I recently lost a hubcap going over Vail Pass in the eastbound lane. Firstly: Can DOT find it for me? 2nd: I have a toyota Corolla 2004 CE sedan 15"_ must I find one specific for my car or are there other “imports” I should look for on EBAY? Have tried many body shops and repair places and EBAY and I am only looking at Toyota. Thanks, Lenore
This is a joke, isn’t it…DOT doesn’t do hubcap searches…try here: http://www.hubcaps.org/corolla.html
I was looking for a really cheap beat up one to match others. I will call that co. to see if other imports will fit/ Thanks. (So, what does the DOT do w all those lost hubcaps? they could make a killing!)
About six or seven years ago I had a hubcap off of my '64 LeSabre pass me on the freeway in Western Washington and veer into an inaccessible center median. I called WSDOT and, though they indeed do not do hubcap searches, they passed on my information to the group that did the adopt-a-highway on that stretch of road and many months later I got a call from them. Unfortunately the thing was bent bad enough that it no longer went on the car (and I’d since bought a replacement off eBay for something like 10 bucks), but it looks nice on my garage wall!
So for your situation, firstly I seriously doubt you want it back. It probably had a broken tab which is why it flew off in the first place and plastic hubcaps are not known for durability. The dealer, eBay or the junkyard probably are your best bets, in descending cost order. If you’re not too choosy about looks, you can buy a set of generic hubcaps for usually $20 at most auto parts stores.
Autozone and walmart would have sets of 4 that are almost identical to yours, but just miss the Toyota logo in the center. You won’t notice it unless somebody pointed it out to you. The set costs 19 to 29 bucks.
Junkyards have some cars with wheel covers that look good. The ones on Corollas aren’t worth saving.
Our tax dollars at work, LOL… Good luck with that. I once lost one; by the time I found a place to turn around and could park to go look for it, someone had snatched it and no doubt posted it on eBay. Some get big bucks there. Four replacement caps (plastic) at K-Mart are just $15; if you lose one of those, just go with two that match from each set on opposite sides… Who will know???
If DOT does find it, it will be by their trash cleanup crews and they’ll add it to the rest of the trash (along with the countless other lost hubcaps they pick up) and it’ll to to recycling.
More than once I’ve been asked by folks about matching a lost hubcap. Years ago my mom lost one on her Mazda. We checked around and an exact match would have cost $33 for just one hubcap. We stopped at a local big-box store and bought a whole set of hubcaps almost exactly the same (without the Mazda logo) for $9.99 on sale. The material was the same, the mounting was the same, the only difference was the cost.