- First Name
- John
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2026
- Threads
- 6
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 13
- Location
- Polk County, IA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2026 Tacoma Double Cab SR 4x4
- Thread starter
- #1
I improvised with pieces of wooden popsicle stick and green masking tape. I will have to replace that black trim molding above the silver bezel because it got mysteriously scratched somehow. While I'm at it, I will use sheet metal strips cut to size as shim material to wedge between the top of the climate control box and the clip bosses of the trim molding which is that very same piece that says TACOMA in black letters above the glove compartment door. That stupid thing is about $140 from the dealer including shipping. My goal was to get the gap between the top black trim molding below the radio even across the top from left to right.
My new Toyota product came from a North American plant with the right-hand top corner of the silver bezel lower than the corresponding corner on the left-hand side. This left a gap across the top of uneven thickness. This is an eyesore since the center silver bezel is like the crown on a king's head for prominence.
Sadly, our Toyota products are no longer made with the cosmetic precision that the hands of Japanese factory workers lovingly crafted Toyota automobiles decades ago. Those artisans had old-fashioned Old World pride that seems long extinct in a plastic, phony digitally-connected world of today.
I am a motor vehicle mechanic and tech by former trade. I was a fleet truck mechanic in the American army. I understand field expedients. The plastic interiors of our new Tacoma's snap together like a full-size Monogram plastic car. Toyota really went to the dogs with interior cosmetics, materials quality and neatness.
Those plastic pieces on the dash will scratch real easy if you not careful. I don't know how that trim piece just below the radio got scratched. I did try to protect the instrument panel with a hand towel tucked in the radio cavity while I was disconnecting a dozen leads from the back of the head unit. The Kelly green lead behind the radio is the backup camera, so you know.
My new Toyota product came from a North American plant with the right-hand top corner of the silver bezel lower than the corresponding corner on the left-hand side. This left a gap across the top of uneven thickness. This is an eyesore since the center silver bezel is like the crown on a king's head for prominence.
Sadly, our Toyota products are no longer made with the cosmetic precision that the hands of Japanese factory workers lovingly crafted Toyota automobiles decades ago. Those artisans had old-fashioned Old World pride that seems long extinct in a plastic, phony digitally-connected world of today.
I am a motor vehicle mechanic and tech by former trade. I was a fleet truck mechanic in the American army. I understand field expedients. The plastic interiors of our new Tacoma's snap together like a full-size Monogram plastic car. Toyota really went to the dogs with interior cosmetics, materials quality and neatness.
Those plastic pieces on the dash will scratch real easy if you not careful. I don't know how that trim piece just below the radio got scratched. I did try to protect the instrument panel with a hand towel tucked in the radio cavity while I was disconnecting a dozen leads from the back of the head unit. The Kelly green lead behind the radio is the backup camera, so you know.
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