Advice after hitting pothole that was not visible.

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Pissing it down all day and dark so no wonder could not see it.

Was the loudest bang I have heard in the car, instantly assumed 2 broken alloys and popped tyres but after a quick look all seems intact.

What other havoc could it of created to steering and suspension?
My KW springs and shocks look okay, although only checked in the dark.

Assume i need a straight road to drive down to see if its straight and if it remains straight under braking?

[SRGTD]

With the state of the UK’s roads, your experience is unfortunately becoming more and more common.

It would be worth getting your wheel alignment checked and suspension checked for potential damage, your wheels checked for buckling and the inner wall of your tyres checked for damage.

As for the pothole - if your car has sustained any damage, then you may be able to claim from whichever body or local authority is responsible for maintaining and repairing the stretch of road where the pothole is located. If the area surrounding the pothole has been marked with white paint, then that’s an indication it’s been reported and logged for repair.

The article at the link below is worth reading;

https://www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/a ... %2Ffeature).

[brainbow]

I’ve got a 72 reg GTI so got tyres, let’s face it, not great for our roads. Had the car just over a year. Had two flats so far from potholes. Front passenger alloy slightly buckled but ok.

Very annoying and very pricey!

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I have visually inspected the outside of the tyre wall and the rim as best possible, nothing untoward. Perhaps the fact the OZ HLT formula’s are potentially made of stronger stuff.

Tried to look at the insides but ideally need a ramp due to being down fairly low on coilovers.

Drove down a straight road and no pulling in any direction plus applying brakes sharp it still stayed straight.

Bounced the side that took the hit by standing shoes off on the door sill and rocking up and down, appeared to return as normal.

Thinking maybe I got away with it.

Agree the roads are in ruins though. I reported one at the end if my street, that was 3 weeks ago and it’s doubled in size since then… directly where the local bus bangs into every hour.

[Harrihealey02]

I had the exact same situation last year it was dark and I hit a pothole at 30 miles an hour and it was a very deep one. It was so bad that I was surprised the airbags didn’t pop because that’s how hard it felt. I got it checked out by a Volkswagen dealership because I was worried I’d damaged something and they said there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it and it’s fine. No damage to wheel no damage the tires, Everything was fine. If you watch some of the old Volkswagen stress test videos, they used to torture their cars over curbs and everything and they’ve developed strong chassis and components because of these tests and a lot of the components have rubber bushes which absorb a lot of the impact prevent the metal from bending and buckling, if it drives in a straight line then I’ll say you’re fine. You could if it’s under warranty just get the dealer to check it over for free like I did.

[MikeDO]

Bad luck mate.

If I was you, I would definitely get the effected wheel/s off and have a closer look. Especially the inside side wall of the tyre/s.

Only anecdotal. But I did similar once with one of my Scoobies way back when and on taking the effected tyre off, there was the BIGGEST bulge on the inside sidewall that you could imagine!
The damage was no way noticeable with the tyre actually on the car.

Good luck.

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Jacked up and checked under and inside the rims and tyres.

Looks fine. Fortunate i suppose. I usually dodge potholes even if they are tiny, even drain covers. This one was just invisible it seems!