PSA: Huge tire eating pothole on back road between Oceanside and Temecula

[jjrandorin]

I know there are a few of you who commute between south riverside county (temecula / murrieta / lake elsinore / wildomar etc) and North San Diego county (Oceanside / Vista / San Marcos, etc etc).

For those of you who do this commute like I do daily, you may take some of the back roads. Specifically, I am talking about the north bound side of a street called "rice canyon" which is normally a fun "drivers road" that many take to make the above commute.

I had not taken this road in a few months as I normally go back past pala casino, but yesterday I decided to. There is a huge, tire destroying pothole along the route, going northbound. I saw it too late, and a car was coming the other way so I couldnt do anything but hit the pothole.

Dented BOTH of my 20 inch rims on drivers side of my car, to the tune of roughly $1500 for 2 replacement rims. Not only that, but since the Oceanside site is moving they were not able to help me, as their lift is now currently being installed in carlsbad.

So, they had to spend 2 hours searching for a 20 inch rim for me... and I ended up having to drive to costa mesa to get it.. only to find out my rear wheel was bent as well.

Most expensive pothole I have ever hit... Not only did it cost me $1500 in service fees, but I ended up having to take a vacation day from work (8 hours salary), and get lunch at the south coast plaza mall which doesnt have a food court, but only has restaurants... $28 for a lunch with shrimp fried rice and dim sum. Also tipped the uber drivers who drove me to and from the mall so even though there were uber credits, wanted to give them a few bucks in tip for the short trip, so another 8 bucks total there.

TL : DR, if you take rice canyon, beware this huge tire destroying pothole. Its not a road that tends to get worked on often either so, its likely been there a while and will likely be there awhile.

 

[Jedi2155]

BTW the pothole susceptibility of low profile tires (especially the 20" P3D+) has been widely reported. Happend to me at 4000 miles too back in Nov. 2018.

 

[jjrandorin]

Yeah I know... I have been driving on Low profile tires for about 15 years (usually 18s or 19s of various BMWs). This is the first time I have actually hit one that bent rims, and it bent two of them. Luckily for me I didnt lose the tires themselves. Can confirm that the retail price is 715 per wheel.

 

[Jedi2155]

Yeah I know... I have been driving on Low profile tires for about 15 years (usually 18s or 19s of various BMWs). This is the first time I have actually hit one that bent rims, and it bent two of them. Luckily for me I didnt lose the tires themselves. Can confirm that the retail price is 715 per wheel.

Did they increase it? It was $650+tax when I had mines swapped. My tires also popped so....it was about $2200/total.

The difference with the BMW's etc. was the weight of the vehicle was likely lower. The Model 3P is 4072 lbs compared to about 3300-3500 lbs that was probably in your BMW. That and lower center of gravity, reduced suspension etc.

 

[jjrandorin]

Did they increase it? It was $650+tax when I had mines swapped. My tires also popped so....it was about $2200/total.

The difference with the BMW's etc. was the weight of the vehicle was likely lower. The Model 3P is 4072 lbs compared to about 3300-3500 lbs that was probably in your BMW. That and lower center of gravity, reduced suspension etc.

I had "m sport" lowered suspension in almost all the BMWs (normally would order the M sport version with either the static or adjustable sport suspensions) but yeah weight is a factor for sure. This particular pothole would have likely done the same thing to my BMWs though too. It was huge, and deep.

The retail price of the wheel is now $715. They worked with me a bit on the overall cost, so I got a bit of a break on the job. I was lucky that I didnt need the tires too but the rim was bent pretty good. They showed it to me, easily (very easily) noticeable to the naked eye. I kept one of the damaged rims with the intention to get it repaired somewhere. Have a co worker who is the president of a large car club who "has a place" that he swears can fix any rim.

Was money I was NOT intending to spend, lol. Thing about the particular road I called out, is as I mentioned its a "drivers back road" that people normally "hustle" along if you get my drift. I know every curve of that road like the back of my hand even though I dont drive it that often anymore (local homeowners got tired of people bookin it through there and started petitioning etc lol).

I wasnt even bookin it through there yesterday, I was cruising through there at normal speeds.

 

[ecarfan]

This is the first time I have actually hit one that bent rims, and it bent two of them. Luckily for me I didnt lose the tires themselves.

I am amazed that the force of the impact could bend a rim and not damage the tire sufficiently to require replacement. Modern tires are impressive.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Rice canyon is one of my favorite back country roads. Super popular with bikes and bikers. Not a safe road to drive fast, as little run off and lots of blind corners. Going off the road there puts you into some rugged and rocky terrain.

Sorry about your bent rims, and thanks for the heads up about the tire eating pothole.

