I have a nasty feeling that I may have caused a bit of damage to the underside of the car..

A couple of weeks ago, I came down quite hard on a very well concealed and severe sleeping policeman/speed hump.

At the time I noticed no untoward effects - no oil leaks or anything.

However, since then, I have noticed that there's what appears to be oil on the right hand side of the undertray. There are no puddles under the car anywhere & I'm keeping a keen eye on the oil level. I suspect that I may have caused a small crack in the sump which I'll get checked in the week.

Meanwhile, a couple of questions - if the oil loss (if any) is only very slight & is maintained by topping up if needs be until it gets to a garage in the week, do we reckon it'll be ok to drive?

Also, has anyone had to replace a sump pan on a mk2 (Pre-FL) Octavia vRS & if so, roughly how much did it cost?

Many thanks in advance,

David.

As a motorcyclist I would say no, it's not alright to drive. The under tray may not stop small amounts getting on the road which turns into a large slippery patch when wet.

Good point & noted. Thank you.

Just a follow-up to this. Car went into the excellent VAS Motion in Guildford last week (no, I'm not affiliated with them, they're just very good) where they diagnosed an A/C system which just required servicing & topping up as well as leaky intercooler hose/seals.

All now sorted (touch wood) - nice and cool again (just in time for the end of the heatwave, typically) and no longer a skid hazard..

Result, no significant damage after all!

Result, no significant damage after all!

Thanks, yes, mercifully not - I was definitely expecting the worst!

After 19 years of owning exclusively Italian cars (all of which I loved, I hasten to add) I'm still twitchy when it comes to reliability/damage