The hood of my Prius Prime 19 does not fully close. I have no idea why this happens as she was never in an accident AFAIK. The latch mechanism seems to work normally. I can release the hatch inside the cabin, release the second under the hood, lift the hood up, and then drop it to lock it. But there are big gaps between the cushion and the hood (left, center, and right) after locking. There is also some play of the center of the hood. Here are the photos. I did not take the picture from the right side but the size of the gap is similar. Any idea what causes this and how can I fix it?
Why would you try to fix it? It is a new car, under warranty. Take it to the dealer and let them fix it.
This sounds familiar: someone else posted, same issue and car, just before purchase? In the last year IIRC.
Yeah, but that was due to engine bay pushed against the hood during tracking the car for delivery. Does this hood look misaligned? | PriusChat OP's sounds it happened after the purchase???
There are adjustment points; I'm thinking the bumpers to stop the hood on shutting are too high here. With a new car, get the dealer to fix it, in case it is something more than the hood not installed right.
'never in an accident afaik' but maybe one you don't know? did you buy it used? when did you first notice it?
I bought it new and I noticed this problem about one or two months ago. When I brought my car to the dealer for tire rotation this week, I mentioned this problem to the service team. A lady from the team pointed to the rock chip or dirt on the Toyota sign and said it was likely that someone else hit my car causing this problem. Of course, this makes no sense to me. So I am a little bit reluctant to bring my car to this dealer again...
take it to a body shop for a professional opinion. if they think someone hit you, you're out of luck. but if the think it came like that, maybe you can open a case with toyota customer service
That looks like something it's obstructing it. Like someone laid an oil cap or tool of some sort down and didn't reinstall it and shut the hood.
Is the hood support rod correctly snapped into its holder? Park next to another Prime in the dealer's lot. Look both over carefully. If your front end hasn't been moved back by hitting something, you know that service writer lied to you. Go back and discuss this with the manager of the service department.
It's disappointing that your dealer seems less than supportive in regards to fixing the issue. The way the hood fit's into the vehicle, surrounded by side fenders and front grille assembly, and front bumper, it's hard for me to believe someone could of hit your vehicle and caused that type of misalignment. You would have more than just a rock chip or dirt on the Toyota symbol, IMO. I would be interested in what a reputable body shop would say about the situation. Is there a chance it's ALWAYS been this way but you just took this long to notice. The problem is if it wasn't this way when you took possession of the vehicle, which I'm sure is the conclusion of the dealership, then from their perspective it HAS to be something that happened later. I'd take a closer look, I might ask a local body shop to take a look. If you're lucky the solution is something as simple the hood rod not in place correctly OR some other separate obstruction. But that misalignment looks pretty severe, and I would want resolution whatever the cause. Not to mention a hood that isn't closing correctly IS a safety issue.
Update: Later I brought my prius prime to another dealer's body shop. They fixed my car by adjusting the locking mechanism of the hood (of course, for free). Also the owner of the body shop told me they had a prius with the exactly same problem a week before.
Glad you got it fixed. It was obviously not from an impact. Too late now, but I'd have told that lady from the team in post #10, "Let's go talk to your boss and see if he cares if I ever come back here to buy anything again." The boss could have addressed her customer relations skills and maybe saved another customer from having a similar experience.
That actually happened to my hood in January. It was a dark and foggy night and I made a right turn and ran over a curb at about 30 MPH. Found out the next day that my hood wouldn't close all the way. Looked like the OP's hood. Seems that I pushed something up from the bottom. I was able to fix it by removing the plastic panel to get at the adjustment and using a Dremel tool enlarge the adjustment holes. Looks fine, now.
Is the car parked in a garage or on the street? Is the gasket OK? There have been a few posts about people prying hoods on Priuses......more prevalent in some states that begin with Californi......