I'm not sure who thought this would be a good idea, but some vagrant stole one of the front tow hook covers. Toyota will sell me the part for about 20 bucks, but it comes unpainted and I'm not nearly deft enough with touch up paint to get it looking right. Thinking of waiting for one in my color to show up on eBay from a wrecked car, but was curious if anyone else had any ideas.
Did you see someone take off with it, or just assuming? There have been reports of them not being that secure, coming off in carwashes for example. Maybe dealership can get you one for free, argue it's a manufacturing defect? And with the replacement, put a dab of sealant on the locking tab, something that'll just hold it more securely.
It was on when I parked the car at the mall and off a few hours later. I'm assuming human intervention, but that's good to know about them being not-so-secure!
Just considering motive: maybe it was a fellow 2016 silver Prius owner, who frequences car washes? That's a hassle that they only come primed. Maybe dealership has a preferred body shop, one that'll do it semi-cheap??
After a car wash mine fell out and was hanging from the safety cable. So question to those who silicone it in. Did you put a few dabs around the gap?
Also an option would be to vinyl wrap or spray paint the cover closest you can find to your silver color. Might not be exact but I would think most people wouldn't really notice as much as you would.
You can get a can of something like Dupli-Color in what's theoretically "exact" match. Just determine your paint code. It's on the door jamb? I got one for another car and the color was pretty much spot-on. And down low on the bumper, less noticed.
I pulled them both out, used a dab of silicone on each tab, and snapped them back in so the sealant isn't visible.
