Got my vehicle license plates and went to the trunk for that bag of plastic parts that I thought were licence plate brackets. Nope, they were tire spats that the lazy nice person dealers neglected to install. They mount forward of the front tires and serve as an air deflector. Just slide them into slots on the undercarraige and secure them with two bolts. You'll have to lay on your back to do it - or get the dealer to install them on your 5K or 10K service. Here's some photos:
Yeah those are kind of important. I'd mention it to the dealer. Maybe you'll save someone else the effort of having to install them.
Antioch Toyota in Northern Kalifornia - a pretty good dealership with a lot of good people. I'm sure, Joe the prep guy thought they were licensce plate brackets too and just put them in the trunk for the owner to install when their plates came in. I'm certain that this dealership would've installed them if asked during the 5K service. I've spoken to the Fleet Manager and pointed out the oversight. Bought the body side moldings for $141 instead of $179 & the rear cargo net for $27.30 instead of $42.00.
What do the tire splats do?? I also have the same bag of parts in my trunk. How important is it to install them?
They help direct airflow around the tire and out to the sides on the car. They by themselves dont make a profound difference but the are part of the total aerodynamic package. I would insist they be installed on my car.
I was initially hesitant to open this thread when I read the title, but I'm glad your spats are in place now.
Just checked. I have them installed. But I would like to say I took forever to find them because I assumed they'd be on the back tires. For anyone checking to see if they're installed: They are in front of the front tires, right under the headlights.
Thanks to this thread I discovered my car was Spatless. Oh MY! And put it on my list of things to do. Tonight I tackled this task and am happy to mention it only took about five minutes with the the car parked in the driveway. It was fairly easy to lay down next to the vehicle and see where they go and put them on. No jack stands required. Of course there is a Right and a Left moulding.
Picked up my 2014 Prius C2 last Saturday. Found the spats in the back. Every other Prius C on the lot of Hendrick Toyota in Merriam did not have them installed. Showed them to the service manager and he said he had never seen them beore. I installed mine in a couple of minutes.
How nice to know, finally, what these things are. I'm glad I set them aside instead of throwing them out when I gave up on figuring out what they might be. Why on earth are they not installed before the new car sale? My dealer told me they were license plate brackets, which obviously was not true. I don't get it. The factory doesn't install them, doesn't tell the dealer what they are, and expects the owner to figure it out?
+1 on uninstalled tire splats from Sansone Toyota in NJ. Will have this installed in my 6-month follow up. Priuschat is a great resource!!! I was under the impression this was some type of license plate bracket that I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to get this mounted.
dealers don't install them because very few owners want them. if you insist on them the dealer may charge you installing them.
