Engine cover!

[Dorkus]

Just picked up a a 2023 plate Gti and checked the engine no cover on the engine asked the dealer they had not a clue,having just paid £40000 for a car that they cannot provide an engine cover is ridiculous.
The issue is VW don’t give a toss because like all manufacturers they are all obsessed about electric cars and ICE cars are just a side line.
So now I am looking for an engine cover and having to payout £500 is a bit rich thanks VW,lovely car though nice and smooth on the road,having just had a Tesla it’s quite as well.

[Brenbo]

Theres no engine cover on my 2023 Tiguan R either, so not just a golf issue.  However i was not surprised by the lack of the cover, as was expecting it, after the cover was removed from my previous Golf R.  Cost cutting gone mad and shouldn't happen on any cars over £40K

[Yusee]

So it’s a pointless piece of plastic that could possibly be dangerous in cars with more powerful engines.

Seems a reasonable decision by VW to remove them, doesn’t it?

The engine is only exposed if you open the bonnet, I presume no one drives around like that do they?😂

[SRGTD]

Theres no engine cover on my 2023 Tiguan R either, so not just a golf issue.  However i was not surprised by the lack of the cover, as was expecting it, after the cover was removed from my previous Golf R.  Cost cutting gone mad and shouldn't happen on any cars over £40K

No, it’s not just a Golf issue; it affects other VAG brands as well.

I don’t think the lack of an engine cover is a cost cutting measure - it was prompted by a safety issue, and was / is the subject of a safety recall; see details below on car-recalls.eu website.

https://car-recalls.eu/recall/volkswagen-golf-2020-engine-cover-fire/

VW should be rolling out replacement revised covers in due course - when that will be is anyone’s guess though. I dare say that currently, VW have higher priority issues to address though - e.g. clearing the backlog of new car builds. However, I think I’d rather be without an engine cover than have my car end up like the one in the pictures at reply #1 in the thread at the link below;

https://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=288649.0

[ar899]

Just picked up a a 2023 plate Gti and checked the engine no cover on the engine asked the dealer they had not a clue,having just paid £40000 for a car that they cannot provide an engine cover is ridiculous.
The issue is VW don’t give a toss because like all manufacturers they are all obsessed about electric cars and ICE cars are just a side line.
So now I am looking for an engine cover and having to payout £500 is a bit rich thanks VW,lovely car though nice and smooth on the road,having just had a Tesla it’s quite as well.

Quieter than a Tesla?

[Ceefeesh]

Does anyone know when VW started removing the engine covers? It must have been around a year ago now. That’s sufficient time to engineer a remedy, if it was a priority.

[SRGTD]

Does anyone know when VW started removing the engine covers? It must have been around a year ago now. That’s sufficient time to engineer a remedy, if it was a priority.

But it’s unlikely to be a priority. With the engine cover removed, the risk of it dislodging under certain driving conditions and causing a fire isn’t there.

The priority for VW was to remove covers where they were fitted because of the potential fire risk. it won’t be a priority for them to provide a replacement, when not having an engine cover fitted doesn’t affect the normal operation of the car.

Edit: To put some sort of context around how quickly VW address these issues; it took the wider VAG well over six months before starting to roll out a fix for a defective rear seat belt buckle on the current model Polo, Seat Ibiza and Seat Arona. The faulty seat belt buckle could become unfastened under certain conditions. Now IMHO that was a genuine potential safety issue that should have been given a very high priority to fix because of a) the risk of injury to vehicle occupants and b) the number of vehicles affected (it affected all models of Polo, Ibiza and Arona).

So if it took over six months for VAG to start fixing a genuine safety-related defect, I think it’ll be some time before there’s a roll-out of replacement cosmetic engine covers .

[Brenbo]

Theres no engine cover on my 2023 Tiguan R either, so not just a golf issue.  However i was not surprised by the lack of the cover, as was expecting it, after the cover was removed from my previous Golf R.  Cost cutting gone mad and shouldn't happen on any cars over £40K

No, it’s not just a Golf issue; it affects other VAG brands as well.

I don’t think the lack of an engine cover is a cost cutting measure - it was prompted by a safety issue, and was / is the subject of a safety recall; see details below on car-recalls.eu website.

https://car-recalls.eu/recall/volkswagen-golf-2020-engine-cover-fire/

VW should be rolling out replacement revised covers in due course - when that will be is anyone’s guess though. I dare say that currently, VW have higher priority issues to address though - e.g. clearing the backlog of new car builds. However, I think I’d rather be without an engine cover than have my car end up like the one in the pictures at reply #1 in the thread at the link below;

https://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=288649.0

I agree, but the cost cut would have been making the cover a flimsy piece of foam/plastic which is liable to cause issues

[Ceefeesh]

I am sure I read an article that the change to a softer material was in part to provide a ‘cushion’ in the unfortunate circumstances where a pedestrian lands on the bonnet following a collision. Liability for any unfortunate/unnecessary injuries could be an interesting  discussion. Other articles suggest that a replacement will be of the same type of material with the change being it’s mounting to the engine. I have previously said that the removal was a safety precaution not cost cutting. However, it wasn’t VW’s to remove and they have had ample time to sort it. I agree doing nothing costs them nothing but it remains an appalling attitude towards us - the paying customers. To summarise, ‘You see that faulty bit I charged you for, I’ll just take it back and not replace it. Happy enough?’   

[ajmoir36]

My dad was told by his Skoda dealer there is not going to be a replacement.