I recently beached our Prius on the curb while parking and severely scraped the under carriage cover under the front bumper. There is now a little gash in it exposing it's innards. Not to mention that it protrudes a little and looks ugly and increasing resistance drag. With the winter coming and snow and rain expected, should I get that replaced asap? Any idea about how much it would cost to replace? Thanks, Salman
Hi. Are you talking about the black plastic piece that you can see from a standing position in front of the car? Or the additional piece that extends under the radiator? I have, and I think we all have scraped the piece you can see while standing. That is the front airdam. The Prius is kinda low to the ground. You will get used to avoiding getting too close to those curb stops. Marvin
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Marvinh @ Oct 30 2007, 01:01 PM) [snapback]532479[/snapback]</div> I think this is the additional piece under the radiator. I can only see it when I bend on my knees to peek under.
The piece that wraps under the front fascia is also primarily cosmetic. The area is, I believe, exposed to the elements via the grille, too, so it's not sealing anything from the weather. There's a thread from a while back where someone took it off to expose the parts underneath; that's where I first learned a little about it. No idea how much it'd cost, but you might first get the "official" name and part number of it online (or at the Toyota dealer) and then search for it yourself, perhaps at a salvage yard or secondhand somehow. It can't be that expensive, I'd guess. I don't think it's a top priority thing, but I would get it replaced. For what it's worth, I try to keep up with little things like that before they all accumulate and get overwhelming. One other thought: there are lots of "guts" under there, so be extra careful when parking, etc.; I usually err on the side of not pulling in far enough, if there's a bit of extra space.
