Mud Flap Saga- cont. & finito
So, I go to my Toyota Dlr parts counter, (Northern Ca), face to face, mano a mano, and since there are two parts guys, I decide against the "slap around" technique.
Instead, I give them a dramatic reading of your answers on this page. He says look; we told you before, we do not have a part # for Prius Mud Flaps; we never had a part # for them; and we dont think we will ever have them. And if we ever do get them we are not going to tell you, because you are a pest.
Then he sic-ed his cat on the fake canary on my dashboard.
(Well ok the part after the dramatic reading didnt really happen). :roll:
After that, we had a nice discussion. Seems that Eddie is right on the money. Even within the U.S., Toyota appears to make regional decisions (that they appear to not publicize) on parts & accessories. E.G., he said that since the Ca market is believed to be more non-smoking & use more accessories (laptops, cell phones, etc) in the car, they dont ship a cigarette lighter in cars to Ca. (of course the receptacle is there). I have no idea if that is true.
So as a former business guy, I'm saying hmmm, could make a lot of sense. Assume what the parts guy said is true. Say a lighter cost about $8-10. For every 100k cars to Ca, Toy could save a MILLION BUCKS on lighters; maybe most would spend their lives in a drawer somewhere. I'm guessing cost of shipping & stocking mud flaps in CA might have similar business dynamic, as opposed to Canada for instance.
So, Eddie, thanks, and I'll be calling your place if I decide to put em on. That was neat of you to send the pic of installation instructions. Can I assume rear install is similar ?? Does one have to remove the wheels to install em (the drilling) ??. I'm sure I can find someone here to install em.