I have a 2014 Prius C. The long, thin, black, rubber moldings along the roof rails are coming loose at the car wash. There are two attachment points, front and rear, where they snap in. The front ones are holding, for now - but the rear comes loose every time. I'm using this car to Uber so frequent washes are a must. I tried to use the masking tape they use on rear wiper, but it didn't work. Any ideas? I've read old posts on this and the strips are $70 if you lose one. Thanks.
Thanks bisco. You always seem around to help. Would you add it to the molding, or the clip on the actual body?
either way, it will touch both when connected. you want enough to hold up through the car wash, but not so much that it would prevent you from removing them. although, i have never had occasion to remove, maybe for a paint job? is there any way to bend the clip to make it tighter?
You could simply call a few body shops and ask what they recommend. Since my guess is they have had to replace similar on many vehicles as part of their operation. They are probably going to say glue or silicone, but they might have a definitive "trick" to it. Usually over the phone, people are willing to give the advice for free.
The rubber strip shrinks along it's whole length. It is supposed to "snap" into the channel the whole way. What is really needed is some "glue" down both sides for the whole length. On my daughters C, they are still firmly attached at both ends but flap around in the middle.
Left side was replaced under warranty on my C. When we installed the new strip, we also put a thin layer of 3M glue in the rubber channel on the strip itself. When I got home I removed the right side and used Gorilla glue. No problems since. And your correct about the car wash. That's when i noticed it also.
I wanted to update this. I had to have some minor body work done and I decided to ask him to fix the rubber strips. He said he preferred a different glue, in lieu of silicone. They ain't going anywhere anymore, that's for sure. Driver's side mirror gets folded in going thru carwash, but that's it.
