I am totally new to this forum and don't know much about cars at all so please bare with me! I have a 2013 Prius. I recently scratched the long part that sits below the doors on a rock that I did not see while making a turn. (I am attaching photos) I have a few questions... 1- What is the correct term for this part of the car? 2- Are lower door moldings recommended to protect this part of the Prius? 3- How much can it cost to have something like this fully repaired? or just painted/ touched up? There are slight dents which I am not too worried about but the scratch is noticeable. 4- Is there any DIY tips I can do on my own just to make the damage less obvious? 5- The silver part of the wheel came off as well, how much does it typically cost to have this repaired? Or can I DIY? Where do I order this piece? Right now I do not want to pay a ton to get the piece fixed so I am trying to evaluate all of my options. Thanks!
The part below the door is a plastic bolt-on, albeit with about a kajllion fragile/fussy and pricey fasteners. I'd suspect a shop will elect to leave it in place, repair without removing. A full-on body shop repair will blend the paint into adjacent panels, likely spraying that whole side. And it will look like new if they're good. That'll set you back about $1000?
Thanks for your replies! Also, is the wheel cover easy for me to replace on my own? Where do you recommend I order the part?
EASY FIX! I scratched my rocker panel too and I bought a used one from ebay for $150 and just replaced it, it's very easy. First put this to cover the scratches on your door, it look better than stock and you can cover up the scratch forever. Search for lower rocker chrome moldings 2010 2015 toyota prius from Priuschat store. It's very nice looking. then go search on ebay for the rocker panel molding. I'm not allow to link but look up 2015 Toyota Prius Rocker Right Panel Moulding Red 3R3 75860-47010 OEM 13 14 15 There is one right now for $200, it will be oem paint and it is very easy to replace. Both will cost you total around $350 and your prius will be slightly better looking than before!
There are 2 possibilities - (1) your red paint has been removed leaving the black, or; (2) the black has come off the object you bumped against. Giving it a good wash might make it more obvious what's going on. If your paint is gone - this won't help. But if you have paint is underneath the black marks, the cheap fix you might want to try first is to see if the marks will buff with some polish - not a super-fine finishing polish, but one described something like "for dull paint". It'll get rid of (some of) the black, but you'll still have the dent. Go to an Auto Parts store, and ask them for the right stuff. Spend ½ hr scrubbing and buffing, see what it looks like - you might be prepared to leave it like that. If not, talk to a crash repairer - he'll give you a quote.
ScratchX will make it look better by removing some of the light damage but you are down to the metal on the door. If you aren't going to repair the door at least use some touch up paint. I have VentureShield film covering the rocker panels. When I was sideswiped the film saved the panel.
You can get wheel covers from multiple places, including Toyota. Here's a link to one on Amazon. They'll run around $60 unless you buy a replica that doesn't have the Toyota logo, etc.
