raewyn22 149 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 Bit of a story over the last two weeks with my little e30. I was driving down Great South Road on the 26th of May when I hit a protruding man hole cover. As per the photos, this in turn smashed my sump, resulting with oil spilling all over the road. It took me about 150m before I could pull over and turn the engine off. Fingers crossed that there is no damage to the engine though we think the engine will be ok. As you can see, my car is not excessively low. Because the roadworks were incomplete this meant there was a dip in the road causing suspension compression. Long story short, we complained to the Auckland Council/Auckland Transport, who then forwarded our complaint to Downer. Almost immediately they accepted liability and told me to claim through my insurer. Finally after two weeks of going back and forth between Downer and my insurer, the car is getting picked up on Monday to take to get quoted/fixed. Hopefully she's back by the weekend. Just means that it pays off to complain once in a while.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yng_750 247 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 wow awesome to see someone taking liability. im sick of manhole covers sticking out or sitting 3 inchs below the road surface after resealing. imagine a standard steel sump most drivers wouldnt notice and by the time they ruined the engine they would be so far away they couldnt prove anything. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2312 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 Wow that is ridiculous, good on you for taking matters further. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tristan 338 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 To those who drive Brighton Rd. in Parnell I almost kcufed the car on a similar manhole bump, although the one's on Brighton are about 4" tall (or were this morning!) Good to see you got it sorted. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hotwire 352 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 OUCH, but atleast you had the sense to take pics of evidence & complain Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tcbaurpower 5 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 Not easy for them to wriggle out of it with evidence like that!! Unlike potholes damaging wheels when multiple complaints are needed. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ahmedsinc 414 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 Ooooh, that hurts!!!! Pleased downers paid their dues, most people don't usually have the presence of mind to record the incident - good on ya! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
euroriffic 603 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 That's not a good way to start the day! Glad to see they're fronting up. I've heard of a few issues like this in town and nothing being done about it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
elmarco 56 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 I know of 2 people that have damaged wheels (1x motorcycle, 1x car with both wheels on one side...) on potholes or rocks on the road and the council have fronted up via an insurance claim. They do have an obligation to have well maintained safe roads. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
APT 179 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 I drive on that piece of road everyday, it was real crap when they were working on it 2 weeks ago. Lucky I've got a super high Honda Jazz company car and didn't bring the e30! Hope it all works out for you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1052 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 Bummer dude. Engine is liekly to be fine - they are surprisingly hardy! You car isn't that low... I can't beleive some monkey actually left that thing like that. Bare minimum it should be ramped up the the edge to protect tyres - it was an accident waiting to happen, one way or another. Tell them there is a lot of oil for them to clean up too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Top Secret 2 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 Yep, Hamilton is littered with raised manholes, and the new expressway is already subject to repairs following shoddy workmanship. There are sizable drops and ridges that threaten to break my back due to my coil overs if I drive over them at anything over 30kmh Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ultrarandom 3 Report post Posted June 7, 2013 Being in Hamilton as well and riding a motorbike these are often on the corners, many times have they threatened to take me out while in a lean on the bike. They've finally started repairing most of them though, noticed today on the way to work I didn't get the usual, horrid bumpiness leaving my street. At least they accepted liability and are fixing it for you though there, always takes forever to get these things done. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raewyn22 149 Report post Posted July 13, 2013 Sorry for the late reply, finally got my car back after about a month from when it happened. The invoice for the repairs was charged out at $1700, with the oil pick up, lower and upper sump being replaced. Majority of the price was a huge mark up on parts, and about $700 worth of labour. At least I will be more careful from now on even though it was mainly sh*t road works. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
