POTHOLES ! ! ! not happy jan !

christo_fiesta · 21-08-2005, 03:04 AM

Hey guys..

Bad news...almost crashed my beautiful fez...

Was driving in the carpark of my local supermarket, to stop and get a DVD for the saturday night movie with the GF, and I hit a pothole..

not just any pothole, this thing was a damn crater. At LEAST 3 feet wide and possibly 1/2 a foot or more deep. My front right hand side tyre popped ( really loudly ) and I lost control of the car. I managed to safely park it quickly, and changed the tyre to the space saver.

Basically now, I need a new tyre, new steel wheel cover ( cos the old one is hammered literally ), and hopefully nothing is buggered with my suspension...

Is the shopping centre management liable to pay for the damage to my fez? The better pay, or no kidding you will see me on "Today Tonight" for sure....

Not happy jan !

Cypher · 21-08-2005, 03:22 AM

Sorry to hear that...sounds nasty.

But the obvious question is if the hole is that big, how come you did not see it?

And I suppose the car park owners have an obligation to maintain the car park in a safe working order, especially if you are paying to park. You might need to talk with someone who knows the law.

mitch_lx · 21-08-2005, 11:14 AM

Hey, not the best of luck hay.

I had to replace a steel wheel, hubcap and tyre on my fiesta.

I can give you rough prices on the parts too.

around 70 bucks for hubcap, 160ish for bridgestone turanza tyre, and around 140 for the actual steel wheel.

plus around 30 for an alignment, may have to pay a little for fitting and balancing.

Not a cheap excercise, my thoughts are, get it all fixed, keep the recipts. take a photo of the pothole. and send it all too the company or supermarket incharge for the upkeep of the carpark

b2tf · 21-08-2005, 11:18 AM

Absolutely they are liable! Send them an itemised bill as well as a letter explaining what happened. Dates, times etc etc.

The Mighty Red · 21-08-2005, 11:24 AM

And take pics of said pothole and tyre etc ,surrounding area

lotsy · 21-08-2005, 11:31 AM

Shopping centres are liable for shopping trolley damage done to cars so the same should go for pot holes.

christo_fiesta · 21-08-2005, 12:38 PM

I had no idea they were liable for trolley damage done to cars?

I bought a disposable fujiu camera to take photos of the pothole, damage etc etc etc.

I plan on making them pay for the cost of the camera as well, Im so angry word cant even begin to describe how angry I am.

mitch_lx · 21-08-2005, 04:01 PM

i can imagine how you feel.

Are you serious about trolley damage?

My mums car is covered in dents. I hate parking my car in shopping centres, my fear of trolleys has got the better of me

Danny · 22-08-2005, 02:14 AM

How fast were you going In a Shopping centre carpark to not see a pot hole that big and then avoid it Christo??

Hopefully they dont throw a Question like that at ya, but I'm assuming you have an explanation so hopefully they have to pay.

xurbanx · 22-08-2005, 02:46 AM

if its night i think you'll win but like danny said they could throw a question like that at you o.O;;

you can get negligence, the shopping centre have a duty of care to its customers; and its been breached so you can sue for damages ^_^ (i think)

Leah · 22-08-2005, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lotsy

Shopping centres are liable for shopping trolley damage done to cars

Are u serious?? I had some ****er trolley dint my car the other day. I was so mad!!! Decent scratch & dint.

I didnt know they were liable??

FlaminFiesta · 22-08-2005, 12:04 PM

yeah i did the same thibg but it at night on road works, u couldnt see the hole with highbeams and foggers on scratched my left front not too noticable but u can see it from abt 3 metres away and it threw my wheel alignment out that cost me $50 to fix as well.=l...

lotsy · 23-08-2005, 10:25 AM

a friends car was hit by a shopping trolley so they went straight to centre management and they paid for the damages.

christo_fiesta · 23-08-2005, 12:30 PM

My explanation is...

That it was at night time, the shopping centre carpark has very little to no lighting, and the pothole was full of water because it had been raining. Therefore to the naked eye it just looked like a puddle of water on the road...i didnt realise there was a god damn SWIMMING POOL underneath.

The people from my local newspaper are coming over today to take photos of my car / me / and the hole to write a story about it. Go figure.