 

[Watts_Up]

There is a huge, tire destroying pothole along the route, going northbound.
I saw it too late, and a car was coming the other way so I couldnt do anything but hit the pothole.

Dented BOTH of my 20 inch rims on drivers side of my car, to the tune of roughly $1500 for 2 replacement rims.
Not only that, but since the Oceanside site is moving they were not able to help me, as their lift is now currently being installed in carlsbad.

May be this can help:

What can you do if your car is damaged by a pothole, crack, or other road defect?

Report potholes using Waze application #SmartSelangor​

 

[jjrandorin]

May be this can help:

What can you do if your car is damaged by a pothole, crack, or other road defect?

Report potholes using Waze application #SmartSelangor​

Nice of you to post the information, but I dont use waze (im not interested having navigation on my phone when i have the big tablet with navigation on it, and I think phone clip ons look silly in new / expensive cars).

I also am not sure if that road is a government maintained one, and am not really interested in "trying to prove negligence" on a back side road.

 

[ecarfan]

For those of you who do this commute like I do daily, you may take some of the back roads. Specifically, I am talking about the north bound side of a street called "rice canyon" which is normally a fun "drivers road" that many take to make the above commute.

Are you referring to Rice Canyon Road near Temecula? GPS (33.3766297, -117.1428063)

If so, it would be helpful if you could narrow down the location of the pothole so that others using that road could have a better sense of where it is. That road appears to run for about 8 miles from Hwy 76 to the small town of Rainbow.

 

[jjrandorin]

Are you referring to Rice Canyon Road near Temecula? GPS (33.3766297, -117.1428063)

If so, it would be helpful if you could narrow down the location of the pothole so that others using that road could have a better sense of where it is. That road appears to run for about 8 miles from Hwy 76 to the small town of Rainbow.

Yes, I am referring to rice canyon road near temecula. I have not been back on that road since spending $1500 fixing my tires, so I dont remember the exact location of the pothole. I have contemplated going back there to take pictures etc, but there is not really a safe place to pull aside and take pictures. I also would run the real risk of hitting the pothole again, so......

Sorry I can not be more descriptive. At least anyone on the road knows to keep an eye out.

 

[kingkong5]

Go here and file the one page claim form:
Submit Damage Claim | Caltrans
submit the two estimates, or one paid receipt. Cite that lack of repair of that pothole in a timely manner caused you to bend the rims on your personal property vehicle as a result of driving through that pothole. They might say no to your request. They might say yes. Good luck.

 

[jjrandorin]

Go here and file the one page claim form:
Submit Damage Claim | Caltrans
submit the two estimates, or one paid receipt. Cite that lack of repair of that pothole in a timely manner caused you to bend the rims on your personal property vehicle as a result of driving through that pothole. They might say no to your request. They might say yes. Good luck.

Thats helpful, thank you.

 

[SMAlset]

Go here and file the one page claim form:
Submit Damage Claim | Caltrans
submit the two estimates, or one paid receipt. Cite that lack of repair of that pothole in a timely manner caused you to bend the rims on your personal property vehicle as a result of driving through that pothole. They might say no to your request. They might say yes. Good luck.

I've mentioned our story before on the forum but will recount it again since it might help here. A number of years ago while driving in Sunnyvale, CA during a rainstorm we turned from Mathilda Avenue onto El Camino and into water-covered, huge, deep pothole that took out both of our passenger side tires and I think damaged one of the rims. The car that had turned immediately in front of us also blew out their tires. And I think another car in front of that from a bit earlier was waiting along side El Camino for a tow truck for their flat tire situation. We were all waiting in the rain and took shelter in a business near the pothole and the owner told us that she had seen a number of cars that day end up with the same fate. We learned that people had called it in earlier in the day as a dangerous situation and no one had come out to put up any hazard warning signage (cones, horses, whatever). We were able to verify the City knew of the problem through I guess 911 recorded calls to the City earlier in the day on this issue (it's been a while since this happened and not sure exactly who we checked with), and the City hadn't sent anyone out. I seem to recall being told because it was raining they couldn't send someone out to repair the pothole, but my husband responded that given the severity of the pothole some type of warning device could have been set up in the meantime so that cars avoided that section of the road.

At first the City refused to consider our claim until we brought all this up and we claimed negligence on their part for having prior knowledge and failing to act timely on it. It was a safety issue in our eyes and fortunately we didn't get hit from behind when this happened. We sent our claim in with a letter explaining all of this, and our claim was processed and paid out on. We received a decpreciated value on our tires and wheel so still cost us something out of pocket, which while not totally seeming fair to us, is understandable since we were getting new replacements for something a few years old. