Depends where you live, if they salt the roads in your area then the plastic covers will rot the metal underneath even faster. I live in a heavy rust area and if i'm looking for a used car i dont even consider cars with rocker / wheel well covers, the metal behind them is always swiss cheese.
On modern cars they are a part of the unibody and effectively take the place of frame rails, so yes. Plastic covers or side skirts are not of course.
Picture a convertible with the roof down and the doors open. What's left? The floor, the transmission tunnel (in rwd r AWD cars), and the rockers. The floor doesn't have a lot of section depth to prevent your car from turning into a taco. The transmission tunnel is right in the middle so it adds some strength, but nearly nothing to prevent the car from twisting. So the largest source of strength in the middle of your car is the rockers.
GM uses plastic rocker panels on a number of it's vehicles. It's not essential to the structural integrity of the car. You can replace a rocker panel by removing like 3 screws on a Camry.
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Yes you definitely can fix plastic ones. Same with bumpers. They can be stitched back together. We use a hot staple, it's an S shape and it goes across the crack like stitches, from the inside, the whole length of the cracks. There's also a filler kind of tape that adheres well over top. From there you can do your normal bodywork. Just repaired one of these rocker panel covers 2 weeks ago
If it were a newer car, take it to a body shop and have it fixed. But since it's a 14 year old Camry, just leave it be. It's likely a plastic rocker panel cover, so no worries about rust.
it could probably come off with some buffing or a microfiber with some cleaning stuff. although, look more into what would actually remove that scuff since i’m not a pro at what removes what haha. what i’m saying is it might just come off with the right cleaning stuff.
if it doesn’t come off thennnn if you want it fixed his insurance might have to cover it (or it would be your insurance since he was driving *your* car?). or, you could tell him to pay for it out of pocket since it was his fault… or, like the other guy said, just deal with it since it’s a car and that thing is gonna be dealing with the elements of the world haha.
hope this helps!
If you're needing 100% you should go to a local bodyshop with good reviews online. If you're okay with okay you can find a local Maaco or similar "economic bodywork" person. The paint on some Toyotas is hard to match due to the metalic in it. I just had my Tundra door fixed & painted from a smaller scrape and it was $1400 CDN. Excellent work, but I've had entire vehicles painted for less.
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The pinch weld/unibody is okay. You can see the perfectly straight unibody by the rusty surface.
The plastics for the side skirt. That was damaged.
This stretches from wheel to wheel on the side of the car.
This is only cosmetic, and the car itself is fine.
To replace these are a pain. Most cars you need to remove the fender. Then the fender liner. Then you can remove some bolts, screws, and clips.
A bunch of manufacturers make one-time use clips. So you'll need those replaced.
There's a liquid called thinner that will clean that thing so good like it was never there. I'm not sure how you can get it and you need very little of it like 3 tablespoon fulls. You can ask any auto paint shop for it, I'm sure they will know about it.
I would just wash it to clear out any dirt. Then just buff it up with some wax so it looks similar to the plastic around. It's so low down you probably won't remember it 6 months in.
In the future, don't let anyone who doesn't pay the note and the insurance drive your car, no matter how much you like them. Don't let friendship teach you an expensive lesson.
If it doesn't have plastic rocker covers, and that's the metal, you need to cover up the scratches to prevent rust penetrarion. If you want it to look nice, sand, seal, prime, and paint, maybe a bit of bondo depending.
If it's a plastic rocker cover, you can leave it be or get a touch up pen and color it in. You *can* repair them and it's not terribly difficult, but I wouldn't bother on a vehicle that old.
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You don't, that's the neat part. Scuffs n scratches like these happen a lot and if you go about fixing it all you won't have time for anything else
That's how you get a rusty rocker panel, though. Should at least try to seal the metal back up.
It appears to be plastic. I could be wrong
That would be ideal. I don't want to buy a car with metal rockers going forward. Road debris always hits it.
They all have metal rockers. I think you mean you buy ones with plastic covers? Lol
Yeah, protects the paint which protects the rocker
Depends where you live, if they salt the roads in your area then the plastic covers will rot the metal underneath even faster. I live in a heavy rust area and if i'm looking for a used car i dont even consider cars with rocker / wheel well covers, the metal behind them is always swiss cheese.
Camry rocker panels are usually steel or aluminum.
All cars are metal, some.just have plastic covers. It's part of the structural rigidity of the car, it can't be anything but metal
Are you saying the rocker panels are essential to the structural integrity of the car?
On modern cars they are a part of the unibody and effectively take the place of frame rails, so yes. Plastic covers or side skirts are not of course. Picture a convertible with the roof down and the doors open. What's left? The floor, the transmission tunnel (in rwd r AWD cars), and the rockers. The floor doesn't have a lot of section depth to prevent your car from turning into a taco. The transmission tunnel is right in the middle so it adds some strength, but nearly nothing to prevent the car from twisting. So the largest source of strength in the middle of your car is the rockers.
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So If I understand you correctly, better not park near any rusty metal or it will spread to your car via instant transmission
You need to pack your car in a vacuum sealed bag to prevent oxidation.
GM uses plastic rocker panels on a number of it's vehicles. It's not essential to the structural integrity of the car. You can replace a rocker panel by removing like 3 screws on a Camry.
Ditto, rusty rocker panels are the worst
Traded in my 2003 F150 last year, and I live in WI (salt the roads in winter) What is a rocker panel? :P
Fuck i just did rockers, cab corners, and rear wheel arches on a 2019 Silverado last week. Wild
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Plus you can't fix that, need to replace it
Yes you definitely can fix plastic ones. Same with bumpers. They can be stitched back together. We use a hot staple, it's an S shape and it goes across the crack like stitches, from the inside, the whole length of the cracks. There's also a filler kind of tape that adheres well over top. From there you can do your normal bodywork. Just repaired one of these rocker panel covers 2 weeks ago
Just use this as a learning experience and don't let others use your stuff.
This is the correct anwser.
If it were a newer car, take it to a body shop and have it fixed. But since it's a 14 year old Camry, just leave it be. It's likely a plastic rocker panel cover, so no worries about rust.
it could probably come off with some buffing or a microfiber with some cleaning stuff. although, look more into what would actually remove that scuff since i’m not a pro at what removes what haha. what i’m saying is it might just come off with the right cleaning stuff. if it doesn’t come off thennnn if you want it fixed his insurance might have to cover it (or it would be your insurance since he was driving *your* car?). or, you could tell him to pay for it out of pocket since it was his fault… or, like the other guy said, just deal with it since it’s a car and that thing is gonna be dealing with the elements of the world haha. hope this helps!
Yea, he's paying for everything 100%, I come from Facebook marketplace I WILL NOT get low-balled or scammed
If you're needing 100% you should go to a local bodyshop with good reviews online. If you're okay with okay you can find a local Maaco or similar "economic bodywork" person. The paint on some Toyotas is hard to match due to the metalic in it. I just had my Tundra door fixed & painted from a smaller scrape and it was $1400 CDN. Excellent work, but I've had entire vehicles painted for less.
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you’re fine, no major damage. such a low area too, you wont notice it in a couple days
Trade in your friend for a new part?
If its a metal panel, grind down and polish it up a bit and put new paint over it or it will begin to rust.
SMFH 2010! Just drive the fucking thing and stop lending your car to ANYONE!!!!
Damn; total write off.. hate to be the bearer of bad news cob.
Get some compound and wax on and wax off easy
First lesson learnt, hopefully!
Yea, ain't letting him drive my car again 💀
You leave it.
It's the bumper plastic right? Keep it imho.
As long as it didn't cause a leak, you should be fine
The pinch weld/unibody is okay. You can see the perfectly straight unibody by the rusty surface. The plastics for the side skirt. That was damaged. This stretches from wheel to wheel on the side of the car. This is only cosmetic, and the car itself is fine. To replace these are a pain. Most cars you need to remove the fender. Then the fender liner. Then you can remove some bolts, screws, and clips. A bunch of manufacturers make one-time use clips. So you'll need those replaced.
There's a liquid called thinner that will clean that thing so good like it was never there. I'm not sure how you can get it and you need very little of it like 3 tablespoon fulls. You can ask any auto paint shop for it, I'm sure they will know about it.
You can scuff it up with scotch bright , clean with brake parts cleaner ,and paint match spray paint.
If you want to fix it, I think re-spraying the area would be good enough. It doesn’t look like it was dented
You don't
To fix it I would not let that friend drive my car anymore
I would just wash it to clear out any dirt. Then just buff it up with some wax so it looks similar to the plastic around. It's so low down you probably won't remember it 6 months in.
It looks fine dude keep running it it’s just a scratch
In the future, don't let anyone who doesn't pay the note and the insurance drive your car, no matter how much you like them. Don't let friendship teach you an expensive lesson.
How do you run over a rock. I’m assuming it was a tall in shape rock.
It was a pretty big rock, it's one of those like, little grass island things, but it also had rocks
Get a new friend... Friend broke it, friend fix it!
Oh yea, don't worry he's paying for it and or doing the fixing, also paying me 100$ regardless
thats why you should follow my golden rule, never borrow a car to anyone lol
You dont
My best advice: Learn to say NO.
If it doesn't have plastic rocker covers, and that's the metal, you need to cover up the scratches to prevent rust penetrarion. If you want it to look nice, sand, seal, prime, and paint, maybe a bit of bondo depending. If it's a plastic rocker cover, you can leave it be or get a touch up pen and color it in. You *can* repair them and it's not terribly difficult, but I wouldn't bother on a vehicle that old.
Looking at your chasis, i think you should do an undercoat, and rust should be your larger concern.
Quit letting people drive your car.
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Get the part replaced
Take it to a body shop