Rust on hood latch

[charlesb80]

Hi,

    I have just purchased a 3 year old Yaris and found that the hood latch is covered in corrosion / rust.  The dealer (franchised) tells me this is ‘normal’.  I have not seen this on any other cars I have owned including much older ones.  Is It normal?

    

[furtula]

Do you mean inside, on the hood latch mechanism, or some painted part of the car?

 

[charlesb80]

On the catch itself (inside) - and a bit on the hood where it meets the catch.

[bathtub tom]

Looking at the oxidisation on the ally parts, I'd say that cars lived in a coastal area or similar. I'd smear some grease on the rusty parts and spring as well as a bit of oil on the pivot to discourage the latch 'jamming'.

[charlesb80]

I don’t think it did live in a coastal area.  Service history suggests that it lived about 100 miles in land with many other places to get the servicing done closer to the coast.  Even if it was living literally on the coastline, would you expect this level of rust after 3 years?

[furtula]

Maybe the car was in some flood. Are there other parts that got rusted?

[charlesb80]

There is no rust externally, however there is a little more in the engine as seen in the picture below.  Is it safe to assume that this amount of rust is not normal?  I would not expect a franchised dealer to sell a car that has been flood damaged although I guess it is possible that they simply did not check?

[Heidfirst]

it's only surface rust, I wouldn't get het up over it.

[furtula]

It's safe to say it's not normal.  Take a good look around rest of the car, and  especially under it. I advise taking the spare tire out, or the repair kit, whichever you have and check for any rust there.

If there's no more problem areas, i would just apply grease to prevent further rusting, or to slow it down anyway.

 

[Mike J.]

10 minutes ago, furtula said:

If there's no more problem areas, i would just apply grease to prevent further rusting, or to slow it down anyway.

Yep, the metal is thick and will probably last the lifetime of the car if greased up and not neglected in the future.

[monkeydave]

look inside the hole around the reversing camera and also on the back where the hinges are for the boot lid, they are other points that seem to be get rusty too

i wonder if the french are using cheap chinese steel

as said before get a tin of white grease and give it a good spray

also how are your hose clamps holding up, especially the bottom one at the base of the radiator ?