[acerboo]

its such a strain now trying to avoid potholes/craters in the road that I just don't enjoy driving it any more. some of the roads are so littered with holes big ones with jagged edges that the risk to the tyres at £200 a throw makes driving an unpleasant experience. as summer approaches you have to be even more cautious as the shadows from trees hide all sorts of holes and road damage making any sort of quick progress a game of Russian roulette with the wheels/tyres. have been out on the bike a few times recently and can see much closer just how big and deep these holes are, at least its easier to swerve them on a bike. youd think that out of the £92 billion the government extorts from the motorist every year they could afford to fix the roads?

[Hope]

Couldn't agree more, its beyond a joke, makes me want to sell my BMW and drive a sh*t heap.

[AWBimmer]

I'm driving a s**t heap right now, 1.8 1998 Mercedes C Class and I go over pot holes for a joke, laughing my way over them. I couldn't care a less if I clipped a curb, ran over some sheeps and maybe even flipped backwards.. the car has 16" wheels and it's so fun to drive!

I'm not looking forward to driving around on my new wheels with stretched tyres and pot holes the size of Russia, so I couldn't agree more with you OP!

[$pringy]

me too, i'm slowly getting tired of dodging pot holes, might just buy an old jeep.

[Ste133]

Pot holes upset me too, but not as much as middle lane drivers.

[m@rk]

Thing is that pot holes don't just damage wheels and suspension

Because the road surface is breaking up, there is a lot more loose tarmac and stone on the road surface and these then get thrown up.

My own car is in for a new windscreen at the moment because of a crack caused by a stone being thrown up by the car in front. Speaking to the windscreen guy, he was saying that they never been so busy and that they put it down to the state of the roads.

But the annoying thing is that whilst my car is in the shop, the dealer has given me a brand new A7 Bi Turbo to hoon about in for a few days (£70k with options). When I picked it up on Tuesday morning it had 200 miles on the clock. By the time I got to where I was going I had a dent in the bonnet caused by a stone being thrown up from the car in front. They won't be happy with that

Grrrrr

[hmpmarketing]

It seems to be a national problem now. I live in London and it is amazing how many potholes there are on my way to the local supermarket (3 minutes from my house). I have noticed that it is not only on local roads but also on bigger ones (like the North Circular and the A40). When I took my car to get wheels replaced to the current ones I have, Mesh (the wrap guy) did the job of removing them to me, he found a huge crack (the size of a middle finger) and when I saw it, I remembered exactly which pothole I hit, the thing is the size of a Martian crater LOL

Roads here are starting to become like the roads of Brazil I so much complain about when I go there on holidays......

[Batts335d]

I know this feeling just had rear mv4 repaired as had been done by old owner and was shocking so just had 4!!! Welds that had cracked repaired so now I am driving around like I'm behind the F1 safety car as pot holes in Buckinghamshire as shocking

[UltimateManga]

I understand how you feel i was the same with my 335d Coupe stopped enjoying the fun due to potholes also shredded 2 tyres by hitting a massive pothole so thats why i moved up to an X6! Altho no car is pothole proof lol you dont feel it as much in the X6 compared to the 335d.

[xPETEZx]

This is when I am glad I am running 17" alloys with no-RFT's.
Although the big 19" wheels look awesome, would not like to drive them on our roads.

Could be worse though.... when I drive in the west of Ireland the pot holes there are more akin to moon craters.

[rich1068]

I know exactly how the OP and everyone feels. It's like the bloody third world out there. A disgrace. I often think of just getting something big and soft riding and to hell with it.

[PowerCorrupts]

I was told that it apparently costs £1000 to repair a single pot hole

Tell the government I'll do it for £200! I'd be a millionaire in no time

[djgandy]

Originally Posted by PowerCorrupts

I was told that it apparently costs £1000 to repair a single pot hole

Tell the government I'll do it for £200! I'd be a millionaire in no time

Anything that involves the government costs 10x the actual cost. It is amazing reverse economics where somehow they make their economy of scale advantage come out much much worse.

[nicktyler]

It is so expensive because it is not their money and they seem to not ahve to answer to anyone and wouldn't care if they did. Add in that all the contracts probably go to their friends and contractors that give backhanders and these extortinate costs just get signed off and paid. Not just for road works either.

Pretty sinical I know but I had to slalom down a local road a couple of weeks ago and the one that I hit (it was that or collide with the oncoming traffic) was so big it shook the harness from the back of the instrument cluster leaving me with a dead dashboard!!

[JNW1]

Some of the B-roads round here that used to be good fun are now only driveable down the middle of the road (which is a bit inconvenient if something's coming the other way!) and even some A-roads have nasty pot holes lurking that could easily burst a tyre and quite possibly damage a wheel as well.

I've always hated Chelsea tractors with a passion but to be honest the state of our roads has had me thinking quite seriously about the merits of something like an X5 or a Range Rover. A lot of our roads are now little better than farm tracks so maybe a 4x4 makes sense even if you've no intention of going off-road? Lousy state of affairs given the amount us motorists cough-up in tax!

[nicktyler]

Even the M25 has big holes in Essex. On a section of road thats only about 6 months old no less. Brilliant workmanship.

[335DEE]

offer chrismanchr some cash for his 17in alloys and bubble tyres .. he swears they are like mega comfortable

[Dragon88]

I can also relate to everyone, I am constantly swerving to avoid potholes and it's becoming a real chore to drive. I am okay on familiar roads as I know where all the potholes are, but driving in unfamiliar places - I spend more time looking at the road rather than where I need to be going!

[hmpmarketing]

Just came back from Sheffield today, damm the roads there are horrible, London roads look like carpet compared to what I saw there :-)

[sives]

I totally agree with the OP, so many times i have had to avoid the potholes, i have been playing a game too see how many i avoid every day when i drive in london. Pisstake. Also the number of times i had problems with alloys cracking and buckles being formed is a pisstake.

Originally Posted by hmpmarketing

It seems to be a national problem now. I live in London and it is amazing how many potholes there are on my way to the local supermarket (3 minutes from my house). I have noticed that it is not only on local roads but also on bigger ones (like the North Circular and the A40). When I took my car to get wheels replaced to the current ones I have, Mesh (the wrap guy) did the job of removing them to me, he found a huge crack (the size of a middle finger) and when I saw it, I remembered exactly which pothole I hit, the thing is the size of a Martian crater LOL

Roads here are starting to become like the roads of Brazil I so much complain about when I go there on holidays......

Remind me about it mate.

The ones on the A4 near Ealing/brentford are really bad.

I think they have fixed it now.

The ones on the a406 are bad too. there were a few bad ones near westfields , ended up damaging one of my tires due to one of the big ones there.

[sives]

Originally Posted by hmpmarketing

Just came back from Sheffield today, damm the roads there are horrible, London roads look like carpet compared to what I saw there :-)

I agree too, buckled one of my alloys there like 2 yrs ago. Going through snake pass(nice road but the others roads are really bad).

[rich1068]

Originally Posted by hmpmarketing

Just came back from Sheffield today, damm the roads there are horrible, London roads look like carpet compared to what I saw there :-)

I'm glad we made you feel welcome and I agree that the roads are a disgrace.

It's funny because the council has recently appointed a new contractor (Amey) responsible for this sort of thing and apart from a lot of high vis jackets, new vans and yellow paint on the roads I see no evidence of the supposed £2 billion worth of repairs.

And as already mentioned by others anything that involves government or local authority spending is wildly inflated. £2 billion sounds a huge amount but it won't go as far as everyone imagines. Especially when they come out to do one reported pothole and ignore the other half a dozen within a yard radius.

Rant over