We just got our Prius back from the body shop after a 2.5 month wait (mainly waiting for the parts to come in) and have found that the front spoiler (located under the front bumper) is missing. The dealership has been notified, but in the mean time will it do the car any harm to drive it wihtout the spoiler or whatever you call it not being installed??? By the way if you have any kind of major wreck with your Prius, plan on a long wait before getting it back. There seems to be a major problem having enough parts to do the repair work.

Missing this cosmetic part will cause no harm to your Prius. Consider yourself lucky on the 2.5 month wait. My car was in the shop for over 4 months awaiting parts for repair!<br><br>Alan

Were you satisfied with the out come of the repair? I found that you have to look at things carefully or they can get away with not knowing that there are parts missing or not having parts aline like they should. Are you going to trade you car in or keep it?<br><br>bill

Hi. I'm new to the club and don't actually own a Prius but am a big fan. I saw your note and wanted to coment. The part you are talking about is most likely and airdam. It helps to control the air flow over the engine. If you are not experiancing any over heating you are in the clear to drive, but keep an eye on your temp. As far as the time it took to get your car back, it seems to me that is a normally length of time, almost any body repair shop will take that long to finish a job. Dealing with insurance and you having to wait in line behind all of the other smashed up cars is holy time consuming. Also, this is a very new product any car in it's first or even second year of production takes for ever to get parts for. Toyota is making parts to produce the cars, not to repair them. I hope you are over all enjoying your Prius.

In Message 7129 duzitall2001 asked:<br><br>&gt; We just got our Prius back from the body shop <br>&gt; after a 2.5 month wait (mainly waiting for the <br>&gt; parts to come in) and have found that the front <br>&gt; spoiler (located under the front bumper) is <br>&gt; missing. The dealership has been notified, but <br>&gt; in the mean time will it do the car any harm to <br>&gt; drive it wihtout the spoiler or whatever you <br>&gt; call it not being installed???<br>No problem!<br>The air dam is an OPTION in Japan and supposedly adds a couple of % MPG.<br>On the other hand, you might want to look for another place to have your Prius repaired.<br>What will they "forget" next?<br>ALL removed parts should be placed in a double-wall paper bags and then in the car till reinstalled. See a bag? Put it back on.<br>Sounds like they just tossed the "spare" parts wherever.<br><br>&gt; By the way if you have any kind of major wreck <br>&gt; with your Prius, plan on a long wait before <br>&gt; getting it back. There seems to be a major <br>&gt; problem having enough parts to do the repair <br>&gt; work. <br>There is a complete description of the Prius repair program in the back of the Toyota Institute Prius binder: car off-the-road is the most severe and is "supposed" to be expedited.<br><br>Over 15,500 miles and still in love,<br>Bill Powell - NJ "HALFGAS"<br>Prius Resource List and Issues Database<br>(Prius: Just Drive It!)

You know I heartly agree with about the parts, and I am concerned because this was a certified Prius dealership to boot. The car was hit hard enough to have parts of the car go every which way. I do know that all of the parts were delivered to the dealer. Plus, as you say did they look at the Toyota Institute Prius Binder? From what I am seeing most of the dealerships are shooting in the dark when it comes to repairing and selling the Prius'. A good example is waiting for the r front strute (sp). Over a week because the part can not be flown because of the gases in the strute. Plus, parts for the Prius are all over the US. Normal time for repair for the damage we had for a Camry is two weeks. Yes, parts are a big problem. If Toyota is serious about uping the production to 300,000 by 2005 they are better get a leg shaking to provide a shorter repair time. What adds to the disadvantage is when the repair center is about 100 miles away.<br><br>The car is simply wonderful, but the wait for repair can be quit painful.<br><br>bill