

Generally it’s fine to remove those but I would consider having it put back on if you live anywhere that gets snow. Reason being is that this plate protects undercarriage parts from excessive corrosion as a result of salt on the roads. So your car isn’t going to break down if you remove it, but if you plan to keep the car long-term, it can extend the life of those parts. As someone who works on my own car and has also had several 15+ year old vehicles, I can attest that this plate does indeed reduce corrosion in those areas.
I feel like the answer to this question will depend on your location and what you’re used to seeing. I personally grew up in the Chicago suburbs and then moved to Chicago and the difference in choices at the grocery store is night and day. Not only are there far more niche items, but there are also more stores to select from. So if one store doesn’t have something, I simply go to another. But I also have noticed that if I’m out in the rural areas, it’s pretty strictly the basics. There’s also a big difference between regions. I have more variety in Chicago than in Phoenix and there’s certainly more variety in New York than Chicago. I haven’t noticed a drop off at my usual grocery stores, however…
I have noticed a large drop in variety specifically at box clothing outlets. There is less variety and less stocked sizes readily available. I think this is likely because of the proliferation of online shopping and corporations seeing this as an opportunity to save money by simply shipping less popular items to stores when people can order them online instead.
That’s just been my personal experience having traveled around a bit 🤷