What's with the Yaris hoods?

[racerb]

This is the only fitment issue on the Yaris, compare that to most American cars!! My Wife's company truck, 2013 Ford F-150 has fitment issues all over the place, passenger side doors are so far out of line, they never look like their closed all the way. And nearly ever Chevy, Ford, and Dodge I see around town looks like some school kid lined up the body panels at the Factory, guess that's what $40-60 an hour gets you these days.

racerb

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by racerb

My Wife's company truck, 2013 Ford F-150 has fitment issues all over the place, passenger side doors are so far out of line, they never look like their closed all the way. And nearly ever Chevy, Ford, and Dodge I see around town looks like some school kid lined up the body panels at the Factory, guess that's what $40-60 an hour gets you these days.

nice

[BennyLava]

Originally Posted by yougojay

2013 Yaris L - 1/4'' gap between the hood & bumper cover neatly fitted with a factory weatherstrip to keep the engine compartment clean.
What year Yaris are you talking about here?
Welding on metal to make the hood longer? Sounds like a disaster to me. Can you loosen the hood nuts and adjust the hood closer to the bumper cover?

Welding on extra metal to fix factory defects is very commonplace in the autobody and automotive restoration world. You should see all the difference it can make. As for the 1/4 inch gap in your car, that's still way too wide. It should be half that. Seems they started putting that weatherstrip in there simply to try and address the issue. As and example, take a look at the gap between the doors in a 2010 dodge Challenger. That's what your gaps are supposed to look like these days. Very small. In modern cars the gaps are all getting smaller and smaller, because wider gaps have a big affect on aerodynamics, and thus gas mileage. So they're tightening up all the gaps as best as they can.

My car is a 2009, and is nearly black. So that weather strip will do the job for me. Until I finally sell the car. I hope that by the time I buy another yaris, Toyota will have fixed the issue.

Originally Posted by yougojay

I was assuming it was an older generation Yaris myself...I looked at my hood underneath where it bolts to the hinges & there does not look like there is any play at all to move the hood forward or back.
I'll have to take a look at an older Yar if I see one parked...I usually see them and they are driving by...

This is the first thing I did. Won't work. Hood is plain too short.

[racerb]

I call this a character line, it sets the Yaris apart from other cars, and it helps with under hood air passage! Seems like an Engineer was trying for additional cooling to me.

racerb

[D&D]

Originally Posted by racerb

I call this a character line, it sets the Yaris apart from other cars, and it helps with under hood air passage! Seems like an Engineer was trying for additional cooling to me.

racerb

Well if I met him or her, I'd let them know that their additional cooling inlet is letting dirt and rainwater into my engine bay mucking it all up!

[Flipper_1938]

I hate having that parting line there. It looks like shit. I wish the hood ran down to the top of the grill opening.

I'm pretty sure they did it for the pedestrian impact standards.

I think this is the reason for the blunt nose and high hood that everything seems to have now.

[Gogogordy]

That gap is of NO consequence whatsoever.

Toyota didn't "overlook" it....thats not their M.O., there's probably a very good engineering or manufacturing rationale behind it. I doubt it's an "issue" or a deficiency...it's the way the car is and *somewhere* somebody knows why. Exactly why. That's engineering.

Perfection is unattainable no matter how much you spend on a car and "value" is where it's at.

In the big scheme, it's one of the finest, yet lowest priced cars around and that (seemingly) large gap between the hood and front fascia doesn't change that one iota.

[tooter]

Originally Posted by Flipper_1938

I'm pretty sure they did it for the pedestrian impact standards.

I think this is the reason for the blunt nose and high hood that everything seems to have now.

I agree. Government standards... and I don't mind it at all.






It gives the bumper some free movement before bending the hood. My hood has a really nice snug fitting rubber weatherstrip.

[jcboy]

Originally Posted by D&D

Well if I met him or her, I'd let them know that their additional cooling inlet is letting dirt and rainwater into my engine bay mucking it all up!

Me too.

[yougojay]

Originally Posted by BennyLava

Welding on extra metal to fix factory defects is very commonplace in the autobody and automotive restoration world. You should see all the difference it can make. As for the 1/4 inch gap in your car, that's still way too wide. It should be half that. Seems they started putting that weatherstrip in there simply to try and address the issue.

Like I said, that sounds like a disaster...welding on extra metal to fix gaps? Never heard of that...and would NEVER try to fix gaps on a 15,000 + dollar car...never. I am perfectly fine with this 1/4'' gap. The car panels line up excellent. It is like night & day versus an American made car.

I would imagine that weatherstrip has helped to keep the engine bay a lot cleaner. My Yaris has been driven 3,600 miles since 4/11/2013 - we have had a lot of rain this Summer, and the engine is barely dusty. It's really pretty amazing how clean the engine is after all the roadspray I've endured driving these past 5 months