Pothole Vs My Stagea....

[Bronx]

hey guys, so today i had anice little run in with a pothole on the corner of Elizabeth st and Cleaveland st in surry hills, long story short, it tore my entire hicas system out of my subframe, now i have a toe in of about -50000, a broken subframe and hicas system. i have taken pictures of the pothole and the damage done so i can send it to the council asap.

i got my car towed home to take a closer look, and i need a new subframe as i dont want to weld my hicas setup to the subframe.

damage is where the hicas bar bolts onto the subframe, the bolts and holder are both torn out of the frame, so i cannot screw anything into the frame anymore.

also my hicas motor and the metal surrounding it is also smashed and cracked.

all this happened right after i just lifted my car because i found it too low.

the lowest part on my car is the exhaust, which is 13cm from the floor, while the body/chassi is 18cm from the floor. the police has told me that the minimum ride height is 10cm.

so technically my ride height is the legal limit.

i have also bottomed out on another car in that exact same spot too, but this time it was a stock standard suzuki swift, 2011 model.

so im only after 2 things, 1. advice, and 2. anyone have spare parts?

spare parts are for a s2 c34 rs4s, so so the narrow cradle

[import_zone]

ur best bet is too find a decent lawyer. as guys have had the same problem here in adelaide. and the council have told them to "get lost" in nice terms, nd that its not there fault. so u can try nd go in nd talk to them. nd see wat they say. as it could be different there

[Daleo]

You need photos of the pothole and irrefutable proof of the date; date stamp on an image will not be enough.

Take a picture of the pothole with a copy of today's newspaper clearly in the frame. Then they cannot argue the fact.

You'll also need to provide some frame of reference to demonstrate the size & depth of the hole; this will also assist in proving their level of responsibility. To cause that much damage; it sounds like a pretty decent hole, and they don't just appear overnight.

Councils have a responsibility to repair roads to a reasonable standard; within a reasonable timeframe.

It'll be an uphill battle; but if the road is unsafe, your insurer may even be able to help you.

[Cowboy1600]

You've got little chance of compensation.

Pot holes are considered a road hazard that you as a driver are compelled to avoid. Whilst it's the council, state or federal governments responsibility to maintain the roads, in reality ensuring no pot hole ever forms or no other hazard ever arises is impossible, therefore unless you can demonstrate some form of negligence on behalf of the responsible party, for example if a fairly significant hazard had been reported and it was not rectified within what ever time frame they are compelled to abide by, you have little chance of compensation.

I'm not saying this to be negative, I'm saying this because I spent a few years working for councils so understand where their responsibility begins and ends.

It's a real bugger what happened to your car, I feel for you. Can you put up pics of the pot hole?

[Bronx]

thanks for the help guys, yeah i was with 3 other people on the way to the city, plus the pothole had a little faded line marked around it so im guessing that the council was aware of it. i will go back tomorrow to take a picture of it again, didnt know the proof needed to be that harsh.

the pictures i had taken dont show the justice of that hole at all, but since its an extremely busy street, i cant get a clear shot of it, there is constant traffic in the way.

i rang the council and the lady there was really nice and said to take pictures and get receipts for all the work that i needed to get done to the car, incl towing and other stuff, so that they will compensate me.

she dindt tell me whats involved tho in regards to how it will work out.

all she said was to call back on a businessday to talk to someone in charge of that stuff, so i guess i have to sit it out till tuesday.

but i will post pics up tomorrow to assess the damage

thanks alot guys

[The fire is lit]

you will waste too much money just fix it! gouvernment is about making money for the commonwelth not helping its people

[Bronx]

here is a picture of some damage done to the car:

as you can see, the entire hicas has been ripped out and the motor pretty much destoryed....

[Hadouken]

I hit a pothole about 2 years ago, cracked a rim. Room pictures of the pothole and my car

Sent them a email. All compensated due to the fact that they knew the pothole was there but didn't fix it.

Good luck mate, and the secretary's are usually very helpful. (unless you get a fat one) oooooo, I went there!

[Bronx]

she didnt sound fat haha, actually skinny and hot

[TTT]

Hey.

A guy on performance forums.com had a similar issue in Brisbane.

He went over a pothole where there were no signs or road work people.

It tore the sump of his E30 BMW.

He took photos and sent a decent letter to the council of the area and called them every second day for updates.

Long story short, 6 months and the car got a full bottom end rebuild and new sumpa all paid for. Over $5k worth.

Here is the link to the thread.

I believe he has a copy of the letter he sent them.

http://64.90.57.21/forums/showthread.php?67269033-Council-Roadworks-f**ked-my-Motor&highlight=Cal+sump+council

Good luck.

Take photos straight away.

And get your car to legal height if it is below it.

Edited April 7, 2012 by GTST

[Hadouken]

He already said it was at legal height.

God damn, I want a rebuild paid for!

[Bronx]

I see. Well i want compensation for the damage. Maybe some extra for the f**king stress i had to go through and time lost. Had to cancel my long weekend plans thanks to the cars damage.... Cars ride height is fully legal. I changed height literally that day cause it was too low. I swapped stock suspension back in. So it damn well has to be legal height. It got complied with them. I have pictures of rideheight, pothole, damages etc. i will give the next update on tue when i call the bastards

[Jezboosted]

Unlucky for the damage mate. I had it happen when i had my mz20 soarer (shit i still have it !). Dinged up front and rear rims were the only damage though.

One word of advice. Maybe limit what names you call the council, just in case one of the their friendly receptionists trawls sites like these looking for a flipside to a story.

Hell, i only have to type in the two words, "pothole" and "stagea" into google, and i get this thread as No1 result

Edit: PS - it looks like a pelican shat on your exhaust

Edited April 7, 2012 by Jezboosted

[Bronx]

bahaha, pelican shat on my exhaust. a plastic bag flew under my car and melted onto it, cant get the crap off!<div>yeah, i dont usually call names, but this time it just got to me, the amount of annoyance im going through right now is killing me.</div>

[Bronx]

Ok boys and girls, so i have found out its a RTA road and not city of sydney council.

So i have to go through claims with the rta.

I have sent the claim away so now im waiting on a reply.

Will let you guys know as soon as i hear anything

[Cowboy1600]

Good luck. I hope you are able to get some form of compensation.

[S T A R 3 3]

she didnt sound fat haha, actually skinny and hot

That's where they get u.. they get u into a false sense of security.. and then BAM!

[Bronx]

haha, make thm sound all innocent so you forgive them! not gonna work on me, i love cars more than women!

also i hope to hear back from them by mid of next week, as they are filing their report.

[pipster11]

http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/story/2012/04/20/grim-news-for-ross-23000-potholes-fixed/

[rsx84]

Good luck.. Do you have insurance? If so have you spoken to them about the situation?

Any idea what its going to cost to fix?