Jumbo
If the opening is there for a reason I will pass on your idea, but if they just got lazy over there at Scion I will take you up on it. The light shinig through the grill drives me nuts. I guess I might have OCD.

 

I know exactly what you are talking about. I noticed the same thing a few weeks ago on mine when I was checking out new headlight bulbs. Went to the dealer the next day and checked out a couple of other new xB's. They were all that way. It's something I guess we will have to live with. That stray light coming out look bad though, IMO.

 

Yeah the light coming through it looks bad in front PICS , But I was driving down the 210/134 FWY today and I had passed this `05 Camo on the right , I had to go over to my Exit so I got in front of him for a bit . And when I looked back , I definetely could tell it was an xB behind me with those 2 Rectangle Eyes close together looking back at me . And from a little distance to as it came by and passed , I could NOT see any light coming out any where .
So maybe its only a close camara thing Angle that looks bad .

 

Perhaps we can all accept that this is the way the new honeycombs are being adapted with a shield. Fair enough. If the opening to the right and left of the radiator cowl are not functional then I would prefer they were blocked. As far as I can tell they only serve the purpose of allowing salt and sand to spray into the engine compartment. Is there any functional need for these openings? The compartment is hardly airtight; so is the airflow required by any component?

I feel no compulsion to show the world how full my windshield wash tank is. Does the honeycomb shield have a part number on the piece?

 

hmmm I got mine on 10/31/05 and mine has no shield....

 

i dont think it's an issue of when you bought, its when it was built...

 

It's a late summer build date also

 

We ought to knock out the other side, and then you could have 2 'phantom' headlights up there!

 

According to James at Scion (he called me everyday for the last week to keep me posted) the plastic shield protects the horn. He said it was a "running change in production" during the 2005 run. I asked about the left side becoming available to help with its aesthetic value, but he said it probably would not happen. So I guess we will have to deal with the light shining through our grills. Thanks for all the feedback.

 

Macthias-

Can the right side shield be flipped to the left or does the rounded corner prevent this?

After driving around the Boston area there is a scary amount of salt and sand in my engine compartment. I’m thinking these shields are worth having.

 

uh huh or so they will have you believe just like there really was no 2107A RS1 tag....

~wC

 

Scooter123
Jumbo and I have talked about flipping that piece. We will have to take a better look.

 

well, If you want to immatate the look of the new grills, it would not be very difficult to buy some black plastic and place it on the left and right side...

 

if this is to fix something in the car can we take are new cars to the dealer ship to get that plastick instald??? seeing as how we are still underworenty and all.....

 

They'll probably just replace your horn if it goes bad, if that's the reason for it...

It makes sense since one of the horns is right in the middle of the bumper and the other is off to the side right at that spot...

 

I checked the xB's on my lot and about half of them is blocked in and the other half is not. I also noticed that every single one that is, the port is in Long Beach, CA and all the ones that is open the port is in Los Angeles. I don't know if that has something to do with it also.

 

I checked my 05 purchased last month and it has the driver side blocked off too.

 

My 06 is the same way. I hit two deer in mine and I noticed it today so I started seaching and found this. Mine is Drivers side blocked passenger is open. I was about to raise HADES with the body shop but I guess maybe there is a reason for it.

 

Hit TWO deer with it?! And it's an 2006?! You got some bad luck >,<

 

P.S. I think the grill backing is the door to check your halogen fluid level in your foglights.