my homegirl drives a 1999 VW passat and recently that plastic peice that covers the front underbody of her car fell off and was torn off. its the black plastic peice that i believe covers the bottom of the engine and extends from one wheelbase to the other

does anyone know what this is called and how much a replacement part would cost, and if its easy to install

the VW dealership wants 400$ which i think is absolutely ridiculous for a simple plastic peice and a few screws. help me out

 

maybe try www.vwvortex.com if no one else here knows

 

Its called a skidplate, they SUCK on that particular car, there are 2 plastic anchors in through each wheel well, 3 metal anchors on the back side of the skid plate, 2 longer metal anchors on the front of the skid plate and one 10mm nut that goes onto a stud in the center of the front of it. You also need all of that hardware to secure the new skid plate. I'd suggest going to a salvage yard and getting one, it will be a fraction of the price.

Unless your a heavily tuned car or go off roading with it I wouldn't even bother putting it back on, they are a PAIN IN THE ASS every time you have to remove them - and it must be removed to do an oil change.

 

Maybe try a private mechanic? I think they order parts from dealers or the manufacturer, but their labor might be cheaper. Good luck.

 

so the car is fine without it? my friend isnt exactly that rich, she almost cried at the dealership when they wanted to take 400 out of her pocket

 

what exactly is the skid plate protecting???

i assumed that is was there justt o make sure the bottom of the headers and tranny casing wouldnt get scratched if you got over a speed bump or something

 

Its a plastic skid plate so its not really going to do much protecting. It is designed to protect the oil pan, etc... but its plastic and isn't really going to do much more then keep debris off the pan.

In my opinion its not a required piece by any means. 98% of the cars on the road don't have a skit plate and are just fine.

 

wow do you think maybe the oil change place didnt properly attach the skid plate and thats the reason it fell off the car???

god damn im glad i dont own a passat, after reading that thread it sounds like maitenance is a nightmare

 

It wouldn't just fall of, its held on VERY well, its very common for oil change place to forget a fastener or two, after a few oil changes at that rate there's not much holding it on.

That is just the tip of the ice berg with owning a passat, with out a doubt one of the largest pieces of dog shit on the road - yet VW people love them I don't get it.

 

yea im pretty sure when i see my friend later today im gonna advise her to get rid of that peice of shit.....my friends mom also had one but at least that was under warranty

thanks for the help man

how much are these things supposed to cost?? i checked some carpart websites and its like 240 for this god damn thing...thats wayyy too expensive

 

Hows is it a POS because the skid plate came off from user error?

Yes they are expensive, try a junk yard to see if you can find one.

 

Any one who has removed a passat skid plate more then a few times, hates them, its a poor design and its all to common to have them fall off due to VW's shit anchors. Are you familiar with convenience control module on passat's? I doubt it, its a module that is under the passenger side floor(carpet) and after a few years and a large rain storm various functions of your car will stop working or start working all on their own. Power windows, locks, sunroof, etc... the ONLY way to fix it is to lift the carpet and resolder every connector one by one and even then its only a band-aid for a few more years, if your lucky. This is just one of MANY quirks that should not be in a car made in the 20th century. Ball joints, rear brakes, window regulators, are all also common of problems.

I know you like euro cars, but in the case of the passat(in particular early B5 chassis passat's) the driving dynamic of the car is not worth the trouble of owning a passat.

 

pssh, didnt say they were reliable. But the subject of this thread was about a skid plate which sounds exactly like the same design thats on my A4.
If the peice isnt put back properly then I wouldnt call the whole car a POS. Design flaw, sure..

Im not saying your list of problems is wrong since i have heard people complaining about those issues as well. But not all passats get all those issues and there are ones that are perfectly fine. I havent heard issues about the convenience control module though but i dont follow the VW forums that closely. You make it sound like everyone gets all these issues.. but they dont. Just like not everyone has tranny failure on this forum.

 

True, I just sometimes have my hyper-anti-VW days and today was one of them

 

Junkyard or the site above....

My Subaru has the skid plate nonsense. It does suck ass to change the oil, but at least the design is OK. As far as the fasteners on a VW, can you just get them at any parts place (autozone, pep boys) on the cheap?

 

:shakehead They are unique to VW. They're actually very well made and the design to attach the shield is actually pretty good IMO. You'll only find the fasteners at the dealer.

My sister also has a 99 Passat. I've changed the oil on it since she's had it and the splash shield is nothing more than an annoyance. It's pretty easy to remove, I've never had trouble with it.

 

Bumped old threads rock!

Subaru's skid plates, while a general annoyance, are really well implemented and fastened. There are a few exceptions, from the mid-late 90's but all of the newer Subaru skid plates are as good as skid plates get in terms of convenience:protection.

Now that I am a few years removed from working on cars things like that don't bother me much, when it's something you deal with every few months it's very different from when you are forced to deal with it several times a week. I remember one time a new full size toyota SUV came in and it had this HUGE skid plate on it, but typically they are plastic and easy to remove, well this one was easy to remove but it was metal! Damn thing must have weighed over 60lbs, the truck must have had some special off-road package.... The good ole days, I don't miss them at all!

 

try www.pelicanparts.com err 3 years later