Potholes - how do they damage your car?

Potholes are the worst.

While we Singaporeans are lucky to have excellent infrastructure that gives us smooth roads, sometimes you meet the occasional pothole.

Any driver who's gone over a pothole before will tell you that damages sustained from one may vary from car to car. Also, damages from potholes are not claimable by insurance.

What are potholes?

Potholes begin as small cracks in the road. These cracks get bigger from water seepage and the continuous pressure from heavy vehicles. Over time, certain parts of the road weaken and collapse, forming a pothole.

Generally, the more it rains, the more likely potholes will form.

If you've hit a big pothole, and you felt it strike the undercarriage or bumper of your car, pull over at a safe area and inspect your car for damages.

What are the signs of pothole damages?

Here's how to tell if the pothole has damaged your car:

Body or chassis

A lowered car looks cool and handles better but, it also means if you hit a pothole, the chances of damages to your bumper, undercarriage and side skirts increase.

Getting a paint correction done for your car will set you back around $200 on average. Here are 12 recommended Spray Painting shops to transform your car with bespoke colours if you're clueless about where to go.

Exhaust

The exhaust pipes run along the undercarriage, making it highly susceptible to pothole damage.

As you're looking for scratches and dents on the exhaust pipe, check for muffler and catalytic converter displacement. If something sounds loose, you have a problem.

If you see no visible damages but experience a loss of power - Get it checked asap.

Tyre and wheels

Potholes can cause cracks and bends on rims which will mess up with your wheel alignment and prevent your car from travelling smoothly.

Your tyres may also experience a sudden blow-out due to sidewall damage. Invest in a TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring System). It's an excellent investment (not sponsored) and can save you lots of money and worry in the long run.

Steering

If your wheel alignment is off, your steering might feel off as well.

If your steering feels less responsive or loose, get a tow truck to bring your car to a workshop. Don't try and wing it.

If you start to feel that your car starts to deviate off course when you're driving in a straight line, it means there's a misalignment somewhere that needs fixing.

Suspension

Your suspension system cushions bumps and humps on the road, so you get a comfortable ride. If your ride experience starts getting rough, some part of your suspension (springs, shock absorbers, ball joints) might be damaged.

Or it could also mean that your shock absorbers might be due for a change.

What should you do if you can't avoid a pothole?

Some potholes are hard to spot due to how fast you're going, weather conditions, bad eyesight etc. If you do manage to spot one while driving, you should:

• Reduce your speed
• Ease up on the brakes
• Let your suspension absorb the shock (unless you've installed coilovers. You feel everything with coilovers)
• Brace yourself for the impact
• Report the pothole to LTA (via the MyTransport.SG or OneService application)

Always remember, going over a pothole at a low speed reduces the risk of damage to your car and your finances.

This article was first published in sgCarMart.