective and cheap! Toyota (SCION) need to get their act together and do something about this obvious problem!

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I have had my Scion TC for 4 years this November, the back panel broke in the parking lot of a large store. Luckily I was able to stick it back on well enough for it to pass (even freeway driving) until I got home and could put some duct tape on it.

Bought a new part from autopartscheaper.com due to Toyota wanting $300 to do the repair. Took maybe an hour to do and I have saved roughly $150.

It is a cheap plastic part, Toyota/Scion should know better.

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Having similar issue. I couldn't believe how many local Scion owners in my area are having the same missing piece, even my neighbor! I contacted Scion at 866-70-SCION and even though they updated my info and noted the issue, they refused to assist with fixing what seems to me an issue with poor quality and manufacturing. I hope Toyota (Scion) wakes up and takes care of their clients, their reputation in my eyes will be heavily riding on how they react to solving this issue, which is clearly their fault.

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My daughter broke mine today. I thought it was a little weak and poorly designed. But I did not expect the complete section to come off. I am not going to buy a new part. I am going to figure out a way to reinforce the part I have and re-attach it. I refuse to give money for a design flaw.

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I bought my Tc brand spankin' new and I LOVED it. It was so cute and I felt like a doll driving it! It is a 2006 model and I just recently paid it off. About 6 months ago after grocery shopping I lifted up on the back hatch handle and poof! The darn thing just popped right off sprinkling little plastic pieces into the Wal Mart parking lot. To this day I have been driving around with tape on the back of my car because I can't dish out the dough to pay for repairs. It is absolutley embarrasing but I'd rather have it taped than have the piece dangling for dear life from the back of my car. Just the other day I saw a fellow scion driver with the exact same problem....at least she used clear tape instead of my choice of blue tape. How in the world is there not a recall for this problem?! I am calling Scion tomorrow in hopes of being able to drive my car without being embarrassed by it. Toyota should be the one embarrassed...not their customers!

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Hello! I am so glad that I read some of these complaints and know that I am not the only one with duct tape on my car! I have a 2008 Scion Tc and was going on vacation. I had been having trouble with opening especially when it rained or the car was washed, I pulled and pulled at the cruise terminal and yanked the whole thing off! The luggage man said, "girl you are strong, I'm not messing with you!" I said, no I'm not strong, this is cheap and plastic! Driving to the cruise parking lot the thing just dangled. Luckily the car parked next to me had duct tape on it and I borrowed some of theirs, it was leopard print. I too tried to glue it back which only led to removing the leopard print and reapplying blue duct tape. I am frustrated, just nice to know I'm not the only one. My Toyota dealer quoted me a price of $380. The duct tape looks better each day. AND the trunk opens alot easier now!

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I too have a broken off Tc trunk handle garnish. Broke while on vacation, riding around with duct tape holding my car together with other drivers staring at me is embarassing, like a "bad pimple". I fixed it with epoxy, worked great until the plastic surrounding the epoxy-weld broke as well. The more often the trunks on these cars are opened, the weaker the shocks get, the weaker the plastic gets, and the truck lid seems to stick, like vacuum pressure, same as if it were locked, so that adds force. It's only a matter of short time, and you suddenly own a "ghetto" car!

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Mine (a 2005) has broken as well. I had someone epoxy it back on (twice) which is not a permanent fix. The clips are plastic. I was told at the dealership that I shouldn't have used excessive force on it. However, there is no other way to open the hatch. My pneumatic lifts do not lift the rear trunk automatically - it has to be lifted by arm strength. But the latch still shouldn't come off. I only had the car 2 or 3 years.

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I have had my car for close to 4 years. I had noticed that it seemed to be sticking & seemed a little loose the other day & then on Christmas Eve I went to open the hatch & it came right off! I then noticed that it was a piece of plastic that was attached by two other pieces of plastic. I was like you HAVE to be kidding me. I am in no way an engineer or engineer minded & even to me, that seemed like an extremely STUPID idea. I was going to just try super gluing the plastic pieces together after reading several site on how Scion will not replace it. But I decided to give them a call & see. They were actually very nice & told me that if I get it repaired at an authorized Scion dealer that they would reimburse me the full amount & sent me an e-mail confirming it. So I am off to the dealer for them to get the vin number & match the paint! So my suggestion is to try & call them. I complained very nicely & only spent about 4 mins on the phone with them. You can get the number from your Scion dealer.

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The back door handle on my son's has been broken for about 6 months. I contacted Scion and they were rude and no help. I called Scion to get it repaired. It will cost about $260.00. These cars are made very cheap and Scion should have a better customer service department. I was just googling an after market part. It will still be about $150.00 to fix. I would never buy a Scion again.

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I've seen Scion TCs with taped hatch door garnishes while driving around so I figured that something must be wrong. I started opening and closing the trunk of my 2005 TC gently and cautiously, pushing the trunk release straight up instead of pulling toward me (which I thought was the issue). Dec 10, 2010, rain added more pressure to the trunk weather seals and as I pushed up on the trunk release the hatch door garnished just broke off. I know it is a poorly designed garnish but I am wondering if it was a design Scion/Toytoa made to make more money from the consumers. $140 for an OEM replacement made out of plastic which will surely break again. Decades of experience in designing and building vehicles and they build a cheap plastic garnish to lift up a heavy trunk door. The sad part is that they did not bother updating this "easy" and "cheap" fix for the 2006-2010 models. Still no metal OEM replacement parts. I believe there are other parts like this they cut corners on.

(I am the only owner of this Scion TC. I treat it like a rare show car. My family owns a fleet of Toyota and Scion vehicles and each have cheap plastic parts. Toyota has lost my loyalty.)

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I ended up calling Scion and they will reimburse me if I by the parts from a Scion dealer.

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When I tried to open by hatch this morning the entire plastic cover ripped off. I'm not very strong and can not believe the door handle is attached by 2 plastic clips and 2 plastic brackets. This is a very poor design and Toyota told me that it is $180 to replace the part, which will probable break again due to the poor design. I very disappointed with my Scion tc.

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Mine broke this morning. I have an email into Toyota to see if they'll work with me on this. I've read it can be up to $400 to repair and I don't want to give them $400 to fix something so badly designed in the first place!

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Yep mine broke also. I was even more disappointed when I spoke to them and their customer service SUCKED! I ordered the piece from http://www.trdsparks.com for cheap! Had to do this when someone stole the case from my passenger mirror!

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mine broke too. it was already creaking for a while so i was cautious opening my trunk but one day my bf opened it and it just broke off. he obviously couldnt drive away while it was dangling or else it would cause scratches on the back so he cut of the wires. Toyota is charging $300++ dollars to get it replaced. can believe the trunk is held on by a flimsy plastic.

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The same thing has happened twice to my car. 2 times in 3 years. There is no other way to access the trunk which is frustrating. The first time it happened Scion Customer Service replaced it for free. This time they are telling me that it's considered 'wear and tear' on the car and that they replaced it once as 'goodwill' but they won't do it again. I love our Scion but am frustrated with this response from customer service since this is a pretty common occurance with this particular car.

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The same thing has happened to me. I cant believe they expect a thin piece of plastic to lift the entire back hatch. Toyota needs to fix this for future cars.

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The Back Hatch Door Handle on my Scion tC has broken twice. In order to open the trunk you must apply pressure to a handle made of thin plastic. They designed this car with a thin plastic handle. I can't repeat that enough; a thin plastic handle that will inevitable break. I do feel like a victim.