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Comments
I live in Michigan, but was visiting relatives in Florida and actually stopped at Village Toyota when I saw the fender flares for the first time. I thought they totally solidified the look of the HL. The mud guards are removed when the flares are added which changes the look a bit too. I test drove the green one in the picture I mentioned. That vehicle also had PIO gray leather and slightly larger OWL 235/70/R16 Michelin LTX M+S tires. I thought the OWL tires looked great with the flares, but I would add them myself for the same cost ($525 MSRP) and have the extra set of original tires. Village Toyota also had these same tires mounted on some aftermarket alloy wheels on other HLs. The salesman I talked to was Scott (McNeight or something). He was fairly informative. I have seen no fender flares here in the midwest. Scott said they were a PIO and possibly only available in the Southeast region. At the time Village Toyota also had an Indigo Blue and a Red HL with the fender flares. Unfortunately, they had no silver with flares which is what I'm looking for. If Scott can locate a silver one, I might get an HL from him.
Does this vehicle
3 pix of the hood protector, hope this helps.
The Michelins I saw had raised outlined white letters, as opposed to solid raised white letters. These tires are also 10mm (0.39") wider (235/70/R16) than stock which means they are about 0.55" taller than the 225/70/R16 tires that come standard with the vehicle. I thought they looked good on the green HL with fender flares that I test drove. They rode just as nice as the stock tires too without intruding tire noise. The Michelins are also available in the stock size.
Check out the Michelins at http://www.tirerack.com/tires/michelin/mi_ltxms.jsp
I believe the last allocation of silvers are currently sold in Hawaii, it's a very popular color here. In fact, the silver/gray RAV4s cannot be kept on the lots, they are all "pre-sold" prior to landing on the island.
How are the fender flares mounted on the HL? Are there existing holes in the wheel wells and on the rear doors for the fasteners to be inserted or do you have to drill into the sheet metal of the fenders and rear doors? Do the available fender flares which require painting come with the fasteners required for installation along with any other necessary exterior trim?
If you are aware of another place I can get them earlier, by all means let me know. You can email me direct if you wish.
Lots of people seem to be concerned about painting aftermarket accessories. I have a friend who sells truck canopies. They have a small paint booth and a computerized paint mixer. All they need is the vehicle paint code from the door pillar and they can paint-to-match anything.
Often they repaint stuff to match even if it comes from the factory painted instead of just primed--paint and labor isn't that expensive. When you think about how often stuff gets scratched and dented in shipping, it's likely better to get your add-on painted after it arrives at your dealer/store anyway.
Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Have learned in my 22 years in this business (more than 1/2 my life now!) to never buy a car for someone else "later"... buy what suits you right now. For your own reasons. There's a "butt" for every seat, used or new, eventually.
Dianne
Steve
Host
Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
I caught your first message about the unpainted fender flares purchase suggestion before it "disappeared." I would appreciate any information about installation if you can obtain it. Thanks.
Thanks for the input.
I would ask to have the panels you are unhappy with replaced or fixed. If you don't at least ask, it will bother you every time you see them in your HL. Typically in cars of this price range, only the seating surfaces are actually leather. The sides and back sides of the seats are usually covered in vinyl.
The Avalon 08922-02011
& the Highlander 90915-YZZB9.This is what the toyota dealer parts dept. has told me to use.(We have a Avalon in the family as well.)
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=921375&a=12464178&f=0
Please post picture or e-mail me.
thanks
and took out the cargo net from the
camry and put it in my HL. Just hook
it over the plastic bag hooks on each
side and it works great.You can easly
unhook it if you have something big
to put in the cargo area.
Thanks again,
Michael
Fender flares are exterior trim pieces that can be attached to the outside of the fenders to make them wider. Typically, the flares follow the curvature of the wheel well and are a couple inches wide. Many SUVs have them including the Toyota 4Runner and Sequoia. Fender flares are not widely available yet for the HL. I expect they will be available on the HL from the factory within a couple of years, instead of just being a Southeastern and Gulf PIO as they are right now.