My mechanic wants to charge me $600 to replace the front inner fender liner on my 2014 Prius. It sounds like a rip-off, but I'm afraid to take it to the Toyota Stealership where they will probably charge me even more. If I had a hoist I would try doing it myself, but crawling under my car at my age (80) isn't very appealing. Can anyone advise me as to how I can get this done for a reasonable price?
That's a RIP-OFF. Depending on how healthy and flexible your are - it's an easy job. You'll need a jack n jack stand, wheel chock; so the car doesn't roll away from you, 10mm wrench or socket, flat multi-screwdriver. I've replaced my inner fender liner, because road debris punched a hole in it and ripped a portion out. I could've drilled some holes in the plastic and stitched the broken halves together with zip ties; but I wanted to do it right. It's usually held on by a couple of 10mm bolts and a bunch of plastic push pins. Just jack up that corner of the car, remove the tire and get at it. The aftermarket plastic fender liner is much cheaper than the OEM, but some of the holes may not quite line up. It's plastic so you can make it fit or if your sure; just drive another hole in the correct position. I believe I paid around $35 for an aftermarket one; whereas the OEM was around $100-$150. The aftermarket one was just as thick as the OEM unit I removed - but like I said, holes was off by a few mm. I used an old soldering iron to put the holes in the correct positions, using my old unit as a template. Good Luck....
Take it to a local body shop for an estimate. I bet they will give you an price cheaper than the $600 that you got from your mechanic. I replaced the drivers side inner fender liner on my 2011 Prius one and a half years ago. I used a generic part purchased on Amazon for $30. There is one fastener/connector at the rear side, which is very difficult to remove. I did the best I could with that one.
Lol... If you lived in the same town as me I'd charge you $40 for the fender liner and $30 for the little over a 1/2 hour it takes to install it.