Undercarriage Plastic Shield Replacement

[mykwyner]

I recently ran over a dead animal in the road with my 1998 GS-400 and it tore up the plastic shield that goes under the engine and also the wheel-well liner for the left front wheel. I'll spare you the awful details of me crawling under the car on the side of the highway with my Gerber multi-tool and just ask this one question: Is this part really necessary? I know that the Lexus dealership will want me to replace it, but since they can't write a bill without a comma in the price, I'm looking for an alternative answer. Can I live without it? Can I get a new one cheap?

[CA-Legal-Vette]

I recently ran over a dead animal in the road with my 1998 GS-400 and it tore up the plastic shield that goes under the engine and also the wheel-well liner for the left front wheel. I'll spare you the awful details of me crawling under the car on the side of the highway with my Gerber multi-tool and just ask this one question: Is this part really necessary? I know that the Lexus dealership will want me to replace it, but since they can't write a bill without a comma in the price, I'm looking for an alternative answer. Can I live without it? Can I get a new one cheap?

I think necessary is a relative term. I imagine it will affect your aerodynamics a little. Probably a bigger concern will be the accumulation of dirt and water over time. I'm sure you're running thecar now so clearly it isn't going to grind to a halt, but I would try to replace it. Having said this, I don't think this is something you need to run to the dealer to do. eBay is your friend! The part is cleverly called an "under cover." You can also call junk yards.

My $.02

[1990LS400]

The undercovers become so brittle over time that I don't think it is worth buying them used.

You can look up the part numbers here: http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/g_U_1998_LEXU...L-BEAQKA_3.html

You can buy the big undercover (part number 51441-30250) here for $87.39 not including shipping: http://www.parts.com/lexus/lexus-parts.cfm

It helps to search by part number on parts.com ... otherwise it can be difficult or impossible to find a particular part.

[era57]

I recently ran over a dead animal in the road with my 1998 GS-400 and it tore up the plastic shield that goes under the engine and also the wheel-well liner for the left front wheel. I'll spare you the awful details of me crawling under the car on the side of the highway with my Gerber multi-tool and just ask this one question: Is this part really necessary? I know that the Lexus dealership will want me to replace it, but since they can't write a bill without a comma in the price, I'm looking for an alternative answer. Can I live without it? Can I get a new one cheap?

It's something like $150 through Lexus, which is annoying because it's really just a piece of plastic. I would replace it eventually just in the off-chance you run over something again I feel like it would be better to have something protecting the undercarriage. Good luck