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Please tell me this is better than it looks

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by goshdonit, Jul 16, 2022.

  1. goshdonit

    goshdonit New Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Sacramento, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    All pics available here.

    So my 2010 Prius V has been requiring, well, a lot of pretty expensive maintenance lately. Most recently, I took it into a body and alignment shop yesterday after being informed that the left (driver's side) radiator side support beam was bent out of proper shape. This meant that the sway bar was rubbing up against it and wearing it down so over time, the support beam was developing a crack. See pictures. So the body shop basically just re-straightened that radiator side support beam so that the sway bar wouldn't continue hitting it and said I should be good to go.

    Today, while driving on the freeway, my car started ka-klunking like it had low tire pressure or something. No lights on or anything, but I started getting ready to exit to look at the vehicle. Then suddenly I just hear something metallic toward the center of the vehicle drop and start dragging along the ground below the car.

    I got and saw this below the car. What is this piece? Is it another part of the radiator support? Not sure if I should take it back to the guy yesterday and demand he fix it, or if this piece is entirely unrelated.
     
    #1 goshdonit, Jul 16, 2022
  2. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    Touring
    ok... it's better than it looks.

    The underside of most cars have plastic covers fastened in place to help with airflow/aerodynamics.
    Looks to me like it's just a plastic cover that had some fasteners come loose and allowed one end to drop down.

    Maybe the mechanic had to remove or loosen that one to do his work and it didn't get fully reattached? or it just came loose through no fault of anyone. It happens.
     
    #2 TMR-JWAP, Jul 16, 2022
  3. goshdonit

    goshdonit New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    My army-trained mechanic friend just FaceTimed me to say this exact same thing. That makes sense. I just replaced the fender liner so I'll see if I have the right clips too.
     
    #3 goshdonit, Jul 16, 2022
  4. BiomedO1

    BiomedO1 Senior Member

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    Location:
    SacTown, Ca
    Vehicle:
    2021 Prius Prime
    Model:
    LE
    Sorry, but it looks like your missing a lot of underbelly shield. My old Prius C was covered; I couldn't see the engine or transmission without taking shields off.

    If you can't find the proper fasteners, you can just use black zip-ties to put that shield back into place. It's a lot cheaper than paying a couple of bucks a unit at the dealership for each fastener

    Hope this helps......
     
    #4 BiomedO1, Jul 16, 2022
  5. goshdonit

    goshdonit New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    I am missing quite a lot of the shield; it was held up with zip ties for years before most of it finally fell off during a cross country move last year. I’ve been planning on replacing it eventually, and I’ll probably prioritize that sooner now.
     
    #5 goshdonit, Jul 28, 2022
  6. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    Model:
    Two
    If you don't have the right clips just use some random screws and a screwdriver gun to reconnect the plastic covers. It's actually way easier than lining up all those silly clips that often get damaged from road debris and curbs.
     
    #6 PriusCamper, Jul 28, 2022
  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
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    Model:
    Base
    My 2010 which got super good gas mileage when I got it the mileage did not change when I took out 80 lb of rocks or 60 lb of rocks in those four trays that cover everything underwear the passenger sits I took the shields down to empty the rocks out and I just stacked them in my carport I've been driving the car ever since the car still gets the same gas mileage so I didn't think a need to just put them back to keep collecting rocks I do go up and down dirt roads quite a bit and that's what this car did before I bought it and I was carrying 60 lb of rocks all the time in those trays they were sagging down like cow waters look ridiculous now they're in the carport no hitting mileage no need to put back on.
     
    #7 Tombukt2, Jul 28, 2022
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