GR Yaris Has your grille broken for no good bloody reason?

Has your grille broken for no good bloody reason?

  • Yes

    Votes: 7 14.6%

  • No

    Votes: 41 85.4%
  • Total voters
    48
  • Poll closed .
It does seem to be a serious problem, lots of reports of breakages with and sometimes without obvious reason. Out of curiosity I did contact a plastic dipping company wondering if there was any possibility of dipping the grill in a bath of liquid plastic or something similar to thicken it up and coat it like a toffee apple. Answer was no, only works on metal.

I do still wonder though if the same idea might work with a glossy epoxy of some sort? Dip it in front side up, pull it out, let it drip and repeat a few times. The back would obviously need tidying up afterwards but can’t help thinking it’d be worth a try. Maybe some one with a broken grill sitting around could give it a go on a small scale?

Having said that, I’m with you griff, seems to be a good amount of evidence building to question the design, is it fit for purpose?
 
Hi , we shouldn't be looking for ways to solve any issue that are due to the manufacturer using sub - standard materials that are not fit for purpose. We should be contacting Toyota to make them aware of the weakness of the part. If everyone how has experienced this problem makes contact with Toyota then you have more chance of getting a replacement free of charge and hopefully a recall where all our cars are fitted with a front grill that's fit for purpose.

Just my thoughts and opinions
 
Mark said:
Hi , we shouldn't be looking for ways to solve any issue that are due to the manufacturer using sub - standard materials that are not fit for purpose. We should be contacting Toyota to make them aware of the weakness of the part. If everyone how has experienced this problem makes contact with Toyota then you have more chance of getting a replacement free of charge and hopefully a recall where all our cars are fitted with a front grill that's fit for purpose.

Just my thoughts and opinions
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I absolutely agree, Mark. Just thinking of options in the absence so far of any admission.
No problems so far for me but I’ve only done 71 miles!
 
F*** me

Just had an estimate to replace the grille

£707.77!


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Wow, it has been said that Toyota are losing money on this car . Most car manufacturers make little money selling a new car. They get their money through planned obsolescence which basically means manufacturers inbuild parts that will break (not fit for purpose ) . These items will cost a lot of cash.
It looks like the front grill could be one of those parts.
We all need to share our concerns regarding this frail front grill direct to Toyota.
 
It's a competition car for the road. That was the selling point and that's what we have. The plastic is flimsy to save weight. We have carbon or aluminium body parts on the cars for the same reason.
Steel panels and double thickness bumpers could have been done but you'd end up with an extra 200kgs on the kerb weight.
 
I’m all for weight saving, but they went too far with the grille IMO, just slightly thicker plastic/smaller holes would have made it a lot more durable

At least if they hadn’t made it in one huge piece, it would have allowed people to have broken sections replaced

Anyway I hate to say it but this has taken the shine off ownership for me - once I get it replaced I’m going to be paranoid driving the thing in case a leaf hits it
 
Mark said:
Wow, it has been said that Toyota are losing money on this car .
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Toyota are absolutely 100% making money selling the car. I get that it feels spectacular value for money to people like us when compared to other, similar cars (maybe says more about them...) , but Toyota are not a charity and kinda know how to manufacture things efficiently.

It's about time to put this ridiculous urban myth to bed :)

That's not to say that they look to have dropped the ball on this one. I don't suspect foul play, I think it's just a genuine mis-spec (plastic could be denser, less brittle) or poor design (inherently flimsy, lack of bracing).
 
Duke said:
Toyota are absolutely 100% making money selling the car. I get that it feels spectacular value for money to people like us when compared to other, similar cars (maybe says more about them...) , but Toyota are not a charity and kinda know how to manufacture things efficiently.

It's about time to put this ridiculous urban myth to bed :)

That's not to say that they look to have dropped the ball on this one. I don't suspect foul play, I think it's just a genuine mis-spec (plastic could be denser, less brittle) or poor design (inherently flimsy, lack of bracing).
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I don't suspect foul play either, but driving along with something that fragile right on the front of your car is not an ideal recipe for enjoyable driving. I can see myself replacing the thing and then driving with the relaxed feeling of someone transporting a bone china tea set.
 
Spoke to someone at the dealer today
Feedback they are getting is that Toyota aren't admitting to there being anything wrong with the design, so just put it down to 'accidental damage' with no chance of any kind of warranty claim. If you've had any issues with yours, or have concerns I'd urge you to contact them with your feedback ([email protected]) - won't help me, but might help you or other owners if enough people moan about it.

Although I'm going to try and bring the cost down a bit, it will be at the dealer's discretion and I don't hold out any real hope of their being much of a saving, so once it has its first proper service/recall/repair done it's going to be Mazda 2 time* - better get my plate put on retention

Gutted though - had a fantastic drive in it at the weekend!

* I'm obviously not going to get a Mazda 2
 
griff said:
Spoke to someone at the dealer today
Feedback they are getting is that Toyota aren't admitting to there being anything wrong with the design, so just put it down to 'accidental damage' with no chance of any kind of warranty claim. If you've had any issues with yours, or have concerns I'd urge you to contact them with your feedback ([email protected]) - won't help me, but might help you or other owners if enough people moan about it.

Although I'm going to try and bring the cost down a bit, it will be at the dealer's discretion and I don't hold out any real hope of their being much of a saving, so once it has its first proper service/recall/repair done it's going to be Mazda 2 time* - better get my plate put on retention

Gutted though - had a fantastic drive in it at the weekend!

* I'm obviously not going to get a Mazda 2
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I’m starting to think maybe one of those wire grill covers may be worth putting on even if they don’t look to great as I don’t really want to shell out that kind of money for breakage and I don’t want to trade for a Mazda 2 either!
 
I personally think we should keep bombarding Toyota with our concerns. The worst that can happen is we start looking for someone with a 3D printer and the tech to produce a more sturdy grill
 
Mark said:
I personally think we should keep bombarding Toyota with our concerns. The worst that can happen is we start looking for someone with a 3D printer and the tech to produce a more sturdy grill
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I'm amazed no one's come up with an aftermarket grille yet -

My feedback was along the lines of

1) make one that's thicker/more durable
2) think about making it in a few pieces, so that if one little part of it breaks you don't have to replace the entire thing
3) make the mesh holes a bit smaller - I had no damage to rad or intercooler, but I'm sure others will & I can imagine that being a warranty claim if the grille's not doing its job

None of the above would add any serious weight to the car

Dodger said:
I’m starting to think maybe one of those wire grill covers may be worth putting on
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I'd rather flog my car than have to drive around with one of those honking Zunsport covers on it
 
I thought there was someone on the other forum saying the part was pretty cheap. Around 350 with vat is to much. Someone has another supplier?
 
I will check mine and then vote have done nearly 15k miles in it so will be interesting to see, don't think i have hit anything but lots of debris is kicking about on motorways etc
 
Put my plate on retention today 😢

Pretty gutted tbh but once the grille’s replaced & I’ve put it in for its first service it will be going up for sale.
 
griff said:
Put my plate on retention today 😢

Pretty gutted tbh but once the grille’s replaced & I’ve put it in for its first service it will be going up for sale.
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Oh no! Hope you get a good price for it!!
 
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