I’ve mentioned before that I believe one of the current industry-wide embarrassments of the entire automotive industry is the state of underbody aero/drip/splash/whatever trays and shields. These shields tend to be made from either plastic, thin sheet metal, some kind of pressed fiberboard, or what seems to be pressure-treated animal wastes, and they routinely rip or tear or break around their attachment points, and then flap around noisily until the owner just tears the damn thing off or does a quick repair with zip ties. I know that I’ve done both of these things to cars I’ve owned and friends’ cars. It’s incredibly common.
There’s a story making the rounds now about a man who took his 2017 Honda Civic into a Canadian Tire in the Newfoundland and Labrador province of Canada for an oil change, and while being serviced, Canadian Tire techs secured his damaged splash shield in place using zip ties. The Honda owner, Travis Jones, claims that the failure of these zip ties was the direct cause for him driving into a ditch a few months after the zip-tie repair.
Before the addition of the zip ties, when Jones first picked up the car from Canadian Tire, he described an incident where the car was “shaking violently” and struggling to reach highway speeds. He returned to the shop, which is when the zip-tie fix was undertaken.
The CBC has a video report about the incident:
Okay, so, I have a lot of thoughts here. And I suspect you do too. And I’ll preface everything I say by noting that I have no direct experience with this particular car, person, or repair. I’m basing my thoughts on similar repairs I have made to similar cars over the years, and similar situations where a splash shield came loose because of either wear or my half-assed zip-tie barely-a-repair. I’m a little embarrassed by how many times I’ve been in this situation, so let’s just say it is very healthily plural. Very.
In every incident I’ve been involved in with a splash shield – either plastic or metal – coming loose at highway speeds, the result I’ve noticed is a lot of awful noise made by the shield flapping around and scraping on the asphalt rapidly passing beneath the car. It’s annoying as hell, but I have never experienced a loss of control as a result. And of all the people I know to whom this has also happened, I’ve never heard anyone state they crashed as a result of a loose underbody shield.
Now, this is not to say it can’t happen, because anything is possible, right? It just feels extremely implausible to me based on my experience. Which again, is considerable.
As far as the ethics of Canadian Tire using zip-ties for this repair, I’m of two minds about it. If the customer didn’t want to spend the money to replace the whole damaged splash guard with a new one, there’s really not a whole lot else you could do. Sure, you could use big washers around the torn fastener holes or something, but that’s just a different sort of janky repair. Your options are to make some janky, good-enough fix, or just take the whole thing off and not think about it ever again, which I have also done multiple times.
Canadian Tire’s mistake here, I think, is not informing the customer about what they were doing. The customer should have been told their underbody splash/drip/whatever tray is all messed up, and then given the three options: spend the money and replace it; do a janky zip-tie fix that is technically temporary; or just yank it all off and deal with the repercussions, which, let’s be real here, are pretty minimal in the real world.
In fact, removing the splash/drip tray could allow you to see and identify engine fluid leaks before they get to be a problem, something an intact guard would hide. I’m sure there are efficiency/aero/cooling issues as well, but they tend to be pretty much ignorable for most drivers.
Canadian Tire offered Jones a $400 reimbursement should he choose to repair the shield, but Jones declined, believing he shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket for the repair. Another offer for more money was tendered, and also rejected.
So what do we think here? I think Canadian Tire’s crime was lack of communication, and that’s not insignificant. Car owners deserve to have as much information as possible about the condition of their cars and the state of the repairs. So it seems Canadian Tire can definitely do better there.
At the same time, I just can’t fathom how a loose splash guard could send a car into a ditch; I suppose it could hypothetically get caught in axles and wheels or tie rods or something, but the condition of the guard that Jones shows in the video doesn’t seem to suggest that level of mangling. Driving with a flapping or loose underbody tray is so wildly common that I’m just having trouble accepting it’s the sort of thing that would cause loss of control of a car?
I don’t know, though; maybe the noise and chaos of a flapping, scraping shield caused Jones to panic? I really can’t say.
But I can wonder, and I definitely am doing just that. And I think a decent takeaway from all this would be that any shop should at least tell you about what they’re repairing on your car and how they’re doing it. That part I’m sure of, at least.