Im chasing up the cheap skates who own the shopping centre complex to pay for my damages, they will pay - just a matter of when.

christo_fiesta · 23-08-2005, 12:41 PM

By the way guys,

you might be interested to know that Bridgestone no longer make our stock tyres anymore on the New Fiestas.

There is an upgraded different model which they now have, so if you screw up 1 tyre you are up for changing 2 or more.

Danny · 23-08-2005, 04:00 PM

whats the new tyre they use now???

joshf2 · 23-08-2005, 09:20 PM

its probably just as bad

when i test drove my car, it lacked any mid corner grip, and the sidewalls were too soft and so it scrubbed alot

i know road slicks are the first change thats happening when i pick up my car

mitch_lx · 24-08-2005, 12:13 AM

Soft tyre wall.... AGREED. makes me feel very nervous when i can feel the tyre wall flexing under heavy cornering, the back of the car is very unstable sometimes

Danny · 24-08-2005, 12:51 AM

Ha, you musn't know how to drive then!! jk. I hammer and hammer and hammer mine round the most ridiculous of corners and it seems fine to me, Only the lightest hint of lift off over steer that is easily remedied by getting back on throttle.

I reckon its base package provides excellent all round handling and i'm still very impressed.

Teki04 · 24-08-2005, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny

Ha, you musn't know how to drive then!! jk. I hammer and hammer and hammer mine round the most ridiculous of corners and it seems fine to me, Only the lightest hint of lift off over steer that is easily remedied by getting back on throttle.

I reckon its base package provides excellent all round handling and i'm still very impressed.

Agreed. I have a re-inforced sidewall.... so it doesnt flex. Shame about the grip not being good enough to handle the nonflex sidewall. BRING ON THE MICHELINS!

joshf2 · 24-08-2005, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny

Ha, you musn't know how to drive then!! jk. I hammer and hammer and hammer mine round the most ridiculous of corners and it seems fine to me, Only the lightest hint of lift off over steer that is easily remedied by getting back on throttle.

I reckon its base package provides excellent all round handling and i'm still very impressed.

i think it may be more a case of "you're not going fast enough" ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Teki04

Agreed. I have a re-inforced sidewall.... so it doesnt flex. Shame about the grip not being good enough to handle the nonflex sidewall. BRING ON THE MICHELINS!

but arent yours the factory 16's? you'd have a lower profile, so you would be experiencing this anyway.

Danny · 24-08-2005, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshf2

i think it may be more a case of "you're not going fast enough" ;)

Point taken, but hang on a second. It IS true that it does not matter what car you have or how quick it is, its the driver that chooses corner speed due to the grip limits of the car. Any car can go fast enough to exceed its limits of grip mate.

It is NOT a case of not going fast enough. Rather, it's a correct chioce of cornering speed and line taken that will decide whether or not you lose control or not. I have gone round a corner too fast in the Fiesta once and it freaked me out big time. I lost it, all four wheels decided to let go.... Its something I wont do again.

Back on topic now anyways please.

Teki04 · 24-08-2005, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshf2

but arent yours the factory 16's? you'd have a lower profile, so you would be experiencing this anyway.

Yes, they are 16s... hence why i mentioned that i dont have Sidewall Flex.... but i have crapo Falkens on it... that arent grippy enough, so the sidewall isnt flexing, but rather the car is losing grip. Hence why i cant wait to get Michelins.... possibly

christo_fiesta · 24-08-2005, 03:42 PM

I think the new tyres are called GX30's maybe???

joshf2 · 24-08-2005, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny

Point taken, but hang on a second. It IS true that it does not matter what car you have or how quick it is, its the driver that chooses corner speed due to the grip limits of the car. Any car can go fast enough to exceed its limits of grip mate.

It is NOT a case of not going fast enough. Rather, it's a correct chioce of cornering speed and line taken that will decide whether or not you lose control or not. I have gone round a corner too fast in the Fiesta once and it freaked me out big time. I lost it, all four wheels decided to let go.... Its something I wont do again.

Back on topic now anyways please.

i think you may have missed the point, since we were talking about tyre grip, not driver skill...

Danny · 25-08-2005, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joshf2

i think you may have missed the point, since we were talking about tyre grip, not driver skill...

A driver with skill knows how not to exceed tyre grip, so they um, go hand in hand....

: (not sayin I am skillful either)