Hi guys! Just wanted to share with everyone how the look of my v changed after I have painted my new black mudflaps. Actually, the shop did it for me. It was costly but well worth it!
I can't stand the stupid mudflaps... Is there any issue with removing them? In other words, are they optional? I would think they would hurt gas mileage. I just now saw that they are called "mud guards"! They also cost me $155.
I have no idea why Toyota is not supplying matching originally painted mudflaps like they did or do for JDM. But even if the color of your car is close to black, non-painted flaps don't look as good as painted to match the color of the body...
I don't think there is a problem removing them as long as you put back the original hardware. I have the instructions if you'd like to evaluate what holes may be left because they were installed. If I remember there were holes I had to drill to install them. I think I have the old hardware around as well...
I took them off. There is about a 1/4" hole in each fenderwell to plug, but that was easy with some push-in autobody fasteners. Thanks though. BTW, there were some of the screws that needed to go back in because the held on body parts. I found that some were stripped. Sloppy work by someone. I will be putting in some bigger screws when weather permits.
They are about $300, including delivery from Japan (rakuten online shop - suzukimotors seller). Top notch quality, as you can expect from Genuine Toyota.
What's next - anybody going to paint their black panoramic roof to match the body color? I do not see painted mudflaps in the parts catalog for the Japanese market "Prius a" (the name of the Prius v / Prius+ in Japan) - only バンパ スポイラ-有り which translates to something close to "spoiler, bumper" and is a fairly large additional painted under-body panel that would prevent the installation of mudflaps. We've had mudflaps on very car we've owned since the 1970's and have bought black ones even when available in the body color. Why? 1) If you drive on secondary rural "blacktop" roads like we sometimes do, black mudflaps do not show the tar and crap they catch. Mudflaps in a light body color can look awful after just a few seconds of driving on a freshly oiled rural road and tend to show wear and damage as they age. 2) Black mudflaps to not detract from the visual appearance of a car and essentially "disappear" in the minds eye - last thing I want is to draw attention to them. I don't understand the reasoning behind taking mudflaps off a car since they prevent so much damage from rocks kicked up by tires. But we usually keep cars 10 to 15 years so maybe we are more sensitive to keeping them looking nice over the long term.
Well, as it's name,it covers/protects all the rear and half front under side skirt from mud,dirt wayer mark,leaves......and makes the car look a bit more gentle. But as you said and knew,it did affect the mpg but in a very tiny amount. I installed all my cars with this since my 1998 Camry.
