I have a 2004 Honda Accord LX. A couple of weeks ago, on the Freeway, something came off another car ahead of us, and went under my car. Nothing happened at first, but then the A/C went out. Right now it's 107 degree outside and you need a A/C out here. I thought it was mechanical, but the Service Tech called and stated that something came up and punched a hole in the condencing unit. The way he told me, I pictured that something came up from under and richoceted into the condencing unit (like a rock which he told me that it could of been). After $700, I had the car at home and looked at the front end. The way front end is designed, what is covering the condencing unit has large gaps (I would have to take a picture so people would understand or look at yours to see if it's the same), so what ever hit it, came straight through the grill.
Now my question, can Honda make something to fix this? Has this happened to someone else, and road hazard blamed, with Honda saying "to bad". I know, after looking at the way the front grill was designed, this can happen again, and I will be stuck with another $700 bill.

 

perhaps get a grillecraft which can take the brunt of the object, that way it doesnt do damage to your car again, either that, or make your own grill, its not too hard...

 

That's not a design problem or anything, all are like that. You have to have the large gaps in the front to keep sufficient air flow over the condenser otherwise your a/c will not work too great. Yours was just a case of bad luck..... I rarely ever (never, really) see this happen

 

the car obviously is designed in a certain manner, but i think the man is asking how he can prevent this from happening to him a 2nd time, i suggest perhaps making a skid plate out of some sort of material perhaps, im not sure, do you have a photo of the underside of this car so i can get an idea where the condensor is, im sure there is something you can do so you can get peace of mind...

 

I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm also very sorry that you paid $700 dollars for a fix. Few years back I crashed my car into a tree pretty bad [and no I wasn't drunk, it was during winter and the road was f......ed].. and dented the front bumper.. also f.... the radiator along with the AC condensor... to fix everything I had to pay $700 dollars.. including labor.. this was awhile back but I don't think inflation grew that much in 2 years. Oh and I'm also in NY... where you buy 5 dollar hotdogs..

 

put some chicken wire or that metal screen for doors..

it would be the same for tires if you got a flat would you blame for poor tire design..

 

That was just a freak accident, and the odds of something like that happening are slim. You also probably need to realize that your bill from the shop included about $250 in HONDA parts plus the cost of recharging the AC. You could have saved yourself $2-300 by changing it out yourself.