Warranty Denied....now what?

Right there is the root of the problem....And the first attempt at blame.

You saw something hanging under the car, but took no action to investigate, confirm or rectify the situation. But then you place blame on a third party, who was given no indication that a problem existed.

Given the above facts, it doesn't matter if impact caused the part displacement, or the part displacement caused the impact.

No personal responsibility was taken to begin with.



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I'm not sure why folks are jumping down your throat on this. Looks to me like the nut might have become loose and wallowed out the hole. (It might never have been properly snapped in place.) It looks like the cover caught the wind enough that it hung low and eventually snagged something. The scuff mark is clearly from dragging the pavement at some point. Not having disassembled and reassembled the covers before I can only guess about what happened but I don't see any clear indication that you are mistaken about what happened.

The one thing I do notice that might explain an impact scenario is what appears to be several inches of rub mark on the inside bottom of the adjacent frame rail. It is hard to make out in the photos and could to have been from anything, but it probably would raise the dealer's suspicion.

It probably doesn't help that dealers can't afford to be generous right now, they are all hurting for money with car sales off so badly. I expect both the dealer and manufacturer are squeezing each other really hard these days.

 

So if you bought a new car and in driving it off of the lot, a part that was hanging loose, due to defective workmanship, caught on something in the street, you would expect to pay for the repairs. I know who to look up if I ever have a bridge to sell.

Nobody suggested it should be covered under warranty unless it was already hanging loose as a result of defective workmanship. you may have missed some other posts. Here's one of mine.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/54192-warranty-denied-now-what-2.html#post719906

 

Glad to hear that the car was repaired by your second dealer; as long as the white plastic shield remains in place, no need to worry further.

Please see the following webpage:
Toyota Help

 

Same here!

 

From this episode I conclude:
- Assume nothing. All anomalies should be pointed out explicitly. Don't assume that a service tech will notice anything not on the checklist or act on their own unless there's money in it.
- That first dealer hires slackers. Don't go back.