I have two 2013 Priuses, a Plug-in and a V. I have owned the V for a year and a half and the plug-in for about 5 months. Both seem to have a problem with dropping a screw out of the splash guards in front of the rear tires. It happens on both cars and on both sides of the car. The splash guard then flips down and touches the ground on some bumps. I have replaced the screws a few times (I've been lucky enough to have found them a few times and have purchased three from the dealer already.) I have been careful not to strip it, but each time I have been installing them a bit tighter. The only culprit I can think of is that When I visit my in laws I have to travel about 2kms of gravel road. But I feel like I should be able to drive gravel roads without pieces falling off the car. I did not have this issue on the 2008 Prius that I have now sold. Has anyone else had this issue on the 2013 model?
Yes, it's that "spat" thing. That screw that is in your pic loosens and drops out, then the spat rotates down on another anchor point and rubs on the road and sometimes the rear tire.
It's likely a nylon push-in piece the screw is screwing into, and it's worn due to the screw pulling out. Check what it is, pry it out and bring it along to parts dept, get replacement? For quick fix you could try some two part epoxy.
Ok, broke down and had a look. First off, this is a coarse thread screw, there's no nut on the back side. And unfortunately, it's not screwing into the more typical simple nylon push-in bushing, it's a clip of some sort incorporated into the plastic rocker panel. That's one item that's defeated me when I tried to remove it. It has a ton of different fasteners. I think your best bet would be to just butter up the screw with 2-part epoxy, screw it in 'till it seats firmly, then let it sit for 24 hours. This will hopefully re-establish the threads in the plastic insert, and hold. It's actually very hard to completely remove this spat from the car body: it's other fastener is in the wheel well, connecting to a little off-standing bracket. There's a steel nut and bolt at that point. We're by no means in the snow belt, still after 4.5 years when I looked at our it was piece of rusted &%##!. I replaced it with aftermarket nylon license plate nut/bolts I had. Before: (Note, we have a fiber wheel well liner, comes with 17" rims I think) The bracket: Reinstalled, with nylon nut/bolt combo. Note, the fiber liner was supposed to lap out-and-over the spat, I think. So got it right now:
Well, that sucks... I got the same stuff on our Prius too. So far they haven't fallen off. Got the 17" wheels also.
^ Take a look at that location, back out the screw and have a look at it, look at that rocker panel: good luck with that.
Thanks for all the help. I've got the smaller wheels -- might be part of the problem. I'll try a few things and see how it goes. Then I'll update the thread with a success story, hopefully.
@RBruce: I was doing a little fall cleaning, removed our rear wheel well spats in the process, and see there's in fact a simple metal clip with a threaded hole, for the screw that's on the underside of spat. This clip just pushes over the plastic rocker panel edge.
