T6 Underbody Plastic

[TonyMax]

I drove home through some torrential rain the other day and was surprised when I got home to see some black plastic dragging under the car. I was even more surprised when I found that it wasn't an inner guard as I suspected but a piece of black plastic underbody trim/cover that hangs down and "protects" the fuel/aircon/other lines and other associated things.

There's aluminium heat shield around the exhaust but there's a bunch of other black plastic underbody covers that have various holes in them. A bad design that when coupled with torrential rain/large sheets of water across the road, and front tyres which displace the water well, displaces the covers (well at least the one on the left side behind the front wheel) from its mounted home.

I managed to rob one of the flat aluminium "nuts" that hold the heat shield up and put that back on one of the captive studs attached to the floorpan, but there's a couple of decent splits in this piece now, and part of it is being held up with tie wire now.

What are the chances of having parts damaged due to driving on wet roads replaced under warranty due to what I believe is bad design? How much should VW reasonably expect me to slow down driving in the rain to protect flimsy plastic parts underneath the vehicle?

[Kiels3927]

How much should VW reasonably expect me to slow down driving in the rain to protect flimsy plastic parts underneath the vehicle?

Reasonably? They'll expect you to stop, but this would be an interesting one to raise with the appropriate authority. Choice recently stated:

The Australian Consumer Law provides you with consumer guarantees that the products you buy will do what you reasonably expect them to do. Warranties are separate promises to the consumer from the manufacturer. They can't exclude the consumer guarantees, but work alongside them.

[paintz]

If this is the under engine plastic cover i have just taken one off my van as its being written off. Can sell it if you want.

[Sunny43.5]

This same subject came some years back when the T5.1 was released , same thing you experienced . Mind you at as it was pointed out by others and myself at the time VW seemed to be on a cost saving excercise . Our van did not even have an under engine sump cover or battery cover that had been standard on the previous models , along with some interior bits and pieces .

[paintz]

The one I have is off my T5 that just being taken due to hail damage

[TonyMax]

The one on my van which came adrift was under the passenger side behind the front wheels.

[LogicprObe]

The one on my van which came adrift was under the passenger side behind the front wheels.

It just covers the fuel tank and whatever is behind it I think.
Haven't had mine off but it has a huge dent in it from something I ran over or maybe water as well!

[kombosa]

same thing happened when i drove through ,what i thought was a shallow,puddle.
the whole cover behind the passenger side wheel crumpled and pulled through the screws.poor design and piss weak construction

[Kombi]

Sunny I noticed no battery cover on my 12 highline multivan, also the one cost saving that I dislike most is the cover inside the back door, my 08 was leather covered where’s the 12 is only plastic ( unless mine was replaced by previous owner)

[Transporter]

Nothing wrong with the design.
I drove in my T5 for 11 years and never ripped any under shield cover. If you catch on something while driving, you will rip out or dent it, even if the cover was made from the steel. The wading depth is max. 300mm, so you taking the risk if you drive on badly flooded roads and can’t blame design or the manufacturer for it.