Well, I talked with my mother the other day and she looked up the service receipt...turns out it was the condensor not the compressor. I suppose something could have hit it hard enough to crack the coils?

 

That would be more likely, however I can't really see that happening without damage to to front bumper or radiator. I think it would do some other damage aswell.

 

If it's just a small rock we dont usually see any more damage other than a small scratch. It doesn't take much to put a hole in a condensor.

 

Assuming that the condenser is in front of the radiator, is it exposed so much as to make it a common repair item? Years ago I had a 1988 Accord and, though it sprung a freon leak somewhere every summer without fail, I never had to replace a condenser coil. You'd think they'd put some kind of screen or shield in the bumper grille for that.

I'm glad to hear that it's reasonably common and probably not the result of an overzealous dealership.

 

I have never had a car spring a leak from an condensor. It is fairly well protected by the grill and bumper

 

On a 7th-gen Accord (like this one) the 'grille' is pretty wide-open. It would be easy for a rock to hit the condensor without doing much to the paint of the bumper. It's just dumb luck exactly where it would hit.