Also, Jones did pick a good color for his Civic.
(thanks for the tip, Vic!)
This guy is a great victim. CT should have removed the cover. Now lawyers can sort it out. Pardon the pun but this was a stretch for cable ties, which are usually no less effective than the OEM push in plastic connectors.
Someone said this guy’s man card should be revoked. Amen
Homie should be going after his barber for malpractice, not Canadian Tire.
Zip ties fix everything gosh dammit. Throw in some duct tape and JB weld and your good for another 100k miles.
The dude’s real problem isn’t that Crappy Tire went with an “interesting” fix to a problem, it’s that he went to Canadian Tire.
We call the place “Crappy Tire” or “Canadian Trash” for a reason. It’s the place to get Frank-branded potato chips and Christmas lights, not a place to get your car fixed.
I’ve only had positive experiences there. Fwiw.
I’ve been actively avoiding this place for twenty five years. They have had contempt for their customers forever, and that’s a game this hombre doesn’t play. There is always an alternative…
Regardless of this Newfoundlander’s experience, Canadian Tire isn’t known for its quality mechanics…
Knowing that, I once dared to have brand new winter tires installed at a CT location, thinking they can’t possibly fuck up a tire install…
I was still in the parking lot when my TPMS went off. “Ok, so they didn’t reset it I thought… not impressed, but whatevs…” .. a km later, I get another tire pressure warning, so I check my tires and two were at 42 psi, while the other two were at 32 psi… Back to CT to have equal air…
You’d think that was bad enough… The next day I’m observing my new Conti Viking Contact 7 and notice arrows going backwards… Wait, what? The directional tires were facing the wrong direction… Back to CT…
The service guy behind the counter was really surprised, seeing as I had a “nice car” (new-at-the-time cornflower GTI), he said he had his BEST TECH change my tires! Yikes!
——
On another note, how many Newfies does it take to change a tire on a Civic?
21.
One to hold the ratchet and twenty to spin the car around…
Lol this guy is a tool.
OK the first thing I noticed in that photo was the NACA duct in the shield.
Before the addition of the zip ties, when Jones first picked up the car from Canadian Tire, he described an incident where the car was “shaking violently” and struggling to reach highway speeds. He returned to the shop, which is when the zip-tie fix was undertaken.
Im missing something here…..How in the hell did the zip tie fix take care of of shaking and not getting up to speed?
What actual work did he have done at the shop to begin with?
Plus it was months after he had work done that he went in the ditch?
Who knows what happened in between time?
Yeah what the guy is saying doesn’t add up.
My guess is this guy is an idiot and whoever worked on his car at CT was also an idiot
Plot twist: the CT employee who worked on his car was him. He figured he’d make bank if he paid his employer because then the money would go to him, basically a pure profit oil change.
Not enough info. Did the oil change guy notice it was sagging and did the guy a solid by zip tying it to the vehicle? Did the owner request a professional repair and the zip tie strategy was the only solution offered?
I just dont see how its plausible that a splash shield could make you lose control. The only way i can imagine is if it got stuck under a wheel or wrapped around a tire.
if either had happened i’d expect to see road’s abrasion damage to splash shield…i just see bends.
I agree 100% but we only have the cheap owners side. Did the shop get an opportunity to respond I think engineering wise no matter the material a splash or rock shield should have holes to allow water dirt and mud to drain. But taking the guys side after letting everything detioriate is not trust worthy. How about a bill for the repair? Did Nanook Automotive charge for a repair hundreds of dollars or a quick fix, no cost or like a half hour labor and diagnostics. These professional shops track diagnostics and suggested repairs. I’m guessing neophyte thinks he knows everything and embarrassed he was wrong. Props to our neighbors to the North for not getting screwed by an idiot.
I’m in danger, but I guess I did it myself. I have at least one car with several plastic welds and zip ties holding the underbody pieces on. But don’t we all?
My take: this asshole is being an asshole and trying to leverage his assholishness for Internet fame or money.
98% of the customers either do not know or do not disclose that the underbody shield is loose. We are categorically doing them a favor by zip tying it up free of charge. This guy is a jackoff.
