Brand new Yaris; need a new radio!

[matti]

Hi all.

I bought a brand new 2017 Yaris L (great deal) about one month ago. I noticed that the driver's side door (I have a 2dr) didn't close flush. Also, the radio has only worked on and off. I brought the car in to the dealership today for some recall work (wiring harness related to the new Toyota Safety Sense system), and asked them to look at the door and the radio. They had to order some new weatherstripping for the door as well as a new radio! For some reason, the radio doesn't work and they don't know why.

Kind of paranoid about needing this work on a brand new car. Help me calm down, lol!!

[Dodge Aries K]

The radios are made by Pioneer I think so who knows with that haha. It should be okay after they replace it.

The door not closing... is it because of the weatherstripping that it's not able to shut all the way? I believe they're supposed to recheck that stuff at the dealer before selling the car but you know how that goes. They'll adjust it and it'll be fine.

What did you end up doing with your 2012?

[matti]

The radios are made by Pioneer I think so who knows with that haha. It should be okay after they replace it.

The door not closing... is it because of the weatherstripping that it's not able to shut all the way? I believe they're supposed to recheck that stuff at the dealer before selling the car but you know how that goes. They'll adjust it and it'll be fine.

What did you end up doing with your 2012?

Hi there. I traded in the 2012 at the dealership.

I'm not sure if the weatherstripping is the ultimate problem or not. They adjusted the door today and it does close better/more fully, but they still want to install the new weatherstripping. I pointed out to the dealership that the weatherstripping on the passenger door (which closes just fine) has a different profile than the driver's side door weatherstripping....they seemed to think that was not right.

Just a bit paranoid about having these problems with a new car. I know it's not a big deal, but.......

[Dodge Aries K]

If you don't mind me asking, what did they give for a trade in on it?

And yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if the boneheads in the france assembly plant put the wrong piece on by accident lol. I had to have a sticker thing replaced on mine because it was peeling off by the rear wheel. Otherwise, knock on plastic, it's been okay but I've only put like 2000 miles on it. My used 2014 I've put over 30,000 miles on it in a year's time and it's been good.

[Kalispel]

My France-assembled 2015 Yaris had the plastic little fins that attach under the front bumper, in front of the wheels installed backwards, and extremely loose. I had to have the dealership look at them and install them correctly after I noticed the problem during my first handwashing/detail session with my car. No other 'fit and finish' issues with my car other than after 2+ years of ownership (29K miles thus far), except for a door rattle/vibration issue that was also corrected.

Few Japanese cars are built in Japan any more, so 'fit & finish' issues are more likely to be a problem now - plus cars are getting more complicated as time passes & more & more (unnecessary) tech-bloat is added for the idiocracy. Cars built in Mexico seem to be the worst - as the Mexico-built Honda HRV/Fit, as well as the Toyota iA (Mazda2) prove quite readily. That is one more thing I find appealing about the US/NA-spec 2016-2018 Toyota iM (still made in Japan!) - though that is slated to change with the 2019 redesign model I believe (Mexico!!!).

[matti]

If you don't mind me asking, what did they give for a trade in on it?

And yeah, it wouldn't surprise me if the boneheads in the france assembly plant put the wrong piece on by accident lol. I had to have a sticker thing replaced on mine because it was peeling off by the rear wheel. Otherwise, knock on plastic, it's been okay but I've only put like 2000 miles on it. My used 2014 I've put over 30,000 miles on it in a year's time and it's been good.

Thanks for the reassurance! I got $4k on the trade. KBB said $4,300 on trade in was "expected," so I was close. I asked the dealership to give me $5k, but they said no. (I didn't expect them to say yes, but it doesn't hurt to ask.) I imagine they didn't want to budge on the trade considering they gave such a good price on the car ($13,585).

I also brought it to Carmax to see what they would offer, and it was also $4k.

[matti]

My France-assembled 2015 Yaris had the plastic little fins that attach under the front bumper, in front of the wheels installed backwards, and extremely loose. I had to have the dealership look at them and install them correctly after I noticed the problem during my first handwashing/detail session with my car. No other 'fit and finish' issues with my car other than after 2+ years of ownership (29K miles thus far), except for a door rattle/vibration issue that was also corrected.

Few Japanese cars are built in Japan any more, so 'fit & finish' issues are more likely to be a problem now - plus cars are getting more complicated as time passes & more & more (unnecessary) tech-bloat is added for the idiocracy. Cars built in Mexico seem to be the worst - as the Mexico-built Honda HRV/Fit, as well as the Toyota iA (Mazda2) prove quite readily. That is one more thing I find appealing about the US/NA-spec 2016-2018 Toyota iM (still made in Japan!) - though that is slated to change with the 2019 redesign model I believe (Mexico!!!).

Thanks. This is great information. I appreciate your insight.

[matti]

Just a quick update. I got the new door weatherstripping this week, and the door seems to close properly now. Also, the new radio was installed and all seems well. Just waiting for the temp to go above 0F so my MPGs can go up!

[kevinj93]

Just waiting for the temp to go above 0F so my MPGs can go up!

Be glad you're not here in Sydney, Australia. I'm waitng form the temperature to go back down so I can stop using the air conditioning and get my fuel comsumption back down!

Today is officially the hottest day on record here in Sydney, with 47.3 degrees Celcius recorded inland from the shore. That's 117 Fahrenheit. Both of our Toyotas said the temperature was 43 degrees at midday (daylight saving, so really 11AM).

Our news services are reporting extreme cold temperatures for those of you in the USA. Hope you all are managing safely with the frozen roads.

[kimona]

^^^ 47°C ? Yikes! When I lived in Sydney (long ago), summers were never anywhere near that hot.

[kevinj93]

It only got to 34 C today...