hello all, I've been following the conversations about the lower engine cover and saw that some of you have removed it completely. After fighting with lost fasteners, wrinkled plastic and misalignment over and over, I finally decided to replace it with a new one. Found the best deal on Rockauto.com and had it a couple of days later for under $100. Went to install and it fit great, so for not much $ and a few minutes in the garage, I was back to like new and very happy.

4 days later, my 18 YO daughter said she ran over something in the road and heard a pop, and it may be loose again. I looked under the car and found heavy damage direct to the engine cover. It had deep scars and part of it was missing at the rear where the rear fasteners are. So after full interrogation, my daughter admitted it was a rather large obstacle in the road. I jacked the car up even more and got under there enough to see what really happened. She hit a large rock and I'm guessing it fell off a dump truck. The car ahead of her hit it also but when she hit it it went under front and center. No damage to the bumper or air dam, but the lower engine cover caught just enough of it to roll it up into the K member and there is a scar all the way from front to back on the plastic belly pan. Fortunately, no damage to the gas tank. I found jagged chunks of the shattered rock hung up in the suspension as evidence of what she hit.

The K member took the worst of it and it is bent so I am hopeful this does not affect the alignment, as the right lower a-arm attaches not far from where it is bent. Dealer is going to put it on the rack tomorrow and look at the damage, so hoping for the best. Thankfully, the new lower engine cover did its job and there was no damage to the powertrain. We drove it for about a week without the center section of the engine cover and got it back on just in time.

Anyone here have any experience with a bent K-member?