I need some way to carry a bike. It's either a hitch mount, which I have or a rack that goes on the trunk. I want to know if anyone has had clearance issues with a hitch. My driveway has a short drop off to the street and the streets where I live have a lot of dips for water runoff.

 

I haven't tried a hitch, but if the bottom front of your 8th gen clears the pavement while entering and leaving your driveway, the hitch has a good chance of also clearing, as the rear bumper on which it would be mounted has more ground clearance than the front bumper.

Of course, if the hitch bike mount extends very far to the rear, then clearance could be an issue. I would look at the hitch very carefully, then stop the car when most of the car is on the driveway, but the rear wheels are sitting in the road gutter (the position where rear clearance is at a minimum), and see where the bottom of the hitch would fall if it was on the car. Sorry I can't be more help.

 

Too late to help, but for others I installed a Curt (Class 2 ... I believe) and no clearance issues

 

Any pics?

 

The plastic pan under the trunk needs to removed. Easy. The heat shields are history.