Source: I’m a mechanic now; people have accused us of:
– inflating their tires such that their check engine light came on
– using clerical errors (mistyped mileage) to suggest that we somehow put 3000 joyride miles on their car in 48 hours and that’s why it’s a smoldering piece it’s shit
– we should have known that they had changed the long block (but they didn’t tell us, and it uses very nearly the same oil filter) resulting in an oil-out fiasco that still has the van in our parking lot six weeks later, despite an independent auditor finding that we were not at fault.
Fuck this guy.
I would never admit that a splash shield forced me into a ditch. That’s grounds for a man card revocation.
That’s grounds for a license revocation, regardless of however one identifies. Dude could have just lied and said he drove into the ditch to avoid a deer like every other person who loses focus while driving.
It’s like he’s proud to have no pride (seems a common affliction nowadays). I’m not sure how his story makes sense, but it certainly paints him as a complete idiot either way.
Sounds like that dude’s Honda momentarily turned into a Toyota and got grounded to the ground.
Definitely wasn’t his bad driving skills. Nope.
Crash course in local lingo: Skeet (noun).
The entire front bumper assembly on my MX5 was held on with just 4 cable ties, and stayed in place at speeds of over 100mph. The rear bumper too.
Other drivers would knock them off occasionally by parking like they do in Paris, but aero forces never managed it.
Mil-spec zipties rated for the stated loading and resistant to the degradation caused by UV radiation and unwanted exposure to the chemical reactions of organic compounds might have prevented failure.
I used said zipties for the body shells I’ve built for my electric trikes, with satisfactory results. What killed my zipties wasn’t UV/chemical degradation, but accidents by other vehicles colliding with me. Said Mil-spec zipties may have even even saved me from injury during collisions by other vehicles on the road. Those zipties have had their ratings tested and certified. I will use nothing less.
I mention this because, for an OEM vehicle, there is something to be said for using actual steel bolts/screws/washers/nuts/fasteners for underbody. Fuck his industry-standard made of plastic snap parts bullshit. I’ve done work on an F-body Camaro with this snap bullshit and it sucks!
Mil spec shrink wrap is pretty awesome too. Especially on kinky night.
I haven’t tried that. Sounds like a good time. <3
Where does one find legit mil-spec zipties?
Underneath the truck the National Guard guys arrived in.
On Toecutter’s bike.
McMaster-Carr is but one place of many.
An underbody shield got partially loose when my car ran over a chunk of tire that peeled off a big rig in front of us at 75 mph. The muffler got dented, too, but the real problem is that stupid shield, because no matter what I do, there’s always a loose clip. Maybe I should try a zip tie.
Those clips are commonly made of plastic and integrated with other more-expensive parts of the car. For a few dollars and a few minutes extra of assembly labor per vehicle, they could have used metal fasteners and saved each customer who has had problems with underbody panels hours of their time and hundreds or thousands of dollars of their money.
Right? Such a poor decision.
‘Shaking violently and having trouble getting up to highway speeds’. Yep sounds like the splash shield to me too.
I always wished EVERY Mk2 VW I ever owned had a splash shield. As soon as you hit a big enough puddle on the right side, you either had squealing belts or momentary loss of power steering or both. Fun times, would still buy.
Also, I’ve had a flappy panel as recently as my current 2016 Q3. Right side, just behind the front wheel. I would just tuck it back up if a puddle knocked it down, never fastened it properly and one day after being in for service at the dealer, it was attached. Didn’t even have to ask, good guys.
Most of the mounting bolts snapped off the the splash shield on the used ’13 Highlander I just recently bought. It is just likely going in the bin unless I can retrofit to plastic clips easily.
Usually, an 8 year old rust belt car has no shields anymore. Most mfgs use 6mm bolts to attach said shields, which snap off within the first 18 months of road salt exposure.
Given the comments, no one here does they own oil changes. Some don’t even have basic tools, yet still spout misguided opinions about the work of those in the trade.
I have hole/scroll sawed access holes in a few, removed others entirely. Permanantly removed most the underhood panles on the W-body I had in college. PITA.