Hi Folks. I have a 2010 and a 2016 Prius, and I'm at my wits end with the 2010. About a year ago, I parked too close to a wheel stop, and the bottom plastic under the front bumper got scrapped and started hanging down. I tried to push the little plastic clips back in, no avail, the holes in the bottom of the bumper where the clips go had been widened. So I went in there with a bolt and a large washer, which worked great, until it got caught on another wheel stop, and tore the holes out of the bottom of the bumper. Also, a piece in the middle of the car was hanging down, it seems like they are all connected somehow. I used bungee cords for a while, which actually worked great. Then I took it to a body shop to work on another problem, and asked them to fix it once and for all. The ordered a "spoiler," the plastic piece under the bumper. However, the just put it in with clips, and it was hanging down again within weeks. I kept pushing it back up, but I didn't worry too hard. I took the car on a 3 hour road trip this weekend, and on the highway, I hit a little bump, and heard violent scraping It had fallen again. And much of the plastic under the car was badly scrapping, I pushed what I could up under the red plastic bumper, but it clearly wasn't going to stay long. On the way home, in the 95 degree NC heat, the plastic around the wheel well had come loose somehow (again, it all seems to be connected) and just kept slamming the wheel. I had to pull over and try to unattach it... eventually I flagged down another motorist who had a knife and cut if off for me. So needless to say, I don't ever want to deal with this again. It really ruined my day. I have a few questions: 1) Would it be bad for my car if I just had all of the plastic undercoating removed. I feel like the mechanisms which hold them in place (the holes for the clips) are ineffective or damaged in my car. I use that car at the beach, so it gets sand in it, and I occasionally drive it through an inch or so of water (we get mild flooding where I live). 2) If I need the plastic undercarriage, how can I get it so that it doesn't fall off again? Do I need a new bumper? Screws? Should I just get a new car? I appreciate your info! 20160612_152235 by fsu23phd posted Jun 12, 2016 at 6:38 PM
Is that just a plastic shield under the mudguard (fender/wheel well) area, or does it extend further under the entire car? The one under the mudguard quietens the car a bit when driving on unsealed or wet roads. I had them off on a MAZDA once (took them off to remove a buildup of mud, leaves etc) and I noticed that with them removed, when I hosed around the wheel, a lot more water and dirt entered the engine bay. I don't think it has any effect on keeping water out of the car though, which is well sealed anyway.
Good question. I noticed that there are several pieces of plastic under there, and several of them have fallen off on mine. I'm having problem with the wheel well, with the plastic under the bumper, and the plastic that is under the passenger seat. I guess that it is probably unsafe to just ask to have them all removed, so I will take it to the dealer and let them try to fix it, however if I have another problem, then I will have it all removed. Thanks, I'm still interested in others experiences
there are other threads by peeps who have had similar problems. i guess you just need to be more careful on the parking stops.
Regarding hitting parking stops... If you back into the parking stall, you won't scrape your front end on the parking stops.
Plus, you've got reverse beepers (I assume) which in some cars (my Ford did) might detect them. Or a camera, better still.
Here are a few pictures. As you can see, theholes for the clips in the red bumper are broken. Also a peice under the passangers seat is hanging. Pain in the butt. Going to dealership at 230 today....
maybe some large fender washers would work on those broken holes, if you don't want to replace the bumper.
What does the part do? Support the bumper cover to retain its shape. Stop water from entering the engine compartment. Direct air to brakes perhaps. Maybe other functions. Take a good solid look to deduce what the part does. Just remove it....I think that is the answer to your question based on above functions. Else, repair it correctly. There are bumper repair products that you can apply then refit the holes to there correct size for the clips. Bungee cord repair...made me laugh...just remove it and be done. Good luck with your project.
The piece showing in your pic, just ahead of the wheel well, has some real piece-of-cr@p fasteners at the joint between it and the wheel well plastic liner. They are bolts, but you might as well treat them as permanent pop rivets. I tried removing one on our 2010: the head finally sheared off. They were a hopeless blob of rust, Toyota's finest. I'd just do what needs doing to properly secure it, get some extra bolts, maybe some pipe hanger strapping to act as washers, whatever needs doing. Best done yourself; body shops don't have the patience, and will be too expensive. And stop well back when pulling into parking spots, lol. Inside view, the fasteners on ours, at the joint. The vertical face is the beginning of the wheel well liner. You can see a little bit of tire tread through the "drain" hole in the bottom piece: Close up:
go for it! i hear that there are some great deals to be had, and, they are trouble free. also, they have more clearance than prius, so less undercarriage problems.
Ok, I calmed down, got my car back, and took it home. I broke out a wrench, and took the front most 'spoiler' off. Looking up, everything seems to be steel, so I'm just going to leave it off. I am missing that piece, about 1/2 of the wheelwell plus a little 8x10 inch piece of plastic which seems to cover the windshield washer fluid tank. Frankly, I'm just going to take my chances... I'm hopeful that the underlying pieces (under where the passengers sit) don't fall off as a result...
The plastic pieces tend to lap, somewhat like shingles, from front to back. With the front ones missing the next in line will more prone to snag on anything. Skimming over snow for example, but I don't suppose that happens much if ever in your locale. Hardly ever happens around here, lol. Anyway, I would restore it (to it's former glory), but that's just me.
I had a similar issue with my 2006 Scion XB. To make a long story real short, I got real creative underneath with zip ties. Made some new holes, attached with the ties, cut the left over tips off. Worked all the way to the time I sold it and got my 2015 Prius. If this happens again, I am ready to zip tie again.
The function of all these plastic pieces is to improve the car's drag coefficient and consequently its fuel economy. You won't run into any problems removing them entirely aside from reduced MPG. The piece hanging down in the center of this picture isn't under the passenger area; it's the oil drain access door, at the very back of the engine undertray. Behind it, there are two large panels that run under the cabin on either side of an open center tunnel for the exhaust; as far as I can tell, those panels are not intended to be removed; they use a different type of fastener than the engine tray.
