The tyre pressure monitor works!

[Leif]

I hit a pothole this morning, a few seconds later the tyre pressure monitor warning went off. It was a brief message on the console lasting a few seconds only, with no repeat warnings. I wasn't sure if it was correct, but I soon found the steering becoming 'odd' and pulled off the main road to replace the wheel. Oddly enough I saw no sign of damage on the tyre, but I assume it ruptured somewhere.

I will try to claim against the council, as this pothole has been there for months, I usually miss it, but today there was a diversion in effect (Wickham horse fair) and so the back roads had a stream of oncoming vehicles, making it hard to avoid.

This pothole be dangerous, for obvious reasons.

[SRGTD]

@Leif; as you’re considering claiming, this website might be useful;

https://www.potholes.co.uk

Good to hear the TPMS worked. There may not be any visible sign of damage to the outside face of the tyre, but if you’ve not already done so, it’s worth checking the inside face. Also, depending on how hard you hit the pothole, there’s a possibility you may have buckled your wheel.

Good luck if you go ahead with your claim.

[stevereeves]

The TPMS is worth having IMO but isn't the most accurate device on the planet. Once it 'pinged' that both my front tyres were down whilst I was doing 70MPH on the motorway with no chance of turning off for 5 miles, eeek. I stopped, checked all tyre pressures, all were fine, phew, and so reset TPMS and continued on my merry way with no further issues. It also often gives a warning if new tyres are fitted and / or you have set the pessures, and have reset TPMS in both cases, so you just need to reset it. Again, worth having but check tyre pressure regularly, say monthly, with a known to be accurate gauge and remember to reset the system each time.

Back on topic: take loads of photos of the wheel, tyre and pot hole in question and keep copies off all photos & paperwork. I'm told that with plenty of evidence supplied, local authorities tend to settle pretty quickly as paying out for damaged wheels & tyres is cheaper and easier than actually fixing the road in the first place since most folk just suck it up and pay for such damage themsleves. Good luck....

[Leif]

Thanks. I will take photos and think about claiming. I had the tyre replaced today, a local garage had one in stock. They didn’t mention anything about a buckled wheel though they might not have bothered to check. I didn’t find out the state of the tyre, presumably it had ruptured given that I could see no damage or the tread.

I know from experience that pothole damage is not just tyres, they can damage bearings and suspension components, in this case the tyre went down in minutes, and without the warning it is possible it could have caused loss of control on a bend etc. Toys such as ABS, traction control and tyre pressure monitors really can save the driver and the car from damage and injury.

[Leif]

Incidentally, the tyre fitter asked “is that your Golf”? They do look alike.

[silverhairs]

In todays "Daily Express" 09/06/2018 page 2 there was this motorist who wrote to a council chief in a bid to settle his claim for pothole damage to his car. he was claiming £440 of damage to it's wheels after striking a pothole. He sent an email to council leader Sir Richard Leese hoping for a speedy settlement, but was stunned by Sir Richards response. to condense the reply, he said " to pay out compensation for damaged wheels is taking money out of the money that should be used to repair roads. It was the Manchester City Council. They'll do anything to get out of paying for damage to your car even if it's their potholes that have caused it.

[RUM4MO]

He really is being a bit of a fool, he is responsible for running a business and he should understand that, it seems to have won him a title as well.
Making businesses pay for not using the money in the correct ways is the only way to focus them, now if we try witholding paying any form of taxes we get hung or sent to Oz - well maybe not sent to Oz now as they don’t want any more of us now!