Hi all, Long story short - I've heard some grinding noises and went and had my garage check for something wrong. What they found was that the skid plate (the plastic thing under the engine compartment) was severely beat up and was just hanging there. Since it was so bad, I had it removed. Q - is it OK to keep it this way? It seems like every speed bump etc. that I go over damages this thing and it is a complete pain. Thanks, Rob
You don't need it. It does protect the undercarriage. You can find replacement on ebay. It does mess with the Aerodynamics so you "might" see mpg changes. A lot of cars don't have them.
The attached TSB has info on the fasteners. I've taken ours off and back on, about 30 times. It'll last, IF you do your own maintenance, keep on top of the fasteners, if they're damaged or missing. If the shield's intact, just missing a few fasteners, that's all you'll need to get it secure. If some of the fasteners holes are torn, oversized washers may help, for the interim. Replacement with OEM should be a bit under $200 USD. I plugged in a Pittsburgh zip code and picked Rohrich Toyota for this link, hopefully shows the same for you: https://parts.rohrichtoyota.com/productdetails.aspx?makeName=toyota&modelYear=2011&modelName=prius-hatchback&stockNumber=5141012105&ukey_product=62930564&referer=parts.toyota.com&machineIDT1=25l41s5n4s41jr0g1hi1hibf If you were to need fasteners, they're summarized in the attachment. To keep it going, remove occasionally, clean out all the plastic fasteners with hot soapy water, and put a drop or two of oil on the steel bolts. IIRC there's more info in the oil change link in my signature.
Mine doesn't have one.....a slight risk of road debris causing damage...but I have seen no effects in 6 years, including gas mileage.
