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Comment by asdff | Hacker News Reader

It's definitely intentional. You pop the hood of a new car and you see a plastic cover, not the engine. The plastic cover doesn't do anything for the car, it adds cost to the car, and mechanics have to remove and reinstall it if they do any work at all.

However, it does have a function: to obscure you from the workings of your car, and push you to take the car to a dealership or someone buying genuine parts at least.

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If it truly does nothing, why would the mechanic replace it instead of just leaving it off? Genuine question, I know nothing about this. Do the manufacturers at least have some explanation for why it's there other than to make access more difficult?

There's often some noise reduction (the plastic may be backed in foam) to quiet down the direct injectors on modern cars. There's also an element of less weather-proofing required for the connectors underneath the plastic (or at least easier to undo/replace).

It's also certainly about aesthetics when the car is being sold new - you open the hood and knowing nothing about cars (or modern cars) you see lots of little piece and become concerned that there's lots of things that could break. You open a car that says "$BRAND" in a $30 piece of plastic and you think, "Nice, this is a simple, reliable, easy-to-maintain vehicle!" There may be some small effect from highlighting the typical user service ports as well (windshield washer fluid, oil, brake, coolant reservoirs).

Phones are sold this way - and people like everything "packaged up" into a black box in many cases.

My guess - the company that makes all the parts / wire runs / etc very visible has a harder time selling to mom and dad when they stop by with their kid.

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