First Car, First Post

"Nolan Knight" (knightnolan)
07/05/2017 at 18:19 • Filed to: None

Longtime lurker here. I’m 16, live in Michigan, and just got my first car, a black 2010 Toyota Highlander. I named it Rondo. The car is in excellent condition, but has one minor issue: the glass hatch does not open more than three inches. I looked it up online and there doesn’t seem to be much info on it. it is a non-power liftgate model, if that helps. Please AMA/give tips on what to do

Rondo!

Sorry for the sideways image, but this is how far the hatch opens.

DISCUSSION (42)

Future next gen S2000 owner > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:22

UP or troll?

benjrblant > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:23

Kinja'd!!!

You named your Toyota after a Kia?

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:25

Those struts for the glass look incredibly rusty. They might be rusted in place to be honest. Try some penetrating oil on them maybe.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:25

I boo the naming of cars... boooooooooo...

Now that that’s out of the way, welcome! Nice Highlander.

jasmits > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:25

That strut looks like it might just be rusted to the point it won’t slide properly anymore

Wobbles the Mind > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:27

Now that’s a proper first car! Welcome to Oppo Proper. Try some WD40 and jiggling the thingy.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:28

Welcome! Good to see the black Toyota SUV ownership of Oppo is going up!

vicali > Wobbles the Mind
07/05/2017 at 18:30

jiggle it, just a little bit..

Honeybunchesofgoats > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
07/05/2017 at 18:30

Fred Astaire and Alec Guinness disagree with this in the strongest terms.

razorbeamteam > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:32

Welcome to Oppo! Cool car, a few of things:

1. Owning a highlander and not naming it “Connor MacLeod” is a huge missed opportunity. I get that you’re young, but still, no excuse.

2. That image isnt sideways unless you’ve already put the car in a ditch, which is possible given that you’re 16

3. I would use something like Deep Creep or PB Blaster on those struts and let it sit for an hour or so.

But seriously welcome

vicali > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:33

Welcome, what’s the plans?

ttyymmnn > benjrblant
07/05/2017 at 18:33

No, he named it after a compositional form of music that was popular in the Baroque period. It features a refrain interspersed by contrasting sections called episodes. A typical rondo form (or rondeau, in French) might be labeled as ABACABA, with A representing the refrain and B and C representing the episodes.

It’s also the name of a Kia.

$kaycog > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:34

Welcome to Oppo! We love having a new victim friend here!

CaptDale - is secretly British > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:35

Welcome! Neat name. Don’t listen to Bman76, he is just jealous because he can’t think of a good name for his car ;)

I joke.

Nice car to start with! As others have suggested I say the struts are probably rusted down. A little penetrating lube should help and then you will probably need to replace them.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > vicali
07/05/2017 at 18:35

last time I said that to a 16 year old, I got arrested :(

Nolan Knight > benjrblant
07/05/2017 at 18:37

I named my Toyota after Rajon Rondo, lol

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:37

Welcome to oppo, looks like the struts on the Highlander are borked. New struts or a few gallons of liquid wrench are in your future.

PS I do not own a highlander, I only fancy being one as seen in the blockbuster movies from the 80's.

Urambo Tauro > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:39

Welcome!

I like the penetrating oil idea. Also, if you pry back the metal retaining clip from the head of the strut, it should detach easily. You should then be able to open the hatch without waiting for the oil to soak in.

Nolan Knight > razorbeamteam
07/05/2017 at 18:40

I had to look up Connor Macleod. Is Highlander on Netflix?

razorbeamteam > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:42

I’m not sure if it is or not, but I would just read the plot on Wikipedia and save yourself the three hours. It is a seriously bad movie haha.

Nolan Knight > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now)
07/05/2017 at 18:42

It was my little sisters idea lol. She told me it needed a name, so I picked one before she can get her license

vicali > ttyymmnn
07/05/2017 at 18:43

ABACABA has a nice ring to it though..

Captain of the Enterprise > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:45

Welcome, that seems like a great first car to me. Check if anything is stuck at the top of the glass. Something might have fallen in by the hinge and be preventing it from opening all the way.

Nolan Knight > $kaycog
07/05/2017 at 18:48

Appreciate it, I think...

wafflesnfalafel > razorbeamteam
07/05/2017 at 18:53

“There can be only one!”. Nice first rig. Do stay away from the ditches.

Chuckles > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 18:55

Welcome! I too lurked for a long time before posting (and I still mostly lurk). As long as you don’t make 6 posts within an hour about going to the dentist, you’ll be fine.

Congrats on the Highlander. A good car needs a good name.

ttyymmnn > vicali
07/05/2017 at 18:57

The album is named after its title track, “Abacab”. Rutherford said “there were three bits of music in ‘Abacab’, and we referred to them as ‘section a’, ‘section b’, and ‘section c’... and at different times, they were in different order. We’d start with ‘section a’ and then have ‘section c’ ... and at one point in time, it spelled Abacab. On the final version, it’s not that at all, it’s like ‘Accaabbaac’.” (Wiki)

vicali > vicali
07/05/2017 at 19:02

Just going to leave this here;

Kinja'd!!!

Also Kluger is a much more interesting name..

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 19:10

Welcome to the ToyMoCoOppoLife buddy! May your car be as reliable as A BMW breaking

LastFirstMI is my name > razorbeamteam
07/05/2017 at 19:37

There can be only one. Unless you decide to make a sequel, then there can be another one.

Enjoy the car!

Saracen > CaptDale - is secretly British
07/05/2017 at 20:01

I was about to say. The strut looks super rusty in that picture.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 21:49

Welcome, I recommend trading it for a Juke. There is a Juke expert on here too, he posts occasionally. Just don’t go to the basement. If you do go to the basement remember to feed TheHondaBro & JKM their daily ration of 4 bread crumbs (about .5mm in size), & 1.5 tea spoons of spoiled milk.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > razorbeamteam
07/05/2017 at 22:20

Wasn’t there a TV series as well?

awmaster10 > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 22:26

v6 or i4?

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Nolan Knight
07/05/2017 at 22:59

Those lift struts look shot. You can replace them simply enough if you can raise the glass enough to detach one of the ends. Might help to have an extra set of hands. And welcome from another fellow Michigander. Where abouts are you? (Holds up right hand....)

Nolan Knight > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc
07/06/2017 at 00:27

Northville, metro Detroit

Nolan Knight > awmaster10
07/06/2017 at 00:27

V6. Gas milage is not great

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Nolan Knight
07/06/2017 at 00:44

Good deal, I’m over in Sterling Heights. Howdy neighbor.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Nolan Knight
07/06/2017 at 07:38

welcome victim, i mean friend

Nolan Knight > vicali
07/06/2017 at 20:58

The plans are to do whatever I can with my broke teenager bank account. We’ll see how tacky I can get

Nolan Knight > Future next gen S2000 owner
07/06/2017 at 20:59

Troll...

Future next gen S2000 owner > Nolan Knight
07/07/2017 at 09:56

Boooo. Struts are probably frozen. Bolt in some new ones and you should be good to go.