Kicking around with old cars might often mean you get the big picture right, but there’s some small item that either stays broken, makes an irritating noise, or acts up just when you really didn’t need it to. Take my Toyota Corolla, for example: it’s largely pretty good as a daily driver, and the functioning 4WD on it means it’s really handy in the winter.
Over the few years that I’ve had it, I’ve had some welding done to it, made sure it has good tires and working brakes, and despite some parts availability issues, I’ve managed to source rear wheel bearings for it. Being 4WD and thus relatively rare means a lot of the stuff from the firewall back needs to be ordered from Japan after perusing endless parts schematics late at night. However, there’s one thing on it I’ve neglected to put right other than spray brake cleaner on it, and it’s the hood latch.
The hood latch that sometimes doesn’t latch. The hood latch whose cable leaves the pull flap in the dash just a little bit out. The hood latch that sometimes needs repeated slams to secure the hood. The poison to kill Kuzco. Kuzco’s poison.
For example, I drove for six hours last night and got to my destination around 11 PM. I parked the car in the underground garage, and as a last thing, I thought I’d check the dipstick. And the hood wouldn’t close. I must’ve slammed it shut dozens and dozens of times, from various heights, and it always popped open, time after time. I propped some garbage from the trunk against the pull flap in the dash to try to keep it in line so it would perhaps let it latch. I fiddled with the cable, and I fiddled with the latch in the slam panel until my hands were black, and I sprayed it with some WD40 adjacent product someone had left next to their bicycle (sorry!).
At half past 11, I thought there had been enough slamming the hood shut extremely loudly, locked the car, and left it as is. The good thing is that I specifically drove the car south to eventually get the entire exhaust system replaced and as I’m writing this, I’m sitting in the train back north and leaving the car in the garage, having notified my brother to not to drive it until he’s managed to secure the hood so it doesn’t fly open like on Timo Mäkinen’s rally Mini on the Ouninpohja special stage at the 1967 1000 Lakes Rally.
I also didn’t bother checking the oil on the road, which means I didn’t end up swearing at the latch at a random service station with half of my journey still to finish. The engine doesn’t really burn oil, which on a 275k km, 2000 Toyota 74-FE means I sometimes top it up between 10k km change intervals but don’t need to pour it down its throat all the time.
And yet, it’s the smallest, the slightest thing on the car. It’s a cable (part number 53630-12500) that pulls the latch open (latch assy part number 53510-12670) and releases the hood (hood part number 53301-12860), it’s a latch that keeps it shut as I’m barreling down the road (highway number E12). It’s again full of grime, but I’m unsure if it’s the spring on the latch that’s let go (part number 90467-09043) or if the cable’s stretched. Earlier, moving the flap (part number 53611-22010-B2 for charcoal dashboard) between both its positions has convinced the latch enough to close, but for reasons unknown to me last night at 11PM to 11.30, it kept bouncing the hood back open.
Googling the problem makes me think it’s a common annoyance with Corollas, and it’s actually the one issue a friend mentioned about his similar-age, E11 generation hatchback. As well as fixing whatever’s wrong with it, I wouldn’t mind getting the hood look a bit more secure, as I can see it flapping slightly at highway speeds. I’ve never had it slam in my face while driving, with any of my cars, so I guess I’ve been lucky. None of my other cars have had this specific issue this irritating, though.
Top graphic images: Antii Kautonen; Toyota; iOS
A common problem on Australian BA Falcons (and on my BA Fairlane Ghia) is dry solder joints on the Body Control Module, which is buried deep in the dash. In my case, they are tricking the car into thinking that the rear passenger door and boot is permanently open. So if I try to lock the car with the central locking, it locks and then immediately unlocks, then turns on the interior lights, which I discovered after it killed the battery. To fix it you have to pull apart the dash and either resolder the suspect joints without frying the module, or replace it, which requires identifying which of many versions it is, then recoding it to the other modules in the car. My solution was to pull the fuse for the interior lights to save the battery, and just ignore it!
