I keep scraping the leading edge of my bumper

I use to scape my 97 Camry all the time. I have yet to do it with the Prius. I just make sure not to get close to the stops. I don't have to get close as the Prius is rather short.
I still have a problem parking straight in a slot though... I can't figure that one out.

 

Stop putting your Prius on a lift and you'll stop seeing it

I haven't had that problem, but it might be where you live. Try going over the dip at an angle rather than straight on.

 

Solution 1:
You have to approach dips diagonally if you can. Because you have more clearance in the corner rather than up front. The wheel which crosses first will lift the front and you can get across without scraping.

If you can approach sideways, it is even better because you have even more clearance on the side. For example, you can drive a Porsche up the side of a concrete bank of a spillway or dry riverbed if you approach it like a lane change. If you "change lanes" too fast, you will totally mess up your car including flipping it. The opportunity for doing this is limited in real life but I hope you get the idea. Reminds me of racing in the dry riverbeds of LA.

Solution 2:
The other solution is to slow way down to make sure it is not the momentum that is causing you to scrape.

Solution 3:
Drive closer to the center of the road, which dips less.

Note. Some streets, locations and driveways have to be avoided at all cost.

 

I've scraped the bottom of mine on several driveways...and a few high curbs...what can you do? It's bound to happen eventually. But, isn't the ground effect at the front that gets scraped black? My Barcelona Red model IV is black under the bumper- so I doubt it will ever show. Is that component painted white on the Blizzard models?

 

DO NOT put on a metal lip. It will destroy the plastic you attach it to. You -could- use bed liner, but it will scrape as well, just not as easily. The only solution I've ever found is to replace the entire lip with vinyl of the correct colour. It will still scratch, but won't show as much. Because it's so flexible it deflects so scratches less.

For those who think the Prius is bad, you should have had the training I had when I drove my 1993 RX-7. It had 3 1/2" of clearance!

 

The front end clearance on the Prius is pretty small. I've gotten used to this issue driving Porsches for the last 20 years, and as others have pointed out, approaching on an angle works very well. Over time you learn which driveways, parking lot entrances, etc. you'll need to slow down a lot for, and for ones I'm not familiar with, if the angle of the street and/or ramp look too severe, I err on the side of caution. The bumper amplifies the sound, so most scrapes aren't nearly as bad as they sound, and most aren't visible from a normal viewing angle.

 

I think that's due to the door top edge being angled with respect to horizontal - if you park so the door top looks straight to the space you'll be crooked in the spot.

 

Interesting... I try to look straight forward and glance in the rear view (backing into). When I think I am straight in, I open the door to check and tada, I am crooked. No big deal but the harder I try, the worse it gets.

 

I've used baseboard vinyl and carpet protection vinyl. The carpet protection stuff is the neatest, although it is clear but coloured. I have pop riveted it on with large washers on both sides, and pop riveted it to an aluminum angle and fastened that with bolts, but I haven't done any of this on the Prius. I've even used it as a "cold front" to block air flow, but again, not on the Prius.

On the Prius you'd want to cut away the lower bit of the chin spoiler, but it's part of the undertray attachment, so it's not simple.

If it really bothers you, I'd try the bed liner first. It won't be cheap. I'd expect at least $100 to $200 just for the front bit. It does come in colours, though none of them would really match the car's paint. Perhaps best to make it intentionally a complementary colour. The nice thing is it would mask any scratches you have already. Hey, it might even lower your wind resistance a bit due to the rough surface.

 

I'm with 32kcolors on this one. I scrape mine all the time too. Just ignore it.

 

I scrape mine pulling into my driveway. Every time. It sucked the first couple of times, but I've got a steep driveway, so...

 

if you want a nice vinyl protector for the front... you could try using one of the Prius rear bumper protectors (clear with "Prius" logo). i read here on PC of one owner doing that... but did not see pictures.

it would probably look good, but a little too much advertising for my tastes.

if you do it, please post a pic, i'd like to see what it looks like.

 

My wife drives like this too. Are all women like this? If my wife were a pilot, she would shoot landings at Vne.

Tom

 

My girlfriend drives like this, but in her defense, she's used to driving her Escape hybrid, which doesn't scrape on the driveway.