Beware / Danger / Of Faulty Hood Latch Causing Major Damage

Myself and two other GEO drivers have all experienced a similar problem, the hood suddenly coming up at high speeds, causing the windshield to shatter and damaging the hood and hinges. This is dangerous, as it can really shake you by its suddenness, and the glass can shatter at high speed, not good.

Even though your hood latch may appear sturdy, if you happen to close your hood while its wiggling on the way down [ie uneven drop from one side or another of midpoint], then the hood will close and look OK, but in reality, its' just holding on by the backup safety latch. The safety latch will hold till about 60+ MPH, then it disengages, causing all kinds of hell. If you get lazy and just drop the hood in an uneven way, sooner or later, you'll experience this trauma.

The hoods' light weight sheet metal lacks sufficient rigidity to handle ackward closing angles on the way down. Always double check the hood latch by firmly gripping the hood and pulling upward to see if its latched correctly.

Robert Becker

There is an active recall on this problem. I would recemmond taking your car to the dealer if you don't know if the problem has been fixed or not. I got my first swift GT donor car cause this happened to someone. Hood flew open, and she rolled it into a ditch.