Oh Glob, there’ve been so many things on so many cars. But some manufacturers seem to have embraced penny-pinching with such gusto that it inevitably makes owning the car when it’s more than 5-10 years old an unhappy experience, no matter how much you might like other aspects of the vehicle.
As mentioned, plenty of brands have done and are still doing this. Based on my own personal/subjective experience owning cars from Volvo, Mazda, and Volkswagen during the past decade, VW is by far the biggest offender. Small parts that get subjected to wear and tear from normal use over time are either made of plastic when they ought to be metal and the number of steps needed to replace these prematurely failing parts is sometimes ridiculous.
One ‘small’ example are the power window regulator brackets that hold the window glass in most VWs since the late 90s. These almost always break a few months after the warranty expires, dropping the glass down into the door. The repair to take the door apart, replace the bracket, and put everything back together is 128 steps, and over 20 years ago, VW dealers were asking $500. to do it. The factory replacement part is made of metal where the original was plastic, and (used to) cost about $30. from Impex.
I just hate this… it makes keeping the car over time a punishing chore rather than an experience potentially providing satisfaction, and it is why I pretty much will never own another VW family product again, after having bought several (Audis too of course).
Conversely, my decades of experience with Mazdas (two Miatas) has been an opposite experience: I’m not saying things don’t eventually fail, but to be honest, it’s not super-often and when something needs fixing, it’s usually not such an ordeal. Additionally, the three Volvos I’ve owned lately (models ranging from naturally-aspirated 1980s to the turbocharged 2000s) aren’t quite as simple and easy to work on as the Mazdas, but their repair needs have been bearable considering the kinds of cars/powertrains they are/have.
With that said, whenever I buy my next Mazda or Volvo, I’d always prefer a naturally-aspirated model since they are more than powerful enough for me, and have considerably less plumbing/complexity/stress underhood.
Both my Ford Focus and my Toyota Caldina have lost their dome lights. I should probably investigate. Might just be the five-year old having played them to pieces.
Ha I can add to your uh hood pain. My 2005 Legacy wagon has a little rubber grommet that tore, it holds the foot of the hood prop rod in place in a a little sheetmetal eyelet off the fender, so every time I open the hood it wants to fall out. Tried reinstalling it and for the life of me I can’t see how it even got squeezed in there in the first place. Also the clutch pedal mechanism squeaks in spite of my lubing every joint in the mechanism and it drives me nuts, as minor as it is I’m tempted to replace the entire pedal assembly except it looks like a giant PITA to do mostly because the access is so bad.
BMW made the washer bottle cap on the E46 out of some kind of firm paper instead on plastic.
BMW made
the washer bottle capeverything that touches water on the e46 out of some kind of firm paper instead of plastic /sSome of it is a rare iron/phosphorus/lithium alloy which oxidizes violently.
Window regulator on an 06 Honda Element, part was like 60$, should be less than 10 bolts/screws for the whole job. Shop manual says remove a few screws in the door card and then you just pull on the card to pop the clips around the perimeter. Watched multiple videos since mine felt rock solid, followed the instructions/videos and proceeded to rip off every single clip mount from the door card. Couldn’t get a replacement easily so I spent a couple days epoxying the mounts back on. Regulator on the other hand was replaced and working is a few mins.
Replacing the starter was also a pain on that car but that was partly because it gave out at the bottom of my hill of a driveway.
I own a 2005 Phaeton V8. I’m lucky that the only thing it’s doing is that occasionally, on long drives at night, all the exterior lights will briefly flash off and I’ll get a high-pitched chime and a “Check Light System” message in the instrument panel. And then they’ll come back on and the error will disappear.
I.just fixed one. The driver’s door lock actuator in my 20 yo Accord would buzz loudly when the button was accidentally double pressed. Pretty sure it had stripped a gear tooth or three.
Replacing it was pretty easy and cheap, just $13 for the actuator and another $5 for a dealer only clip I broke. TRQ had a great how to YouTube video.
