2008 Chevy Cobalt undercarriage damage

I would have to agree with matticon with the repair process, and it appears to be the transmission pan. If its below the transmission then it would be....if its below the motor itself it's the oil pan

Thank you so much for answering!!! There's quite a puddle in driveway and it seems to be oil to me, it's dark brown in color and oil consistency, even though it's not directly under motor, it's about in the middle of undercarriage.

Not sure why my pics are uploading upside down!

After looking at the pics and looking the part up online I'm pretty sure that's your transmission pan. They both will be dark in color if they haven't been changed in a while but if you put some on a paper towel transmission fluid will have a red tint to it where motor oil will have a yellowish caramel color. I would sit a pan or tub you don't care about under it to catch what comes out. If the leak is slow and your shop isn't too far away you could make it by refilling it into the resovoir but never ever run either of these empty because that will cause massive damage. Also you can double check the dip sticks on both of those to further confirm which one is losing fluid.

I actually did back the car up and put an oil pan under the drip, so I will go out and check it now and see what it is. I did check my oil level earlier and it did say it was still full so I was confused about that, so I will check the trans fluid this time. I didn't see any red hue on the paper towels, but my eyes aren't great either, so I will definitely double check that also. Thank you so much for your help, I greatly appreciate it!!

I pulled out the oil pan from under car and it looks like oil to me. I don't see any red at all.

Here's another photo of the pan.

I was wrong before when I said it wasn't under motor and more towards middle of car, it is directly under the motor. I'm uploading a pic that I took from the drivers side of my car. Thanks again for the help.

Transmission fluid can be just brown in color depending on age and how long it's been used. It's just dyed for identification purposes, after a good while they will be hard to distinguish even with the paper towel test as they are similar lubricants. They are not interchangeable because of viscosity but they both serve a similar purpose of keeping moving metal parts from fusing together from friction heat. If there is a sizeable amount in your pan it should be fairly apparent from the dip sticks which one it is. I still lean to thinking that is the transmission pan because it is more of an L shape. The oil pan is more of a basic rectangle and a deeper pan.

The transmission pan should look like this.

All good answers above, my only input to you is to avoid driving this until you make repairs, running low on oil or tranny fluid will cause more damage to engine or transmission. Most shops making this repair aren't going to want the liabilty of just bending the lip of the pan back into place, cause if it leaks it'll be on them. So you may expect to have to replace the pan.

On a sideways sitting motor, the transmission will be sitting inside the engine compartment also. The L shape of the pan is indicative of a front wheel drive transmission

...I was really hoping it wasn't the trans, but you're right, it is, I finally got far enough under car to see and take picture..FML...I truly appreciate all your guys help, I've been freaking out since this happened, I just don't understand why it's taken a week for it to show like this! I've been checking every day too!

Luckily enough it's just minor damage and it is a rather easy fix. If you are tight on funds, you could use a rubber mallet to reshape the pan and then spend (rounding up) $10 for a tube of form-a-gasket as a temporary gasket until you can afford to get it fixed right.

It's possible the gasket was holding it for a while and then finally just broke loose. From the looks of it that gasket was holding on for dear life. Ken is spot on, most places probably won't want to just bend the pan and be liable for it. "Some" old school shops might do it but those guys are a dying breed now days. That pan isnt too pricey though for a part like that, like 50-70$ for the pan plus labor (probably an hour tops since they have to drain it) even if you have to buy the pan. They will probably also charge you for a full transmission fluid change since they have to drain and refill it depending on the place. Also no problem happy to try and help where I can. I know I've gotten my share of help from here and other forums as well. Good luck to you!