Good morning. We just purchased a new blue 2014 Prius C2. We are very happy with our purchase. I have enjoyed reading posts on this forum. We live in northern Illinois and I was wondering if it is necessary to purchase mud flaps or guards for our Prius? If so, do we need to install them on the rear of the vehicle since it is front wheel drive? We do not drive on gravel roads. I have found a site that sells them for about forty bucks. Many thanks, Dan
congrats and welcome, all the best with your new C! not sure what you mean by necessary. i have never used them, but i'm sure some like them.
I stopped putting on "after market" mud flaps years ago when I noticed that the screws and holes were rusting out and the flaps were still good.
I don't have nay mud flaps on mine. IF you're concerned about salt I just go out and wipe it off anyways.
They will probably cost you about 0.25MPG - depending on how flappy they are, and they won't really be effective in preventing your tires from kicking up FOD on the road. Mostly? The ones I see on cars are mostly for looks and that's a YMMV thing. Personally? On a Prius C-type I'd probably pass on them for now. Necessary? I would think not. Good Luck!
Thank you all for your replies. I will hold off on the mud flap purchase and continue to monitor the paint in these areas. Looking forward to better weather so that I can apply a good coat of wax. Like I had previously mentioned, we are happy with our Prius C. We have had three gas fill ups and are getting 48-49 mpg 60% city driving with heater operating. I believe when nicer weather and summer grade gasoline the performance will improve.
^Great! I'm not sure what the sticker says on the inside of your door, but you may want to consider bumping your tire pressures up by 10-percent or maybe even a little more. I used to be more skeptical about over inflating your tires, but I've moderated my position on that somewhat. You don't want to be able to run over a dime and tell whether its heads or tails, but firming up your tire pressures might help a little. Good Luck!
I live in NY, my C has been thru 2 winters so far and I have no mudflaps. The paint in that area is still fine, not perfect, but fine.
Thank you. I have bumped up the tire pressure to 43 psi with consideration to the fluctuating winter ambient temperature. Thanks to this forum, it was one of the first things I looked into. I pulled away at the sales lot last month with 33-35psi. After reading several posts I immediately made the adjustment. Max. pressure on the tire sidewall is 44psi.
