My wife just left our driveway for a (business) 4 hour road-trip today, and will be returning Sunday night. As I usually do before she heads out alone, I check the oil, etc. As I was giving it the once-over, I noticed the front black under plastic was sticking down and then back up again, like an accordion. I got on my knees in front to look at it, and noticed both the left and right sides (basically in front of the wheels) were the same... as if "one" of us has hit a concrete stop a little too hard. I thought is was a skid plate. I looked up skid plates. They are $53.79 currently at carparts : https://www.carparts.com/details/Jag...owfitment=true
Then as I was doing some further research on this forum, I discover another part called a Valance... Day Be $250... roughly. Quite the difference. I.... guess??? that is the one that is damaged? IF that is the under cover that is most forward, then THAT is the part I'm talking about.

The damage seems to be that it ripped the splitter section back to crunch the valance, and then the splitter sprang back to its normal form (which is why I suppose I haven't noticed it until now). But the nut clips are still in the valance, which ripped the bolts (screws?) though the holes in the splitter section, so now I don't know if I bolted it back together would it even stay together?
So.... I guess my main question is, for those of you that have dealt with this kind of damage before, is this black plastic valance "reformable"? If I take it apart, will the valance be pliable, spring back to shape, or will it be stuck in permanent crunch-mode? Might I get away with heating it to get it to lay down flat and back into shape? Any comments you can share would be appreciated.
George

 

Once deformed they usually don't spring back. But if you have a heat gun and a rubber hammer you should be able to straighten it somewhat to make it fit. Also with the ripped bolt holes just use fender washers to bolt them back up. Good luck

 

I'll try and post pictures when I get around to fixing it.

 

Note also that it is not a single sheet but two halves bonded together so it may be difficult to fix. You may just wish to look for a salvage replacement in the end.

 

I would think if you did the damage you'd know it, whereas if others did it they'd typically stay quiet.

So get wifey to pay for it, and choose the most expensive option (if non-repairable), nothing like a big bill to get peeps to drive more carefully!

I wonder why I'm single as just can't stand being 'cat flogged' (or similar words)??? Lol

PS: My 2nd was from TN and caused more damage to my cars in 8yrs together than I have in 37yrs of driving, she even blamed a wall for not being constructed properly when she reversed into it and it collapsed causing (then) £1200/$2000 of damage. She was really pi$$ed when I refused to claim on insurance or pay for the damage, hahaha

 

Well, I HAVE hit a concrete stop that I thought was low enough to clear. I'm just not sure if that was hard enough to do that damage, or if my wife hit something even harder. It's her daily driver. But it really could have been me.

 

If you take yourself out immediately and do a driving license retest.

Looking forward to seeing some pictures when you can?

 

Now, that's not fair. LOL I drive a four-wheel drive everyday. When I get in her car sometimes I forget about things like curbs and stops.