hey guys,

so driving out to vegas late last night and i ran over what i think was a piece of blown out tire.
i immediately got off the freeway and looked under the car and right around parallel with the front wheels a piece of hard plastic was hanging down. i tried to pull it off but it was attached with bolts so i got a wrench and unscrewed them and then removed the torn plastic which was dragging (some of it obv had been ripped off).

so now there is a hole in the bottom of the car near the front axle that needs to be covered up with the hard plastic.

questions:

1) do i need to take it to a dealership or will a 3rd party auto body place be able to source the part?

2) can anyone recommend a good place to take it in vegas (i'm staying on the strip so preferably someplace relatively close to the strip)?

if anyone knows a good auto body place in vegas i would be eternally grateful.

cheers.

 

I am not sure what piece of plastic you are reffering to. if you can take a picture and show it we can definatly assist you better.

 

thats going to be really hard as its underneath my car.

its like where i'd imagine a skid plate would go....its right behind the engine bay along the front axle...i'll go back and look again underneath when its light out and try and describe what is exposed a lil better.

there are def some engine components exposed underneath the car but it was so dark i didn't get a good enough look to figure out what it was.

there is a decent sized square opening now tho along that front axel right smack dab in the middle of the car (middle as in centered between the front wheels, so the middle of the horizontal axis not the vertical axis of the car).

 

its not the cover for the oil pan is it?

 

the plastic guards aren't really a necessity, they just protect certain components from being exposed to road debris.

Just wait until you get home, and find the plastic guard you need on ebay or from a wrecker.

 

I'd bet that it is...

 

It's probably just the bottom plastic engine cover. I had mine come off on a drive to Florida. Didn't even know it was dragging until I stopped for gas and it was making a scraping sound. Like you, I took off 3 bolts and threw it away. Mine probably came off due to wind or it may have already been broken / ready to drop.

Either way, those things are expensive! I think I paid about $60-$70 for it at the dealership. Installed will set you back about $100. For a plastic cover. LOL.

I drove about 100 miles without it just fine. But I would still plan to cover the hole back up. Look somewhere with cheap parts, like ebay or discount parts store.

 

i dont think its just the plastic cover considering he is saying its where the axles are and if its hard plastic in the center of the car, in that area the only thing i can think of is the oil pan cover.

its not really needed but its nice to have in case something kicks up under the car.

 

its prob just the undercarriage of your car


if your lowered forget about it, itll prob end up breaking again anyways

 

^ Agree. Enjoy your time in Vegas & don't worry about it as it's not essential. Get a used one when you get back to LA. Most cars don't even have these types of covers so you'll be just fine in the meantime.

 

ok thanks for the replies guys that def sets my mind at ease.
i'll prolly take it to a dealer to find out the part number then try to find it somewhere else and install it myself.

cheers.