I also took the opportunity to put some deadmat on the rods and panels which also fixed an equally annoying buzz I was hearing while driving.
Hi. EV Blazer owner(lessee? I guess maybe GM owns it?) here. Little things that annoy me? The passenger side rear turn signal doesn’t work, on occasion. It is an issue that has not repeated itself for the Chevrolet dealership, so therefore there is no fix. The housing isn’t loose. The wiring is tight. The LED clearly works because 95% of the time, it functions as it should. The way it’ll stop working when I’m trying to merge on a busy highway is my favorite thing too.
So maybe not the right thread as it’s not really fixable, but I just needed to vent.
I had a Subaru 2.5RS Imprezza that had hood latch issues. Luckily being a rallycross car and a bit rustic/rusty I had no qualms adding simple hood pins and removing the latch.
I bought a bugeye WRX later with similar intentions and added hood pins before it had a chance to not latch at an event, or not open to pass tech, or both.
Man, I wish we got the 2.5 RS or any GC coupe here.
We had the latch stick in the open position on my wife’s 2005 Vibe after I went to check the oil at a gas station. After quite a few angry words a little bit of pleading and some firm persuasion it finally closed. Immediately went home and liberally doused it in WD40 (or maybe white lithium grease) and I don’t recall the problem coming back…
I used hood pins on my ’83 GL just to keep the hood aligned as it was popped up a bit on one side and there didn’t seem to be a good reason why. It also ended up helping hold the hood closed after half a tree fell on it.
1998 k2500. Windshield wipers- if I turn them on immediately after I start, they won’t work and put me in a time out. If I wait and push the spray first, I get put in a time out. If I wait and then start the wipers, they work, and while they do their job, I hit the spray, it works.
If I leave the windshield wipers on for a while, they will stop, and then frantically try to make up for missing wipes by thrashing about.
It’s entertaining at least, but I get a little stressed out for the poor old truck.
Few things on my old Merc.. the central locking doesn’t work because a plastic vacuum line broke between the door and the frame. I broke the oil pressure capilliary tube, and it’s not using generic fittings so I can’t fix it easily. The aux air idle thing is stuck open, so it idled real fast until I put a heater valve in that air circuit. The AC condensor fan doesn’t come on. Some other things that don’t stop me driving the car, but make me sigh when I think about pulling the whole dashboard out to fix them.
Spark plug bolt snapping off in the valve cover. It broke off on reassembly. Broke a couple easy outs trying to remove it. Currently have the heat shield and a socket holding the coil in place until I find someone who can potentially remove it without paying a dealer $800+ for a new valve cover.
I had to change a headlight bulb on my facelift 2010 Hyundai Getz and it lee to a midlife crisis and emergency pork. Basically, I pulled the bulb out, wandered round a few shops that didn’t have it, resecured it, got one at a 7-11, pulled the old one out again and unknown to me, damaged the bulb retainer clip (I was doing everything by feel). This let to an hour, in teeming rain,in growing dark, failing to change a lightbulb which I had manipulated with no problems in seconds twice already that day. I’m 39, don’t know what I want to do for a career but once in past was an apprentice diesel tech. Me thinking could give that a go now that I am older and wiser and actually doing something about my mental health. This episode made me realise it won’t happen. For some reason after a crisis of confidence, and a horrible mental panic on my way to work I decided that roasting some pork would cheer me up. Anyway, I said facelift earlier because pre facelift Getzs you can easily pull the light assembly out and see what you are doing but this one I needed an extension bar to do the same which I didn’t have. Sorted it a few nights later.
Why don’t you just replace the hood latch, I’m sure you can get it on eBay. I got one for under $20
GR86 stereo disconnects from the phone for about 10 seconds every once in a while.
This shit drives me crazy. I installed a $200 Amazon head unit with wireless Android Auto in my old Jeep. Never has a connection issue. The 2024 EV I’m leasing? It disconnects at least twice a week to where I have to turn off the Bluetooth on my phone to kick it back in. So fucking stupid.
