Importance of this plastic cover?

[Chris311]

Hello everyone,

I just purchased a new 2009 Camry SE V6 last week and already have a small problem. This morning at around 2am, I was on the highway heading home when all of a sudden I heard a pop and then something dragging under my car. So I pulled over and took a look underneath. There was a piece of plastic, about 3'x3' right underneath the trunk area that was dragging on the ground.


The wind outside at the moment were 30mph from the North heading south with gusts of winds up to 60mph. I was driving home North straight into the wind with my cruise set at 75. I at least know now why the piece of plastic was ripped off of its screws.


My question though is how important in this piece of plastic? With it being dragged down the highway, it is pretty chewed up so I would have to take it to the dealership to get it replaced, and only to have it happen again. I live in the hill country and it can get pretty windy up here.


It looks like it was protecting the spare tire enclosure.


Thanks,

-Chris

[Dave's]

Can't really answer your question but only a week old I'd be taking back to the dealer and tell him you were just driving down the highway when you heard a racket and this is what you found. (No need to get into the speed, wind direction stuff)Ask him WTF?

[Sean89]

Originally Posted by Dave's

Ask him WTF?

+1

[CamrySExxx]

yeah id do the same. It's only a week old so your salesman should still be able to recognize your face lol. Just complain how its only a week old and shits already breaking on it !!!

[sdubk]

Originally Posted by Sean89

+1

lulz

should be a warranty issue btw

[thrawnis]

Interesting that you had this problem. I had the EXACT same problem with my car within the first month of getting the car. The top left corner completely melted/shaved off because it was coming in contact with the highway road while I was driving 80mph.

When I took it to the dealership, they acknowledged that the surface of the plate was completely unmarred (meaning I didn't hit a speed bump or something with it). But when I picked up the car, they just screwed in the damaged plate!! This was a brand new car and they didn't even attempt to replace the part with a new one. I complained and after talking to the manager, they finally ordered and replaced it with a new one.

By the way, it is an air flow/aerodynamic part and also protects the bottom of the trunk and part of the gas tank I believe. Other than that, you don't really need it. But either way, I would get it replaced under warranty. Ever since I had mine replaced, it has stayed properly in place and had no problems.

[CharmCityES]

take it back to the dealer, tell them exactly what happened, and they will take care of it under warrenty

[TRD_FF]

Originally Posted by Chris311

Hello everyone,

I just purchased a new 2009 Camry SE V6 last week and already have a small problem. This morning at around 2am, I was on the highway heading home when all of a sudden I heard a pop and then something dragging under my car. So I pulled over and took a look underneath. There was a piece of plastic, about 3'x3' right underneath the trunk area that was dragging on the ground.


The wind outside at the moment were 30mph from the North heading south with gusts of winds up to 60mph. I was driving home North straight into the wind with my cruise set at 75. I at least know now why the piece of plastic was ripped off of its screws.


My question though is how important in this piece of plastic? With it being dragged down the highway, it is pretty chewed up so I would have to take it to the dealership to get it replaced, and only to have it happen again. I live in the hill country and it can get pretty windy up here.


It looks like it was protecting the spare tire enclosure.


Thanks,

-Chris

i took mine off a little over a year ago to install my hitch and wasnt able to replace the plastic without modifying it to fit with the hitch. i never really got around to doing it and so far so good i havent had any problems.i dont drive too aggressive so it hasnt been too big of a deal for me. but definately whether it be a big deal or not id take it to the dealer and make them replace it!!


also i wouldnt go into all the details about all the wind speeds, just tell them hey this is a new car and its got pieces flying off WTf.

[89molavi]

I guess any brand has its own share of problems. Could happen to a Toyota too! I agree, take it back and fix it under warranty, this is esp important for other stuff that might happen down the road.

[Chris311]

Thank you everyone for the replies. I'll be picking up my plates on Monday so I will have them replace the plastic part then. Since it serves a purpose I'll get it fixed. I was hoping it was something useless like a "dust guard" so I wouldn't have to spend the time waiting for them to install another one.

Originally Posted by thrawnis

By the way, it is an air flow/aerodynamic part

Hehe, guess that the aerodynamic design it was meant for didn't really work out to well.


I don't really know how wind speeds work, but I would think that going 75mph while driving into a 60mph wind gust would be the same as driving 135mph on a calm day. These cars are rated for 149mph, so does that mean this aerodynamic peice was designed to with-stand 149mph wind speeds? Looks like mine would have crapped out at around 135mph.

[Netforcer]

Originally Posted by Chris311

Thank you everyone for the replies. I'll be picking up my plates on Monday so I will have them replace the plastic part then. Since it serves a purpose I'll get it fixed. I was hoping it was something useless like a "dust guard" so I wouldn't have to spend the time waiting for them to install another one.




Hehe, guess that the aerodynamic design it was meant for didn't really work out to well.


I don't really know how wind speeds work, but I would think that going 75mph while driving into a 60mph wind gust would be the same as driving 135mph on a calm day. These cars are rated for 149mph, so does that mean this aerodynamic peice was designed to with-stand 149mph wind speeds? Looks like mine would have crapped out at around 135mph.

That piece is a pathetic excuse for a diffuser

[Chris311]

Going a bit off topic, I was searching around for Camry Underbody trays and rear diffusers to see if there are any aftermarket ones produced when I found out the coefficient drag of the car.

It has a CD of .28, which is pretty damn good. My last car was a Mazda RX8 and it had a CD of .31 and around 36 horsepower less, yet was still able to get to a top speed of 145mph. Does this mean the Camry is limited by a governor and not drag limited? I would think with the low CD of .28, a V6 camry should easily do 160mph.


But then again, more stuff might fall off then.

[thrawnis]

Most cars today, regardless of engine power and suspension, are speed-limited by the computer. All German cars have a speed limit of 155mph or less. I don't know what the speed as actually limited to on the Camry's though. I think the 4cyls are somewhere around 112mph and the V6s are around 130mph or so?

Either way, the part that fell off probably came loose because of improper installation. I doubt that random bits of the car are going to just fall off even you are going 135mph.

[Chris311]

I picked up my plates and the dealership replaced the underbody tray.


My service rep said that at the front of the tray, it is only held on my clips. I wonder if there is a way to reinforce the clips.


Thanks for all the help.