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Front bumper falls down all the time

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by chicken nuggets, Aug 20, 2018.

  1. chicken nuggets

    chicken nuggets New Member

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    Hello all, new member. I find myself in a trick situation with my Prius (2010, 99,000 miles).

    Part of the front bumper has fallen and scrapped the ground four times in the past three years. Most recently after I got a lot of cosmetic damage (and the bumper) fixed on my car, I was driving on a highway and it fell again.

    Ever since I had my car fixed I have been babying it like it was new. No parking anywhere near those cinderblocks, etc. So basically, just normal driving, I can't rely on the bumper to stay up.

    I'm considering buying a new car as mine is getting up there anyway, and while this isn't a mechanical problem, it's a problem that has wasted several days of mine and repaired over and over again, to just not stick.

    I've seen others have this same problem and was wondering how you took care of it, and if it worked more than a temporary fix?
     
  2. chicken nuggets

    chicken nuggets New Member

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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    pics? is it the bumper, or the aero under cover?
     
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  4. chicken nuggets

    chicken nuggets New Member

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    Sorry I don't have pics. It's the aero under cover I believe. The black plastic that snaps into the front bumper.

    The body shop I had it fixed at replaced it same day, but it was disconcerting given it had just been fixed and i was babying the car.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    It is a tough fix. You have the cover, but also the parts it attaches to.

    A simple fix is drilling holes and using bailing wire to stitch it together.
     
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The likely reason it's falling off (assuming it's the first black plastic underpanel, just aft of the painted bumper): it's not quite high enough off the ground to clear a lot of curbs and concrete wheel stops. The latter in particular are tough on it: you pull into a parallel parking spot, and that piece rides up and over the wheel stop. Then when you back the car out it snags, kinda like a barbed hook, and really abrades and tears itself.

    You've got to get down there, remove it, see what's happening. It might be salveable, or not. There's a mix of metal screws and metal bolts. All require a 10 mm socket. The metal bolts screw into weld nuts. The metal screws are coarse thread, screw into nylon blocks pushed into the trailing edge of the painted bumper. There's also one plastic fastener, a somewhat odd one, at the front/centre.

    Dutch Uncle time: you need to get involved, look it over carefully, understand what's going on. As long as you're not looking under there yourself, relying on "pros" to "repair" it with baling wire, it'll be an ongoing problem.

    The good news: you can remove, repair and/or replace this without the need to raise the car. You do need to lie down in front, to see what you're doing. Throw down some sort of mat if you're parked on loose earth, and with a screw driver (for the plastic fastener) and a ratchet wrench (with extension and 10 mm socket) you can have that thing off in 5 minutes.

    Any dealership parts department is the most direct route to replacement parts, albeit more pricey. Maybe if the panel itself has to be replaced: order that through amazon, and for fasteners use the dealership? Up to you.

    The ongoing solution, avoid getting too deep into parking spots. It's a bit of a pain, and once in a while you forget, but just minimizing the times this happens will help. And if you've got minor abrading, 2-part epoxy, maybe with fiberglass mesh reinforcement, can sometimes restore it. I've done that a couple of times with ours now. It's a bit sorry looking, but holding together.
     
    #6 Mendel Leisk, Aug 22, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2018
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  7. chicken nuggets

    chicken nuggets New Member

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    So, I will take a look down there, but the thing is, since I've had it replaced (the first replacement not the second one from when it fell) I've been mindful of concrete wheel stops and have been parking at least a foot away from them.

    In the past, yeah, I've absolutely snagged it on curbs/concrete stops. Even before I took it in to get fixed though, I was making a concerted effort to stop it, when I got it fixed, I did not go over any, drove normally.

    Hence the frustration. I'm doing everything to keep it peachy, but less then a month later, it falls down again.

    Does anyone know the ground clearance on these gen 3's? I'm finding conflicting info on google.
     

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  8. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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