Rev 2 Liv

Some a--hole recently hit my car while parked. From the looks of it, probably one of those big rental trucks since the area hit is confined to the grille area.

The hit was enough to dislodge the plastic grille part, broke off the star hood ornament and also broke the plastic hood latch piece.

Now, when I can't seem to open the hood. The drivers side seems to open fine, but something seems stuck where the passengers side was hit.

Any tips/hints on how to open the hood?

hcoronado

grab yourself a wire hanger and use the tip to grab the plastic tab and pull it. maybe some pliers too.

Rev 2 Liv

Thanks for the tip. If I recall, the hood is latched in two places, one on each side of the hood ornament. Is that correct?

It might be difficult to see, but if you look at the picture attachment you'll see that it got bashed in pretty good.

I'm able to unclip the drivers side, but the passengers side seems to stay closed. I use a screwdriver to pull the hood release forward, but the passengers side won't' budge.

thanks!

phister

might have pinched the hood latch on the passenger side or bent so it wont release. Might try to release it and see if you can just muscle the hood up to see if you can release the latch. worst case is to take it to a body shop.

TruTaing

Is it driveable? if so, maybe you should consider leaving it shut as there may be more unforseen damage and let your insurance take care of it. I guess, if it were stuck shut, id be concerned that it would be stuck open once you do get it open. That could be much more dangerous.

CoupeCrazy03

+1 to trutaing's comment on the insurance. . . did you file a police report?

Rev 2 Liv

Nope, didn't file a police report. And i'd like to assess the damage before proceeding forward. I'm hoping that the damage is confined to the hood and that the front cross members survived intact.

So any help on getting that passengers side latch would be much appreciated!

Rev 2 Liv

So y'all know, here's how I got it opened. Open hood release once to get drivers side to unlatch. Then have an assistant pull up on the passengers side while opening hood release a second time.

this free'd up the jammed latch. Didn't appear to be any damage to the crossmember, but obviously the hood/grille will need to be replaced and possibly the bumper.

My main objective was to get in there and change the oil. The LCD cluster would occasionally indicate low oil malfunction. Oddly enough, car is getting better gas mileage after oil change. I put in 8 3/4