hood won't close reliably, floppy switch
 

2005, 158k miles. My hood has always felt tough to open a bit... a lot of resistance on the switch under the dash, needs a solid yank when I open it, which is fairly rarely. But this morning after adding washer fluid, hood would not stay fully closed. This had happened last time, too. I thought I got it to latch fully after a few times pushing down tightly or lifting then closing from a higher height, but nearby on highway I could see it had opened (was already? released while driving?), being kept closed by safety/secondary latch. Got it home immediately. I played with latch a bit, just fiddling with it, pushing down a bit. Not sure what is open vs closed to be honest, as not sure if hood mechanism opens a loop or pulls it down to allow the hood to release, and it appeared be like a closed loop that barely moves even with pressure. Shows how mechanically experienced I am (not). I did manage to get hood to close apparently tightly a 2nd time, but release switch under dash has a LOT of play now. I will not rerelease it intentionally, for fear of locking hood closed (unopenable) or being unable to close it tight again.

I read threads on this and i guess it could be cable or possibly latch mechanism? Not sure which would keep it from closing. My concern is if I can drive it without risk to a dealer some 30 miles away without that the main mechanism will pop open while driving, which might have happened before (not sure). Anyway I am not DIY so I will bring this in, to local mechanic at least. Just wondering if this is likely lubrication of cable, or new cable, or new or lubricated mechanism. First repair needed in almost 1.5 years (starter then due probably to bad battery and overtrying to start it, alternator 6 months prior), but it does remind me that is an old car, and I am not a mechanic.

I appreciate the secondary latching probably kept hood from popping open. I was close to home when it happened, fortunately, and turned around immediately and used my other car. FWIW, I want to get Lexus parts on this as needed to hopefully have no more problems with this item (at least) hopefully for the next 19 years.

Had the same thing happen. The cable was seized and the little spring inside the latch was not strong enough to re-set the latch after opening. I was able to lube the cable and it worked for another year or so, but then I had to replace it

If you are stuck, you can remove the latch and push the latch lever (connected to the cable) back in position with a screwdriver. Two 10mm bolts and a 10mm nut and the latch comes out.

Alot of problems with the hood latch and cable come down to lack of lubrication. Give the hood latch a shot of silicone spray and work it around a little. If possible, shoot a little down the cable and into the plastic sheath for it, and try working it back and forth a bit as well.

Update from dealer that they will replace hood cable.

Update - insane prices
 

Hood fixed. Just needed a cable. My shock was in the pricing. Don't kill me for my stupidity here, but it cost $500 at dealer, I figured even at dealer it would be the "usual" $200-$250-ish for an overpriced part plus install, This is a warning. I had a bunch of other services done (brake fluid, coolant, etc.). They were all at dealer and expensive but not CRAZY expensive. But the hood was 1.3 book hours and the labor rate is now ... $270/hour. Just wow. Mind boggling. Then again the local firestone place had a posted rate of $195, which shocked me. There's inflation.

In future, I will inquire about labor rate up front at some nearby dealers or see if a Toyota dealer would consider. I did not want to drive around with any risk of hood issues (it popped partially open once), and I did get a loaner, but it also took a week to get the car back primarily due to their waiting for parts. Normally I would have been more than happy to take car back and return it when parts come in.

So I am going to be (even) more cautious about going to dealer. I may go there for fluids at fixed price to ensure genuine, but no longer for brakes (already stopped) and most other repairs that are labor-hour based without inquiring up front.

I realize dealer is a premium service (the car loaner, it's a Lexus so they charge more, etc.) but at this point I am less likely to go there for repairs that I can do locally, despite the convenience For Cadillac (my other car), they for years had $60 synthetic oil change "specials" as a regular thing. I just got a sales flyer with a special that it is "only" $180... for a 5+ quart synth oil change. (For my Lexus, I almost always specify conventional 5w30 unless a small price diff. Jiffy Lube fought me on it last time, saying their computer "required" high-mileage oil after 150,000 miles (not even synthetic). I'm beyond done with them. I don't want "seal conditioners" and crud up front).

I know a dealer costs more, but these rates will factor in if/when I get my next car, new or used. (1) hourly rate (2) Loaner availability (or easy rental as an option), etc.

Two other things: At least they have not (yet) imposed a credit card 4% fee like my Cadillac dealer. That was a shocker. And the Caddy dealer does not even offer loaners anymore unless you originally purchased from them. (Plus, the Lexus dealer accepts checks, not sure if Cadillac dealer does, to help avoid that fee).

On a positive note: my car failed inspection because they claimed the seat belt was bad. I've sprayed with silicone spray in past to help it retract, so it never occurred to me that this could be an issue. But the service advisor replaced it (said this was not just slow to retract) and gave me a new seatbelt free (did have a labor fee)! The MSRP on the pre-tensioner version (Ultra Lux) is around $750. I didn't think the retraction slowness was a safety issue. Anyway, I thanked the advisor, and asked why. Just because I've been going there a while (although it has been almost 4 year since last time I went to this particular dealer). Was not expecting it and still not really sure why (no state mandate for free belts or anything), but I have a brand new driver's seatbelt. SO I am not ragging on the service advisor. That was genuinely appreciated and unexpected. But beware of where car repair prices have gone. It's gotten to point where I looked up a camry/accord lease just to imagine. That's far worse. Hopefully I am good for a while, but annual maintenance / minor repairs has gotten closer to what car payments used to be not all that long ago.

If you are DIY, kudos to you!