I have had my Prius for a year and a half. In that time, I have lost two hubcaps. This seems excessive in contrast to my previous Camrys. Has anyone else had this problem? Do you think they are being stolen or might there be a manufacturing issue?
I pulled mine off the week I bought the car, and put tiny Toyota caps over the 1 1/2" holes. The alloys underneath look pretty good.
I'm a taxi driver (and you know how we drive) with 60k+ miles and haven't lost any. Must be your driving!
Lost one during 200 mile trip for Thanksgiving right after 20,000 service. Called Dealership to explain and was told they would replace it when I got back. They also said this happens if not popped back on all the way. I believe them too. I pulled one off the first month when considering center caps, and they are very secure.
Could very well be theft. They're pricey, and not secure. The 15" wheel's cover was the THE thing that tipped us towards the Canadian model with 17" wheels. If we were in the same situation now, I might go for the 15" and just pull the covers off right away. Unfortunately then you have an alloy that looks so-so, and an exposed center hub opening to deal with. Going with a plastic wheel cover over a 15" alloy was not a good decision by Toyota, IMHO.
The car is rejecting them, it's like when a wart falls off. If for some reason you really want to keep, them, be sure they are pressed all the way into the wheel all around the wheel cover. You can put that kind of cover 1/2 way on the wheel and it will seem like it is fully mounted unless you look closely.
I saw one Prius that had a couple of Ty-Wraps on each wheel to ensure that the hub caps would not fall off. I took the hub caps off my car. - If you don't have them, can't lose them. (The KISS philosophy really works.) Keith
It could be the roads, or your driving, or perhaps you took them off to clean the brake dust out of the rotors and didn't get them back on juuuuuuuust right. I've only got 22,000 miles in type, but the roads here are NOT what you would call smooth, and I'm NOT a gentle driver with 'my' G3 (cause I didn't pay for it... ) I haven't lost any in 21K, and I've had my covers off 3-4x. YMMV. FWIW, I agree with the KISS principle. Just take 'em off. I'm not really wild about the tuning fork look of the OEM rims......but they're not any worse than the plasticky wheel covers!!
