I just noticed today that my bottom front grill on my 2007 Camry Hybrid is missing. Normally it's garaged but I did drive to San Francisco this past weekend and park it on the street. I didn't notice anything then but it's entirely possible that its absence escaped me. I found lots of rocks in the front pan so how important is it to immediately put a new bottom front grill on?

So...is it possible for the front grill to get damaged and fall off on its own? Or do people actually steal those parts? How much are they to replace usually?

Thanks!

 

People will steal a week old newspaper.... I doubt that it fell out on its own but you do need to replace it fairly soon. Anything very large will not be stopped by it but smaller items will, which will prevent damage to the air conditioning condenser and radiator.

They are not extremely expensive to replace.

 

Since you say that you have found a few stones / small rocks in the front pan, it is possible that the lower grill work was hit, dislodged, and became jammed in front of the radiator.

Before you start looking at purchasing a replacement grill, reach your arm through the grill opening. Now reach up. There should NOT be any obstruction. If you feel something, it very well could be the actual grill work itself. The grill is just wide enough to become horizontally lodged between the front of the car and the radiator.

 

Are we talking about the black plastic thing with numerous horizontal slats?

I've taken the bumper off a few times but never paid attention to it. I wonder if it can be removed without popping the hood and removing the underbody fairings.

 

That grill is a snap-on, so it could fall off, mine got dislodged on one side at least once before, but I took it out many times so it may be a little loose by now. To take it out just gently push it in, you may also want to pull on the plastic where the hooks are to make it easier. No, you don't need to take apart anything, you don't even need to pop the hood, but it's easier to take it out from the top and yes OP, do check if the grill is still there wedged somewhere, before buying new one. As far as to why I took those grills out, I attached plastic window screen behind both to stop bugs, small rocks etc to hit radiators. At the end of summer sometimes we do have this butterfly invasion and I figured it would be easier to replace the screen than clean all that gunk from inside radiator fins.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. For some reason I'm not getting e-mail notifications of new replies anymore. I thought that the bottom grill was metallic, just like the top front grill. But it appears that it could be a dark (black) plastic grill, as some posters indicate. In that case, there is a plastic black grill lodged inside there. Of course, it became detached and is now crooked. I will try to re-install it soon.

Thanks!

 

It is cheap plastic and can easily become dislodged if you hit it. Moderate pressure at the right spot can dislodge it. I pulled into a snowbank about two years ago and the newly fallen, light snow pushed it totally off. Since then, at least three or four times per year it falls off and needs to be reinstalled. Since that original hit, even a slight nick will push it off. The only good part is that it is that in my case, it is always found laying on top of the black plastic engine pan behind the bumper.

Back in the day, I looked up the price at my local dealership and it was about $30-$35 bucks for a new part, not including installation. But in my case, it isn't the black plastic piece that is busted, but the bumper itself which has a small tear in it- which makes it really easy for the black piece to fall out.

 

My came off on its own in my '08 Camry Hybrid but fortunately I saw the loose part before losing it during driving. Looks like the weak plastic clips/holders just snapped from poor quality parts. The 2 smaller side black plastic fog light covers also fell off. I am bring to the dealer to see if these are covered under warranty.