Should the rear wheel wells look "unfinished"?

Nice detective work guys, it looks like the 17 inch wheels do come with a liner. Near the bottom of the page, item 65637. Spidy, I also remember seeing some difference in the fuel fill plumbing between cars with and without 17 inch wheels. You might want to investigate that in case there is some connection. The parts list on the website I linked below is pretty thorough even if it is hard to find anything on. The fender liners are on the page for side structure. Go figure.

Part Detail

Edit: Also note that the sheet metal the liner mounts to is different for the 17 inch wheels. 61607e and 61631e

 

So your's does not have liners either. Could be US/Candian differences, or due to different trim levels? Check a (US) V on dealer's lot?



I suspect their main intent is sound proofing. Could be protection too. I've found often these sort of liners collect stuff, in behind, can actually be detrimental.

FYI, I tried to take ours off, but so far have been thwarted: there are some tricking fasteners at the back lower corner. So far I haven't figured out how to get them to release: looks like you practically have to destroy them. Also, the liners stop about an inch clear of the rim on the inside, all around, which seems a good thing: when washing the car you can run your fingers around that inside edge, clear it of grit.

 

^Wow, look at that. Thanks for taking the pic. And everyone thought the Op was crazy...

 

It would be very helpful if you would go into your user profile and enter the vehicle you are driving. That way anyone reading your posts will know what you are driving without having to ask.

 

Just to be clear in the last pic:

that is liner, not undercoated steel. It's maybe 1/2" proud of the metal, you can push it in a bit. You can see a couple of the stud-and-nut fasteners on it. And down at the bottom, mostly in shadow, is a smooth plastic trim piece.

I've resisted using flash in these pics because it gets "complicated" with the light sheet metal and dark wheel well. Also, the flourescent pit lamp seems to show things better than frontal flash.

 

I will also add that the front wells are lined on II/2... it is just the rear wells that are not. I suppose there is a certain amount of road noise attributed to the missing liners.

 

Apparently it's only present on the 17"-wheel Prius.

Yours are extremely dirty compared to mine. Time to wash the wheel wells! I'm a clean freak when it comes to wheel wells so I wash everything inside the wells using the same mitt that I use to wash the wheels and tires (different from one that I use to wash the rest of the car). I do notice that stuff tend to stick to the liners; however, I don't try to remove all of them and you can't use too much pressure anyway as you risk wearing down the fibrous liner. Just the loose stuff and enough to keep them clean looking and not covered with brown dirt. These liners are still much better than the spray on black foam lining the wheel wells on my Lexus as it's really impossible to wash the foam without removing some of it, exposing the white stuff inside.

 

Oh, I'm a frequent washer, and start at the bottom, work my way up. Rear wheel wells are always first on my list. There is an inch or two between the end of liners and the wheel well rims. I always get that area completely free of any grit/slime. For the liner, I just hit it with a good blast from the hose, but I don't get too excited, it's not metal. It is symptomatic of what might be lurking behind, though...

So: you have a US V model, and it has those liners? Sounds like it might only be V/Touring. I don't think I noticed any mention in trim level descriptions. I remember noticing it on the lot at time of purchase, I'm a bit obsessed with this

 

The parts list I linked to in post 21 ties the liners to 17 inch wheels. If you go to that website and select the "change vehicle" option on the top right of the page, you can work through the menus and select Canadian or US destination vehicles. I didn't see any difference as far as wheel well liners went but I didn't do aline by line comparison.

 

I see that now. Wonder how come?

Maybe someone without the liner, the OP for example, can check if their wheel well has those studs.

 

Interesting that the V (with the 17" wheel) has liners. I didn't realize that. This exposed sheetmetal (especially the flimsy looking bracket) looks like a likely place for rust to begin. This is actually one detail I noticed immediately (before buying), but figured I'd just have to compromise on and accept. This, and the relatively short rust-through warranty, was one strike against Toyota, compared with the 12-year rust-through warranty on the Golf TDI I also considered (the VW also had some strikes against it, like the timing belt). I live in the rust belt, and every car I've ever owned has rusted (I keep my cars a long time). Rear wheel wells have always been a bad spot, and I suspect that could be the case with this car too. It would be interesting to know if liners from the V (17" wheel model) can be added. I wonder if they'd help. One thing they may actually help with is to prevent stone chips in the exposed metal.

I also wonder if the plastic on much of the underbody will help prevent rust, or just hold dirt and moisture.

 

VW rust warranty is like not having it from many reports that i read...VW customer service is far far from being cooperative when claims come in!

 

Not surprising, perhaps; I've also heard that VW can be difficult when it comes to honoring warranties. If the longer warranty is an indication the vehicle is actually built to be more rust resistant, then it might be good (if it doesn't rust, that's even better than having a warranty to make repairs).

I've also found that rustproofing warranties in general aren't much good... they seem to be written to make it as difficult as possible to file a successful claim.. you can't file until you have perforation; you must file within 90 days of first perforation; by the time a vehicle rusts repair parts may no longer be available, the paint is also probably faded by that time and the only way to make it look right may be to repaint the entire vehicle, which the warranty may not cover....

 

I picked up my new 2011 Prius III a month ago and the rear wheel wells have a plastic or fiberglass, one-piece liner that surrounds the wheel so nothing but the strut is exposed to water or mud. Front wheels are similar, except the liners are 2 or 3 pieces.

 

Welcome aboard! Seem like they made it standard equipment on all 2011 models... Guess us 2010 owners will have to order then if we want them.

 

That's right... perhaps it was a mid model year change... or perhaps factory x didn't install them and y did. :noidea:

Might a good thing to take up with the dealer or customer care...

 

Mine have a liner but it is not complete. The front is especially exposed to mud/dirt as there seems to be a small shelf of sheet metal there to collect things. Has anyone attempted to replace the rear liners with the 17" wheel liners? Looks like about 54 a piece.

2010 Toyota Prius Quarter panel - Parts.com

 

^ I was going to get them but I am all out of modification money for a while.