Had my 1.2tsi 5 months now and at last we've had some decent weather, which has allowed a proper look over (and under) the vehicle.

I was surprised to find such extensive plastic shielding under the main floor area. Is this a new thing, or is it the same on the Mk1? Although it would seem to be a good thing on the face of it, I did discover a snag...... 

Gentle thumping on the plastic panels revealed the sound of various debris (salt/grit/dried mud/etc.) lying loose on top. The plastics are held by 10mm hex nuts, also plastic, and it's fairly easy to unscrew the outer four (i.e. on the sill side) and pull down the panel a few inches for a look with a torch. If there's a lot of muck in there, wedge the panel open with a couple of blocks of wood or similar and get your hose jet in there to blast it out.

Cleverly, the plastic nuts stay captive in the panel, so no danger of losing these.

I should point out that there are what look like perfectly adequate drainage holes in the plastics but because of the large flat area it's a bit like panning for gold; all the liquid runs away but the solids stay put. 

Now the surprising bit. Mine was worth a clean out even though this car does not go off-road and is only 9 months and 8,000 miles old, and has only seen one UK winter! Admittedly I do live in a rather mucky part of the country. Lots of agriculture and some major construction projects going on locally. I daresay you owners in a more metropolitan environment may not be so badly affected. Personally, I'm adding this task to my annual 'spring cleaning' schedule. 

Onward and upward comrades!

Skoda have been fitting these panels to many of their models for years, as do other manufactures; our Volvo has them but they are some kind of fibre board rather than plastic.

 

You can also option the RRP which gives you a strengthened shield under the engine, originally steel but later changed to thermo plastic.

 

 

TP