Volkswagen Repair: 2002 New Beetle question, plastic, cowl

Question
I have a 2002 New Beetle. It drives just fine, but a plastic piece under the front of the car (stretching from wheel to wheel) has dropped and scrapes the road as I drive. I tried to pop it back into place, and it just won't go. It seems to be a non-essential piece; what is it? Should I just take it off? Should I take the car into a dealer?

Answer

Bumper_Clips This is used for primarily for aero-dynamics, it's not absolutely vital.  They often have either clips or screws which hold it on.  These can be broken if the front end is bumped hard enough to flex the plastic too far.  I recently repaired this on my work van using small metal brackets and drilling sheet metal screws at some  appropriate places in the frame.  If you jack up the car, get under there and look closely, you may find the places where the fasteners are detached, and perhaps even some of the original ones.  These are usually not expensive to replace.  However, you may find the plastic ripped and need to be more creative in your repairs.  If it were mine and it was not too mangled, I'd fix it.