Plastic Covers - Keep Them Or Trash Them ?

[RX in NC]

I'm not sure when Lexus began installing the thin plastic covers underneath the vehicle which must be removed before you can access anything that might require service such as doing a transmission pan drain-and-fill. Our former 2000 RX300 did not have such a cover but the current 2004 RX330 does.

Benefits of these covers may include (notice I said "may include", not "definitely include") keeping the underside of the vehicle somewhat cleaner as well as some potential noise abatement and perhaps a small improvement in streamlining and airflow. Detriments to these covers include increasing the hassle factor anytime you need to access the undercarriage and perhaps helping to retain too much heat in the engine compartment during the hot summer months.

For those of you whose vehicles came with these covers in place, have you elected to leave them as is, or have you removed them? I'd really like to take this thing off and get rid of it, but I don't want to make a final decision until some of you folks have chipped in with your pros and cons, particularly if some of you removed your covers years ago and now have regrets. I'd like to understand your reasons.

Thanks for your input here. I'm sure it will benefit others who are pondering the same decision....

[dcfish]

I'm not sure when Lexus began installing the thin plastic covers underneath the vehicle which must be removed before you can access anything that might require service such as doing a transmission pan drain-and-fill. Our former 2000 RX300 did not have such a cover but the current 2004 RX330 does.

Benefits of these covers may include (notice I said "may include", not "definitely include") keeping the underside of the vehicle somewhat cleaner as well as some potential noise abatement and perhaps a small improvement in streamlining and airflow. Detriments to these covers include increasing the hassle factor anytime you need to access the undercarriage and perhaps helping to retain too much heat in the engine compartment during the hot summer months.

For those of you whose vehicles came with these covers in place, have you elected to leave them as is, or have you removed them? I'd really like to take this thing off and get rid of it, but I don't want to make a final decision until some of you folks have chipped in with your pros and cons, particularly if some of you removed your covers years ago and now have regrets. I'd like to understand your reasons.

Thanks for your input here. I'm sure it will benefit others who are pondering the same decision....

Keep the cover. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...c=32607&hl=

[blake918]

I'm not sure when Lexus began installing the thin plastic covers underneath the vehicle which must be removed before you can access anything that might require service such as doing a transmission pan drain-and-fill. Our former 2000 RX300 did not have such a cover but the current 2004 RX330 does.

Benefits of these covers may include (notice I said "may include", not "definitely include") keeping the underside of the vehicle somewhat cleaner as well as some potential noise abatement and perhaps a small improvement in streamlining and airflow. Detriments to these covers include increasing the hassle factor anytime you need to access the undercarriage and perhaps helping to retain too much heat in the engine compartment during the hot summer months.

For those of you whose vehicles came with these covers in place, have you elected to leave them as is, or have you removed them? I'd really like to take this thing off and get rid of it, but I don't want to make a final decision until some of you folks have chipped in with your pros and cons, particularly if some of you removed your covers years ago and now have regrets. I'd like to understand your reasons.

Thanks for your input here. I'm sure it will benefit others who are pondering the same decision....

RX, the undercover on my LS came unbolted and a large portion of it was filed down on the interstate--requiring me to throw it away. Getting rid of that cover has made changing the oil in this car 10x easier now that I don't have to remove the cover to get to the filter. None of my electricals died, the car isn't noisier, the underside isn't any dirtier, my temp gauge has stayed the same, and my mpg hasn't dropped. The undercover on my car has been gone for 10k miles with no problems. Ditch the cover; you won't regret it!

[Grumpa72]

Well, I am of the mind that these things are a PITA, especially when you want to do any maintenance. However, I know that ALL of the manufacturers want to keep costs down so it is there for a purpose. We can speculate, guess or just assume that they have some function. But if Toyota/Lexus could save $20 or so don't you think that they would leave them off? For those that KNOW why these are installed, is this something that the dealer said or where did the information come from. I know that most cars now have these covers and I assume that they are there for aerodynamics or keeping debris from coming up from the road.

Mine are staying!

Gary

'05 330

[RX in NC]

Thanks to those of you who have replied thus far.

I believe the primary purpose for these underbody covers is to discourage do-it-yourself maintenance and drive more service work to the dealerships. There may be some benefits in keeping these covers in place, but at this point those benefits are probably marginal at best.

Any more responses out there? So far we have two "keep it" and one "lose it"....

[Rx330driver]

hwo bout because it looks better...i personally like everything neatly tucked away and i dont want to see any nasty wires...but im a dealer kinda guy.

perhaps its a big of an off-roadish thing where it keeps unwanted things from getting under the car.

[RX in NC]

Yesterday I did the first oil and filter change and transmission fluid drain-and-fill on my wife's 2004 RX330 AWD since we purchased it in late January. After jacking up the vehicle and crawling under it to have a close look at the underbody plastic covers, the solution on what to do about these covers came to me quickly.

There is an easy-access "trap door" that accesses the oil pan drain plug once you remove four small bolts. Takes no more than a minute to remove or install with a socket wrench, so this was a pleasant surprise. I'll keep it in place as designed.

After guessing about where the transmission pan drain plug should be based upon my knowledge of our previous 2000 RX300 AWD, I began poking around and peering through a couple of the small vent holes (probably 1" by 1") in the large main plastic cover. I spotted the transmission pan drain plug directly above the location of one of the small vent holes. The vent hole was large enough to stick the necessary 10mm hex wrench through and drop the drain plug, but it would not have been large enough to allow for proper gravitational drainage of the ATF without the old fluid draining all over the plastic cover and running off all over the driveway, nor would I have had enough room to replace the drain plug with my fingers prior to using the 10mm hex wrench to tighten it back into position. So rather than spending probably 30 minutes or more removing the many bolts that hold the large plastic cover in place underneath the chassis, I reached for my hand-held jigsaw and simply enlarged the 1" by 1" vent hole directly underneath the transmission pan drain plug to about 3" by 3". Plenty of room now to drain the ATF without it running all over the place and I now have adequate space to use my fingers to start the drain plug back into its hole in the pan once I've drained the old fluid out.

So the large plastic cover can stay in place through most routine maintenance now. Replacing belts or some of the oxygen sensors will probably require it to be removed, but that's understandable. I just don't want to have to remove it for simple procedures such as fluid changes. Enlarging the vent hole at the ATF drain plug makes this a simple task again. Those of you who do your own ATF drain-and-fills may want to consider this solution. Sure worked for me....