Stolen Camry black plastic insert where fog light would go? Or tumbleweed impact?

2009 Camry authorized emergencyehicle was traveling at high speeds transporting blood platelets emergent to a hospital.
Many tumbeweeds blowing across the rural highway. I missed most but could not avoid every one.

During Sundayehicle inspection, the right black plastic insert is gone.
Curious: Could it somehow have been knocked out, or did someone steal it?
I did not find it pushed inside behind the “fender”.
Now to the junk yard.

Thank you.

To quote John Bender from “The Breakfast Club” almost 30 years ago…“screws fall out all the time, the world’s an imperfect place.”

^ Unlike a screw loosening, I do not understand how it could come out.

Every Sunday the vehicles are inspected and it was not loose - visually.

(VACUUM pulled it out? There were some very high crosswind bursts.)

Instead of money spent on a plastic insert, it should go toward driving lamps.
Does anyone make lamps that fit the opening.
Or must one pay an exorbitant price for Toyota lamps?

It’s gone…Replace it…

If I remember, those inserts are just held in with plastic clips. Who knows? A small piece of debris hit it just right, a pothole jarred things just right, a road fairy bumped into it, any number of things could have happened.

There are countless aftermarket driving lamps designed to fit these holes. And the plug for the power to them is attached to the left front area of the wiring harness already.

If you want the lamps to operate using the same protocols, you will need to purchase a relay, switch, and additional wiring harness that go behind the dash. These are expensive, but the plugs are proprietary and cannot be bought as separate items.

I got the schematic, the wiring diagram, and even the specific part numbers for all the individual components, and the plugs’ drawings with their physical parameters, for my tC thinking I was going to be able to buy just the proper plugs and make up my own wiring harness, use a generic relay, and a generic switch to save money (the Toyota ones are expensive). I searched everywhere for plug matches including electrical plug manufacturers’ to no avail. I finally went to the Toyota parts window to order the plugs… I had the Toyota part numbers, remember, but when the parts guy looking it up it was “unavailable for purchase”. I gave up and bought the Toyota harness, relay, and switch. I used generic driving lights, but had to spend the small fortune on the other components.

Autozone says $99 each lamp. Ridiculous.
"Bring the Camry in and we’ll try to find something which fits."
I’d just do everything myself. The siren controler has a switch which can be used.

I noticed my BIL had a missing fog light and housing and asked him what happened. Said he didn’t know anything had happened until he traced a foul oder to a dead pheasant behind it. Check for dead animals or tumbleweeds but as Hillary would say “what difference does it make?”

I just don’t see how it happened unless stolen.
If I hit a big enough tumbleweed, I would think I would have seen and heard it.
Wife is not happy that her car is now “imperfect”.
I must try to remove the left insert to see how easy that is.

Plastic has tendency to fall out by its self,it really moves with temperature variation-Kevin

No guys, you’re way off base. It was stolen. There’s a chop shop in every major city with a warehouse that’s full-to-bursting of nothing but fog light blank insert plates. See, DeBeers got bored of the diamond racket and has decided to monopolize the market and charge exhorbitant prices on something even less valuable, just to see if they can.

Robert’s just lucky - someone must have scared the mafia henchman away before he could steal the other side as well.

^ What’s funny (not so funny) is that some lowlife’s missing something like that would steal it from another vehicle if they happened to see the vehicle.
Has happened with hub caps, gas caps and other things that can be pulled off.

Sometimes its done for giggles(but as I said,this stuff can fall off on its own)-Kevin

Nobody stole it. Your car was imperfect on the assembly line .Stuff happens, it fell out. Worry about something important.

@shadowfax is absolutely right. It’s without a doubt a conspiracy, and Jack Ruby, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and Adoph Eichman are on the DeBeers advisory board. They meet with the tri-lateral commission monthly and decide how they are going to set the price of gasoline and good Scotch. And, of course, Camry fog light knockout covers. The only solution is surveillance cameras in your garage door openers.

^ Ha! I KNEW that was the case.
Not garage. It happened somewherelse.

Not garage. It happened somewherelse.

Just builds a better case for surveillance cams on every street light, red light, mile marker, stop sign, road sign, or any other convenient mounting surface. More cams = more safety !!

I suggest a camera for each plastic panel:

http://gopro.com/products

Next time you can catch the perp.

But do not put it past the Midnight auto supply to lift one if its requested-Kevin

But do not put it past the Midnight auto supply to lift one if its requested

And they’ll probably take the surveillance cams too !!