After driving my 04 for 2 weeks, I was caught in the largest snow storm in recent memory for Southern Middle Tennessee (9+inches). I Had been visiting outside the area when the snow fell. Upon returning to my neighborhood I attempted to negotiate the roads to my house. There were a couple of ruts from prevoius vehicles and I was, for the most part, able to maintain traction. However, the snow between the ruts was often higer than the ground clearance of my vehicle. The snow had apparently melted and refrozen during the day and sounded rather hard as it hit the undercarriage. It sounded like it was hitting throughout the length of the undercarriage. I travelled for approx. 1.5 miles under these conditions before getting stuck at the bottom of my driveway. Have I damaged the underside of my new car? What part(s) might be most prone to damage under these conditions? What should I look for to assess damage. Any suggestions would be appreciated. :unsure:

Oww. Sounds like no fun at all. I have less snow up here in NY!

There are lots of plates and such under there, so my bet is most of the important bits are protected, but honestly, I haven't spent much time under there yet - my one shot at an oil change being done by my son because I was a bit under the weather myself at the time.

But - there is one thing I can think of - not teribly important, per se - but probably broken if anything was under there - the little thin plastic air deflectors in front of each front wheel.

I have heard that some folks have these break off if they think about getting too close to a curb - they seem to leap off in fright. If you have lost yours, there is no real harm done, but your mileage on the highway may suffer a small bit.

'Twer it me, I would find a dry spot, maybe run one of the front wheels up on a curb (who am I kidding? Here in NY I have a proper garage, with a proper floor jack and proper tools. I would just raise the thing up!) and have a look underneath and see if anything that looks important had gotten wrent into unrecognisability.

Or better yet, I might have the dealer do it - at least, he has a lift! They would probably look it over for you gratis.

Of course, by now (checking the post age) you probably have put in an insurance claim to cover the damage, had it repaired and are well on your way to Florida. Sigh. What I get for not having time to read these postings more often than I do!

Jack

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If it ain't broke, fix it until it is.