Yes, just the brakelight portion. The first image shows it. And there could be variations with different trim levels. I haven't broken that down if there are any.

 

Okay, thanks. I'll look tonight.

 

What Toyota's do this? I think there is a styling trend for some pick ups for SUVs. You can see part of the muffler on purpose next to the frame rails and you see the exhaust in the rear. I know Toyota has gone to direct injection on their newer Toyota cars, so hiding the exhaust tip and having it point down is done to prevent the black soot build-up you sometimes see .

 

Off-topic, but yeah I just cleaned over two years' worth of that black soot off my exhaust tips. Had to ask a friend for his professional-grade wheel cleaner due to how much it was baked-on. Worked pretty well.

Didn't realize that was the (or even "a") reason for pointing the tips down. Makes sense though.

 

Brake and signal lights are kinda weak I expect this on a 25 year old car with bulbs that have been in there for 15 years not a new model. And aren't the front signals incandescent?

 

Black soot or smoke from the exhaust usually, but not always, means a rich fuel mixture.....more gas, less air. In the old days, you could adjust carburetors and mixtures manually, but it led to many problems. Today, of course, mixture is part of the engine-management functions in the computer and fuel-injection system.

While excessively rich mixtures can impact both performance and fuel-mileage, in general, a richer mixture is good for cold-engine drivability, and, at warmer temperatures, helps prevent overheating and spark-knock. Lean mixtures, at cold fuel-system temperatures, can lead to stumbling/hesitaiton and stalling.

 

Yeah could be mainly due to the colder months. I trust the ECU to do its thing haha.

Incidentally, I looked around the parking lot on my way to the car today, and saw a lot of late-model cars with that black buildup. The worst offender I saw was a Giulia. I think people just don't pay attention to the exhaust tips when cleaning - I sure didn't...

 

I doubt (although I cannot confirm) that black, original equipment plastic parts are unpainted; they are probably painted, if only to provide some sort of UV protection.

This is more of a personal annoyance than anything. Since the plastic bumper covers are simply that -- covers (curtains) -- to hide the real, but unattractive metal and foam bumper bits, they do not have to be too thick.

In fact, having them thinner would be beneficial -- less plastic material makes it more environmentally conscious and also cheaper to produce, which should translate to cheaper parts when they need to be replaced, possibly minimizing insurance costs.


Multi-colour bumpers that include black facing may seem to be cheap but they are more expensive to produce than single-colour bumper covers.

If the bumper cover is all one piece (I do not know if the rear bumper cover on the Corolla Hatchbacks and Sedans are one- or multi-piece covers), painting one portion black would require manually taping and covering (at extra cost) the non-black portions and then repainting the black portion (just as Toyota tapes and covers, and then repaints the Camry's black roof).

If the bumper cover is made up of multiple, different-coloured pieces, making the bumper would require multiple fabrications that then have to be joined together, all at higher cost than producing one single bumper cover.

I see that the Corolla's different trim levels have different inserts in the centre of the rear bumper cover. This leads me to think that the bumper cover is more than one piece -- one body-coloured piece for the main bumper cover, and a separate centre piece for the trim (one of which simulates a rear diffuser).


I personally believe that this is a personal, OCD thing. Having bits of the exhaust system or suspension showing beneath the rear bumper does not hurt anything.

 

This probably goes without saying, but clean the tips regularly, when the car is washed, and the stain-problems won't build up.

 

All interesting points.
Although I can't imagine anyone else liking or wanting their bumper fluttering while on the freeway. Besides it looking like it's improperly attached, it's also likely disrupting air flow underneath, adding unnecessary drag, and probably weakening the structure over time from the constant flexing.

 

I checked out the brake lights on the RAV4 last night. I agree that their size is fairly small, but I find them to be really bright. I was behind an older RAV4 on my way home so I paid close attention to that one too. The brake lights were about the same size, just incandescent so I didn't find them to be very bright. The light pipes on the older models don't illuminate during braking, just like the new one.

 

so lame toyota still uses so many incandescent bulbs.

 

They are often cheaper and easier to replace.

 

i think everyone knows that, but that doesn't mean it's not still lame, plus led's almost NEVER need replacing.

 

For a long term keeper, bulbs are better as you can DIY. My car has LEDs and I love them, but the manual says to take it Toyota to change a bulb. Hopefully, at this point there are aftermarket ways of doing the change, I would be royally pissed if it was expensive to replace.