I have a Scion tc, a car which I love in general but apparently has a design flaw: the hatchback is lifted up by this flimsy piece of plastic that can’t handle the load, and eventually breaks. Looking around the internet, this seems to happen to all of these cars, which is annoying. So, mine snapped off last night. Apparently, if you get it replaced (for lots of money), they just put the same inadequate part back on, so I’m just going to glue it back together and in the future lift the hatch from the bottom lip. Others online have reported success with this method, but I’m getting conflicting advice about which adhesive to use.
My concern is that we live in Maine, and I want an adhesive that will be able to handle the cold.
Epoxy? Exterior mounting tape? E6000? Something else? I don’t want to use gorilla glue, because I’m afraid it will expand and be visible on the outside.
I’ll be gluing in two different spots: one is plastic to plastic, and one is plastic to the car’s paint.
Not trying to be stick in the mud, but my experience trying to “glue” anything that will have a load applied to it has not been good. Chances are it might actually stay on, until you try to use it to open your hatch.
If it were my car I would be searching the local junkyards and try to find a replacement handle. It will be cheap and you should be able to install it yourself.
Yeah, I’m going to avoid putting a load on it in the future by using the bottom lip of the hatch (the actual metal part of the hatch) to lift it. The handle still needs to be stuck on there, though, because it has a thingie you have to squeeze to release the latch inside of it.
If I fix it and it breaks further in the future, I’ll consider other options, but right now this is how I want to handle it. If they come up with a handle that isn’t secured to the car by two 1/8" pieces of plastic, I’ll replace it.
I have used regular JB Weld - not the 5 minute type - on several applications and had good luck with it. You will probably need to rough up the paint some.
I have even used the JB Weld 5" epoxy to attach mirror brackets to windshields. They carry the weight of the mirror and the leverage of bumps. I can’t wait for the overnight JB, but it does have greater strength and temp limits.
I don’t know if your handle is the same as on the Xb. When mine snapped in half, I did an involved repair with aluminum flat stock and brass bolts, which lasted a couple of years, but in the end I spent the money for this and I’m glad I did; it’s very solid.
Here is a thread from a Scion board that includes a post detailing an epoxy repair for the handle.