Rock damage on AC Condenser
 

I have heard of a claim where there was damage on the condenser AC, by stones off the road. Lexus Dealer denied the claim and will not fix the condenser. The owner has to spend quite a chunk of change to replace the condenser to get her AC back. This was after less than a thousand miles after she bought it.

Looking at the air dam, yes, there will be a chance that something can hit the AC condenser and thereby causing a leak. There are connections exposed to potential damage. The fins themselves are not the risky areas, the connectors are.

I want to put a mesh in there to protect it. In fact, it will make it look better with mesh on it.

Anybody's heard of this potential problem?

Yeah, I was thinking of doing the same thing. I see a number of fins bent over just from last winters driving in snow! A rock could easily bounce in there and cause havoc.

I've heard of this problem, but on the Honda Odyssey. A rock hit the condenser and I was forced to replace it, honda denying the claim. At the time, it had under 10,000 miles. I was considering putting a mesh as well, but i traded it in for the RX. I guess I still have to consider the mesh for this one.

Would our automobile insurance cover this? I've had a couple of bent rims replaced by insurance before because of a road hazard. Minus deductible...

Good question...but this is not damage to property (your example)...this conderser damage is functional...hence probably not covered.

I am headed to Home Depot today to get me a piece of Mesh, hopefully it is at least 48” long. I measured the our air dam and it is 47” long. It could be as easy as sliding the mesh through the bottom (you have to take off the cover that you normally would take off if you were replacing the oil filter) and then just do a tie wrap to keep the mesh in place. This protection will keep the debris, both soft and hard off the condenser. Plus it looks cool, too. I have mesh protection on all my cars’ air dams.

This can happen on any vehicle. The lower part of my condenser has been battered up on my RX300.

In the case of severe rock damage, my uncle here knows someone who can weld pieces back together.

Hence, a mesh will offer some kind of protection...