NHTSA Complaint #10969606 — 2008 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

REAR HATCH DOOR LATCH FAILURE. THE HATCH RELEASE HAS DETERIORATED TO THE POINT OF BEING UNABLE TO OPEN THE HATCH IN THE CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. THIS IS A DESIGN FLAW THAT TOYOTA IS WELL AWARE OF. INITIALLY I THOUGHT FOR SEVERAL YEARS THAT THIS WAS AN ISOLATED PROBLEM BUT QUICKLY FOUND THERE ARE MANY COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS DEFECTIVE HATCH RELEASE. TOYOTA HAS CORRECTED THE PROBLEM ON NEW MODELS AND IN JAPAN BUT 2007-2008 MODELS IN THE U.S. STILL HAVE THE DEFECTIVE PART. IN THE CASE OF A FLAT TIRE & RETRIEVAL OF THE SPARE TIRE OR OTHER EMERGENCY, THERE IS NO WAY TO GET THE HATCH OPENED. SEARCHING YOUR OWN DATABASE WILL UNCOVER COUNTLESS COMPLAINTS FOR THE EXACT SAME ISSUE REGARDING THE DEFECTIVE HATCH RELEASE. PLEASE ISSUE A SAFETY RECALL FOR TOYOTA MODEL YEARS OF 2007-2008 WITH THIS DEFECTIVE LATCH RELEASE MECHANISM. THANK YOU.