How important are the underplastic covers? My niece’s prius is all banged up and hanging off and im about to do some maintenance on it. Anyone here driving without the undercovers? Any issues?
On a 2013 persona that we have almost every plastic cover under the car is missing The trays that were under each seat on the bottom of the car or full of 40 lb of rocks each and hanging down like cow cutters. 3 years ago I pulled the pins out dropped them down dumped the rocks out Left them flipped over under my carport just sitting there I doubt I'll ever buy the clips and hang them again doesn't seem to be any use for them It affected my mileage knot at all even missing two wheel well liners in the front The air that runs around all those water jugs and things that are in the fenders hasn't changed the gas mileage at all which is always not been that great Gen 3 getting 42 43 with a middle-aged lady driving that's not really about Prius driving if you will so I would say you won't miss them they don't really matter
Just get under there with a screwdriver gun and a bunch of spare screws and start screwing it back together. There's plenty of room for the screwpoints on the other side so not too much to worry about and because it's under the car it doesn't have to look nice. If you're missing some panels you can use corrugated plastic (aka: election signs) to patch stuff. As for what's important about these covers it helps reduce noise in the cabin, improve aerodynamics and adds an extra layer of protection to the parts of the car mounted to the underside, which are already of a fairly durable design thanks to how much damage salt on icy roads causes to cars.
If you opt to do it right, see the oil change link in my signature. It’s infrequent, rushed removal, and not washing out the grit in the fasteners, and protracted neglect of missing fasteners, that kills it. “Professional” oil changes are the worst for it. I’ve had ours off maybe 30 times, still like new. Did find a few of the plastic fasteners missing teeth, replaced them with OEM. A drop of oil on the metal bolt fasteners is good too.
Well, if it got damaged while driving then it is doing it’s job. It makes sense for me to replace it…
The large engine undercover is at least $200 USD from the dealership. I would guess that's why people will try patch it up or reattach it with new push clips. I guess zip ties work too.
Latest part no for engine compartment underpanel: 51410-12105 Toyota USA parts site link: 5141012105 - Radiator Support Splash Shield. ENGINE UNDER, NO. 1 - Genuine Toyota Part list is $278 USD, but if you check dealership-near-to-you links on that page, you’ll likely find prices just over $200.
It's one of the easiest types of plastic to make a mold for and there's plenty of super cheap aftermarket options for most every car on ebay and amazon. Good example of the type of part that makes the OEM version not worth the extra money.
