Car Wash tore out my Beetle's under engine pan. Do I need it?

I had the same thing happen to me, except it was a POS truck's hubcap that flew off as I was passing it that ripped the pan off. MY dealer said not to worry about it they would take care of it at the next oil change. I didn't notice any increase in engine temp... this was in a GTI 1.8T...

If you can't get one for free like I did try dieselgeek.com, they have metal pans that are a little more resilient.

nate

you dont need it, but during rain / winter it could be that the belts fail because of water getting thru them. it will also effect the lifetime of the belts since more dust / dirt / sand / salt is getting thru them.

a new pan is normally 20-30$ at a junk yard. I would invest that money. did it for my VW's too.

Hope it helps, Sebastian

Was this covered under your warranty or was your dealer just nice?

I believe the latter. I was shocked myself, whenever trying to get something from a VW dealer I have to watch hours of Fox News to get myself all righteously indignant before I storm into whoever's office; this time I didn't think there was any chance of them throwing me a freebie and told the guy so, since it definitely fell under the category of "ripped off by s*it a car shouldn't be driving over" - they apparently had a used one laying around that they just gave me rather than bother with ordering a new one (?!?!?!?!?!)

nate

They also protect from some degree of road debris. they may be plastic, but they'll take the first hit of something in the road and possibly enough to deflect it...better than than your oil pan, a belt, or something similarly vital.

I don't know what you are talking about exactly, but I assume if you are referring to the plastic tray that goes under the engine, my assumption is its there for aerodynamics, and only aerodynamics. IIRC, a number of people have said they experienced a noticable difference in gas mileage without it. I don't think its strictly speaking, neccessary for anything, and I doubt it does much to protect the vehicle.

This is a MeeToo post stating:

"What he said."

TBerk

It is better to have it, but it is not likely going to do serious or immediate damage to your car. You may want to consider a metal version of the same thing. They are available as after market. The metal ones are likely to be slightly noisier unless you add a sound absorbing lining.

Which will nicely accumulate all the dirt and moisture. Not a good thing, if you would ask me. And will add some extra weight to carry along too.

But I would prefer the pan to be in place too, as it helps to keep the engine bay clean dry. Which in turn lowers the probability of the electrical problems.