An incident of parking on a curb in a parking lot has resulted in one of the attachment points of said plastic shield breaking, so that the shield hangs a bit lower now. As far as I can tell, there's no other damage, although I am rather surprised that the shield is so flexible and flimsy. I'm contemplating getting it replaced, but I had to pick my wife up at the airport yesterday and didn't notice any impact on mileage. I imagine I'm not the only person with bad parking skills, so I'm guessing this sort of thing is probably fairly common. But if the shield is so thin, how much good can it actually do aside from airflow? I guess I'm just rambling.
I did the exact same thing one week after getting my prius in april 06... I got it replaced and the parts + labor at my local toyota cost me about $80.00... it was not a necesity but I didnt want my car banged up after a week of ownership... not I am much more observant of curbs!
I've hit mine on parking curbs and freeway junk a few times. The plastic just pulled away past the screws, but didn't break. I just loosened the screws, and installed slightly larger O.D. flat washers under the screws. Worked so far. I've already had one of the front air dams replaced due to a freeway truck tire tread attack. The car got $1300 damage total, but the airdam was only slightly damaged, so they let me keep it as a spare. Careful out there!
Even if the mounting hole on bumper cover or its connecting point are completely broken away, you should be able to kluge something together to hold it in the correct orrientation for looks. Look around your jumk boxes for wire ties, popsicle sticks, plumbers strapping and the all powerful duct tape. Just keep the repairs hidden under the bumper.
