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Scratched the front bottom of car.. what part is it?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by trueaspects, Apr 27, 2011.

  1. trueaspects

    trueaspects Junior Member

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    I was doing a 3 point u-turn from a driveway and I scratched the bottom of the car. I can feel the scrapes on a black plastic type material. Right under the front of the car and in the middle pretty much. :(

    Can anyone please tell me what that is? I say it feels like plastic because it doesn't seem to be the same texture as the body of the car.... :confused:

    Thank you in advance
     
  2. trueaspects

    trueaspects Junior Member

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    Picture - I am referring to black slender plastic right under the blue body of the car...
     
  3. koric

    koric Junior Member

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    I think they put it there on purpose to serve as a skid plate.
     
  4. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    Most of us have scraped that piece. Fortunately, you can't normally see it.
     
  5. trueaspects

    trueaspects Junior Member

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    would you know what that piece is used for though? is it just a skid plate like the poster above has said? it seems like according to this parts site its a spoiler or lower shield of some type... kind of expensive though to replace the spoiler if it is one...
     
  6. ncfishboy

    ncfishboy New Member

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    I scraped the hell out of mine the first week I owned it. Not used to a little car, have been driving an Xterra for 10 years and a 4runner for 5 before that. I never thought of replacing it though as it doesn't seem to affect anything.
     
  7. LulzChicken

    LulzChicken Prius Enthusiast

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    Mine is also scraped up a pretty good bit from normal use of the car. It's there to direct airflow, and for the purpose of a "skid plate" to avoid damaging anything. It's doing it's job!
     
  8. gramps

    gramps Member

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  9. stream

    stream Senior Member

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    The parts description calls it a spoiler, and my assumption is it's part of the aerodynamic underbody--here's a pic somebody posted of the bottom of their new Prius, and you can see even theirs has a few marks on the rear edge of it.

    I wouldn't sweat it--I've scraped mine a few times when parking.
     

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  10. Michgal007

    Michgal007 Senior Member

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    Mine is not only scraped, but a part of it is hanging low.
     
  11. duckyping

    duckyping New Member

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    I just got the bottom plastic part of my 2010 Prius "fixed." While driving on the highway, I hit something that had fallen off another vehicle, head on, at about 65mph. We drove for another 10 seconds or so, until we could safely pull over, and then looked at the damage. The piece of steel scratched the front bumper, and completely broke (ripped) the front part of the plastic bit under the car, so that parts of it was even lower than before. I called a repair shop and they sad it was the "splash guard" that had been damaged, and that I would have to bring it in to get an estimate of how much it would cost, as it is not covered under warranty. Instead of doing that, my friend took it off himself, just using a regular tool set, bent it back into shape, put some duct tape on there to make it sturdier, and then screwed it back on. It still droops a little, but it's way better now.