So yesterday I found 4 bolts loose on my 2007 Prius. The first under panel past the front bumper are held in place by 6 bolts in front and 4 in the back of this plastic panel. The 4 rears were loose and stiking out by an inch. Using a 10mm socket I easily tightened them down. But this has me wondering......what happened to Toyota's Quality Control? No way they should have missed this.

Good on you for checking bolts. If it were my car, I would check the other accessible ones as well. Get ye a torque wrench for the big brake and suspension bolts. Any looseness there is certainly worth bringing to Toyota's attention.

No idea if Toyota is 'slipping', but I do have the impression that they are building as fast as they possibly can.

DAS

Well these bolts were not on critical parts, just a plastic under panel. But it does make one wonder what else Toyota is overlooking.

I have a 2006 that is about 3 Months old and watched the dealer install that plastic piece you are talking about as well as the plastic piece under the back bumper. They came inside the car, most likley because of the way they are tied down on the ship. I would be asking the dealer why they were left loose. On mine the Mech that installed mine left out 3 bolts totally.

Gary P

I did bring this to the dealerships attention. They said they don't install those parts, Toyota does at the factory.