That sounds like something a used car salesman would say.
It may not be a big deal, but if it was "aesthetic" to let water run into the engine bay then why design the cowl with a rubber seal on it.
Where I live winter driving sends all sorts of salty road crap onto the windshield for days...
I'm another victim of the windshield cowl defect as shown below . My local Toyota dealer tried fixing it with a heat gun, and only made it worse. They ordered a new one but it's currently on back order and will take quite a while.