How much would you pay for a hub cap?

A few weeks ago, after driving a number of miles from home on the freeway, we noticed that a hub cap was missing from the right, rear tire on our Toyota Corolla (see right). We tried to back-track on some of the roads we had just traveled, but did not find out missing hub cap. I thought to myself, hub caps are usually made out of cheap plastic and polycarbonate materials and shouldn't be too expensive to replace.

I started my price searching at a local Toyota dealer because I figured I would get a ceiling price for one hub cap. Needless to say, $85 for one lousy hub cap was too much for me. So I tried the trusty old Internet. A few online stores offered good deals at only $75 per cap. Wow, I thought. I had better jump at the chance to save $10 off the dealers, price.

None-the-less, I decided to keep checking for a lower price. I made my way to eBay and found a few sellers offering "slightly used" hub caps for only $35 a piece. Now, we are talking! Upon further inspection, however, some of the ads mentioned that their hub caps may or may not have the original Toyota symbol in the middle of the hub cap--in other words, they are selling "original" Toyota hub caps, but shipping cheap knock-offs to customers.

By this time, I had decided to give up and buy a set of 4 cheap, non-Toyota hub caps. Last Saturday, I ventured into Wal-mart to pick up a few odds and ends and made my way to the automotive aisle to price hub caps. Low and behold I found the exact hub caps that are on my 1993 Dodge Shadow for $13, so I now know where to find some replacements, if I need any. I also spotted a set of hub caps, also for $13, that looked very similar to my authentic Toyota hub caps.

So, for less than $15 we are the proud owners of four new, Toyota-like hub caps (here's a comparison of the two types).

Anyone need three, slightly used 2005 Toyota Corolla hub caps?

Only $85 each.