I have a 2016 kia optima, 36k miles, automatic trans. I bought the car without engine/front underbody splash shields. The car is fairly low profile, and being from the midwest i get nervous about salt, rocks or water getting into the engine bay and damaging parts. These plastic shields are surprisingly expensive, is it worth it to buy the shield and install it?
How much does it cost? Maybe they have cheaper ones at the auto recycler.
@mountainmanjoe
Couple hundred from the dealer, in going to a salvage yard
Yes. Buy them used/salvage yard if you want a lower cost. Engineers - to the almighty God of weight - would have left them off, unless they were needed. From airflow under the hood for cooling, to damage protection underneath the car, just one wayward rock and condenser, radiator, hoses/lines, and if large enough - oil pan - are all exposed. Heckofa rock to take out an oil pan, but someone somewhere has a story to tell.... if it were me, I'd put them back on. <ight want to ask yourself why the OEM shields were not there when you bought it with such low miles. Was it in an accident?
@jmk63
Was thinking about that too, not in accident as far as i understand. Going to put them back on to be safe