Question about installing the Curt hitch

The mechanics who installed my Curt hitch this afternoon simply REMOVED the plastic molding on the rear drivers side where it interfered with the bolting on process. I was kind of shocked when I looked under there....

Questions:

If they did not bust is up, should I go try to fish the plastic molding out of their trash and try to put it back in place after cutting?

Could the air flow change under there really be noticeable in mileage?

Is that molding there to protect something?

 

1) Definitely yes. Also retrieve any parts (2 tow hooks on mine) and bolts they might have tossed.
2) No.
3) I don't know, but Toyota put it there for a reason, and I have great faith in the Toyota design team. If you don't want to cut and paste it now, you might want to do that when it comes time to sell or trade the car. If you don't cut the plastic piece (or if you buy a spare), you could remove the hitch when you sell the car, replace the plastic and other parts, and no one would know you once had a hitch on there, which might be important to some buyers or dealers.

 

I think that you should go get it, but have the mechanic fish out the parts - it was at best sloppy to toss them without consulting you first.

There has to be a reason for the molding. I installed my own hitch and if I remember correctly there is not really anything that looks delicate under the panel - just the bottom side of the spare tire well but it could save you from damage from a big chunk of road debris. I would imagine that there would be a small aerodynamic hit that would impact mileage. It might be tiny, but a big part of the way that the Prius gets it great mileage is with a ton of small incremental tweaks.

 

Thanks for the replies.
Glenn

 

Forgot the camera!!! But I recenlty did two in less than an hour.
14mm and 17mm sockets, torque wrench and a Breaker bar. Two beer Job!!!!!

 

Going to be putting a hitch on my '07 in the next couple of weeks for bicycle rack, looking at e-trailer, looks like the Drawtite, HiddenHitch, and Curt hitches area all the same. But, hearing the bolts don't line up well on the Curt hitches.

Is this a case where all 3 are buying hitches from the same manufacturer and having them private labeled? Or all 3 companies making their own hitches similar design.

Was going to go with the Drawtite hitch, mostly because of price and I've used that brand before. Don't really need the drawbar, pin and clip.

Any real difference between the 3 brands?