Incident #1. I am running errands this morning, returning and am waiting to make a left into the neighborhood. My next door neighbor pulls up in his Lexus SUV behind me. I wave. He is coming back from therapy (back surgery 2 weeks ago) and is doped up on hydrocodone. As we wait, he nods off at the wheel and rolls into me. Think it is no big deal, but I travel to his house and pull into his driveway. Turns out there is no apparent damage, so I show him the car and features, tell him his car has a hybrid version now. He's interested. Tell him that he is slurring a little and that he should not be driving in his condition. Incident #2. Unloaded the trunk with the stuff from the errands. A little focused on seeing if there is *any* damage at all from the bump above. Need a little more light. Decide to back the car out of the garage into sunlight. Hatch still open. Am treated to the sudden noise of the garage door ripping off the spoiler completely. There is no other damage except for the dangling spoiler. Sigh. How much is this going to cost me? Do dealers get parts in good time? Don't want to be driving like this for months..... And, oh yeah, the car is 8 days old....
-gasp!- oh no! i feel so sorry for you bigdaddy! i guess it depends on whether the damage was done to the hatch or the spoiler, as far as extensiveness of damage and cost of repair. i don't know how long a spoiler would take to come in, but it may not be too long. i think it has to come from japan though. best of luck and please let us know how it turns out!
How many hydrocodone had you had when you pulled out? ;-) That sucks, I've done a similar dumb move with my Expedition trying to back into my garage with the hatch up. Somewhere along the way someone else here had to replace a spoiler and it seems it ended up being pretty costly b/w the spoiler itself and getting it painted. Be sure to look at and consider SigmaAutomotive.com http://www.sigmaauto.com/jdm/prius/prius0405.php The B-type Extended Length spoiler they sell is $475 http://www.sigmaauto.com/jdm/prius/ext-spo...poilerbtype.jpg It comes pre-painted, but only in Japanese Domestic Market colors so depending upon what color your car is they may or may not have a match. Good excuse to do your first mod though if they have your color and the price difference isn't much!
Just got back from the Toyota body shop for an estimate: $782.90, which includes $569 for the spoiler, $48 for paint supplies, $37 tax, and $129 for labor to paint the spoiler and install. "Good news" is that time estimate is 1-3 days for the part, just a couple of hours to fix. I was naively thinking 200, 250 tops for this. Will look at Sigma. Maybe time to get insurance man involved? Think StateFarm will get a better price? (and of course I've got to add that my spoiler has 4 coats of Zaino on it. It looks damn nice sitting there in my trunk. I'm not high on hydrocodone, but am high on Zaino).
Wow, that's WAY too high for the spoiler....esp. with a Japanese import custom spoiler coming in at $100 less than what they quoted you.. Contact Sigma to see if they can get a type A if you don't want the type B. And check with local auto-body shops for install. It should be very simple. Also, check toyotapartsnow.com, http://www.toyotapartsstore.com/default.ph...53890ab15cb5e2b, Also, you should look at this page: http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ind...id=840&chapter= Rear spoiler assembly is only $230--you might have to buy a couple other parts (I bet if you call they can tell you what you need), but if your light is still intact on the old spoiler I see no reason you couldn't use it on the new one. That'll save you $240 bucks.
And if you check: https://www.1sttoyotaparts.com/partscat.html you'll find the spoiler for $211 and change. I'd bet a body shop could paint it to match, and you might be able to install it yourself. (If it's like much of the rest of the car, the intallation might be a snap) Thanks, Shawn PS I've never purchased from the above link, nor have had dealings of any kind with them so....
Thanks for all the help and tips for alternative resources. Researched some, and with the cost of the spoiler, light, bolts, and shipping, I could have knocked about $200 off the price, before painting. This still put me in the $600 range, and I couldn't afford that after the downpayment, so I decided to go the insurance route, even if they do jack my rates up a little. I have a $250 deductible, so I figured I might as well live a little and use it. The irony is that the quote for the insurance company came in about $20 higher, and because of the procedures they follow, I am forced to cash in on my rental car insurance which is costing them an extra $200 (will take about 6 days including weekend to get this all done). The rental car downside is that I am driving a rental dodge durango, which in 80 miles of driving has suck about 3/8 of a tank. I have no idea what a tank holds but I guess I am driving something that is getting around 15 mpg?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigdaddy\";p=\"108298)</div> Sorry, BD... only thing worse would be if the Run Away Bride showed up on your doorstep... there was another story like yours look for the thread... I think it's an easy fix... but not a cheap one.. Bob Andersen
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BobA\";p=\"109575)</div> I just did the search. It was the illustrious DanMan32 who also ripped off his spoiler. I now feel a lot better being in such fine company! As for the runaway bride, I drive past her house about 2 times a week! Was quite il fiasco around here a couple of months ago.
No one should drive with that drug in their system! I've taken that drug a few times and it makes me feel high as a kite! Glad you're okay!!!
People are kinda mindless when it comes to drugs, as I've learned in my grad school experience to date. I absolutely love people who think they're exempt from those driving restrictions because they have "a fast metabolism" Whatever. Unless you've got some really extreme genetic variance going on you're probably going to be a little impaired by something like hydrocodone...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bigdaddy\";p=\"108298)</div> Yep, that was me that did just that last year after installing EV switch. I may have lots of technical abilities, but I can get quite absent minded sometimes. Cost me $418 for new spoiler painted and installed. I had already removed the old one. But the spoiler wasn't ripped off, just the top part was shattered, and the mounting points on the hatch bent out of alignment. Still need to get it better aligned. The lamp assembly was fine, and I had coathangered it in place while I waited for the new spoiler to come in. Put electrical tape over the bolt holes to keep out rain. The bodyshop also needed to get the neoprene seals also. Guess I got off really blessed! It could have been a whole lot worse, such as the whole hatch bent or the windows shattered.
How do you get the spoiler off? Also on again? After backing out of my garage and hitting the spoiler, Ii dosen't look damaged, just loose.