Mine’s hardwired and it still does it. Commonly reported issue with the HU. I’ve tried cable changes, port cleaning (this does help if the issue comes up more frequently), and making sure software is updated, but it still comes and goes. I suspect it’s some kind of ID handoff that should be done behind the scenes that, for whatever reason, doesn’t and causes the disconnect glitch. In the ’90s, I had CD players that were nothing special that would almost never skip even on terrible roads at speed thanks to effective buffering, they never delayed, the buttons didn’t second guess me, they just worked as I wanted them to. Now, everything has to be processed by software written seemingly exclusively by morons and dragged down by useless feature bloat nobody asked for and almost nobody uses.
Don’t you love it when the driver’s side sun visor keeps falling down and blocking your view! On a Toyota no less. 2010 Highlander. Checked with Toyota…a new one is how much?… Once they put a mirror and a light in the visor the price goes up!
Online search showed one in the tan color for $110. A couple screws and the electric connector and it was replaced. Nice!
Had a 2007 Camry where both visors had to be replaced under warranty because the hinge gave out. Then the replacement driver’s side visor failed again after it was no longer under warranty and I ripped it out.
In one of my cars, I want to say the Fiat Panda, the visor fell down very slowly, almost sneakily.
My Acura TL has been a fantastic ownership experience, except for two things: interior rattles, which I may have finally, finally tracked down and deadened the last of after taking the gauge cluster out and foam taping every plastic tab.
And the cracks that have appeared in the dashboard, as they do on all of these cars. A new dashboard is a $1200 part and would be more than that in labor. So… gotta look at dashboard cracks any time I drive anywhere
I remember thinking in the early 00s that it was great manufacturers had figured out how to build dashes that didn’t crack like 80s cars. Turns it was just that those 80s dashes were old. My 2005 Legacy GT has multiple hairline cracks in the dash and yeh probably going to live with it, if I could even find a clean used one (since subaru doesn’t sell new) it looks like many hours of work to remove and install.
You need proper maintenance on the hood latch, I’ve had it and it sucks. My worst is seat belts that don’t retract. Not covered by warranty, will twist and stop but even if you untwist the seat belts won’t retract and the block your door from closing which leaves the light on inside and drains the battery. Why can’t they fix this I’ve had it on every car I own.
The gas gauge on the Scout II has been inoperable since I’ve had the truck. 17 years. I’ve traced it to a fault somewhere in the wiring behind the dash. This is how afraid I am of mucking around in the wiring back there.
So, I carry a small notebook and make careful entries as to the date, amount, and cost of each fill-up, and carry a Rotopax with 2 gallons of emergency fuel.
I have hypersensitive hearing (auDHD) and my i3s has been such a great source of safe quiet zen, since public transport really exhausts me (I get overwhelmed and nauseous from smells, noises, people).
But the second I hit less than perfect roads, of which there are *many* where I live, there are quite some rattles in the interior. Impossible to identify the source, but I can’t stop focusing on them.
Still it’s worlds apart from any other car I’ve had. Maybe in some years I will manage to change it for some other EV with legendary interior build?
My Matrix’s heater core sprung a leak into the driver’s well. Looked up how to fix it myself, and there were 200 steps involving taking of the steering wheel and the dashboard. Hard pass. probably take me days. Tried to get a quote for it. $2000. Hard pass. So, I am cold for a few days in the winter. Been over 10 years now. Takes some time to defrost, too, what with the AC going on and the outside temp being around freezing. Just a few days, though.
2015 Ford Fusion hybrid that continually has TPMS alerts. The overhead glasses holder rattles. Rattles in the 2022 Ford Maverick hybrid too. The rattling is worse that a cricket that’s gotten in your house you can’t find.
“worse that a cricket that’s gotten in your house you can’t find.”
Oh I know how to fix that! Just release a bunch of snakes and lizards in the house.
Problem solved!
I just watched that Frasier episode where they hunt the cricket with the gecko.