Hello everyone! This is my first thread here and I'm very excited with my 2011 Prius 5 with ATP. It performed brilliantly for the past 4K miles and I'm still learning new things about this vehicle everyday. Thank you for the wealth of information on this site. I have recently did my own oil change. While letting the oil drain, I was admiring how clever Toyota engineers design the under body panels. Then I noticed a big hole on the panel just below the radiator. It seems that something was suppose to be there but it is missing. At first I thought it got knocked out but quick check at the local dealer confirmed that US Prius don't come with this cover but the Japanese Prius does. So I have my friend order one in Japan. Installation was a snap and now the underbody of the Prius looks complete! Here are the pictures and their part numbers.
Very interesting! The car sure does look more "complete" with those covers on. However, I doubt I'll go through the effort to have them put on. Thanks for the information and pictures though. I'm sure others will put these in too.
I can't believe Toyota would skimp on something like this. I'm pretty sure that open panel would effect under body air flow by a miniscule amount. Maybe I'll gain like 1/10th mpg by doing this.
Time for us Americans to do an inexpensive DIY version of this using duct tape, cardboard and some metal paper clamps! :usa2:
That looks nice ! Where did you purchase it ? And how much does it cost to ship from Japan to US ? My gf's sis is in Japan right now. If it does not cost that much I will like to get one as well.
My first thought was that the dealer forgot to put that undercover back on after your last oil change. Does this cover any access to plugs or anything you would need to get to?
I covered the strange holes with good ol' duct tape. White, in fact. Nobody can see anyway. It's stayed on very well.
Did they change the undercover design from the 2010 and the 2011+? I don't have that under my car at all. Just the crappy flap.
I'm thinking to cobble one... While my cover has the two rectangular openings, it does not have the depressed perimeter, and is missing the various clip and fastener holes (per the above pic). Mine has older part number: 51441-12251. Shot of ours: Maybe a rubber gasket over each opening, with some pop-rivets. Or fugedaboutit...
Maybe aluminum roof flashing cut to shape, with holes drilled to match the ones that the JDM one uses formthe clips?
Yeah the undercover on ours does not look like op's: has openings but no extra openings. I think a small cover for each opening. Also ours has a sorta hinge line, you can see at the circular opg for jacking point.
Nice! I would probably go simpler, with just an inner and outer layer of aluminum, with 4 license plate bolts (nylon for rust-resistance!) located in near the 4 corners . You are showing nuts on the top side, but as I was thinking about installing this from underneath the car (e.g., during an oil change), I would probably set the bolt in the top piece so that they stick down and I can insert and tighten the nylon nuts against the bottom piece. Best would be to glue or affix the bolt to the top piece, but I’ll have to think if I have any glues that will affix aluminum to a nylon bolt. Hmm. Great drawing, Mendel!
I take the full cover off at each oil change, makes it easier. Could be done too with pop-rivets, they're aluminum I think. It's not something you remove, at least I wouldn't see a need. I think the openings there are actually for transaxle drain/fill access, but again, I would just take the whole panel off.
