My sister is 12 hours from home and found this under her Prius, not sure of year.
Looks like a heat shield. Reminds me of others I've seen next to exhaust to reflect heat away from cabin.
The question is, can she drive back home without it? Meaning, how important is it?
I told her she's probably fine specially at highway speeds with plenty of airflow.
She and her adult daughter are in the Florida panhandle and want to come back to Dallas before the storm gets close.
Thank you
It is heat shield. Generally, it feels like a corrugated aluminum pan. Like imagine this with dimples.
The intention is to keep the cabin temps cooler. It not being there will be inconsequential. You won't notice the difference, even in Florida or Texas.
Given the forward placement of this one it may just be an aerodynamic aid that needs to be heat resistant given its placement near the catalytic converter. The loss of aerodynamics will be inconsequential.
I have removed them from cars before. Being aluminum, they don't rust but being so thin they sort oxidize at the mounting holes and the holes elongate or oblong causing them to no longer hold in place.
Given the crinkle to the lower leading edge, my guess is she drove over something that tore the shield off. Or, wild speculation, someone was under her car trying to steal her catalytic converter.
I'm pretty sure it ended up under her Prius because someone was about to steal her catalytic converter.
Ask her if the engine is amazingly loud now that this trim piece "fell off."
If so, the cats gone.
Thank you everyone, perfect answers, I'll let her know.
NoBrakesRacing said:
That wood bench looks like it had a fish fossil in it.
In reply to Woody (Forum Supportum) :
I see a sailfish.
Yeah, sadly that's on the ground because somebody stole (or tried to steal) the catalytic converter. Definitely don't leave that parked in that spot again.
If cat is gone, most states, but not California, allow for the use of aftermarket cats. If she does an insurance claim and dealer parts this could be a $3k repair. If she uses aftermarket parts done at any muffler shop this could be a $700 repair.
As Tom mentions, the theft could happen again. On that second theft, an aftermarket unit is less desirable but the thief wont know that until he's cut it off.
Consider a security panel.
yeah - it's in way too good of shape to have not been manually removed by someone trying to rob her. The Prius Cat's are sought after by the thieving low lifes.
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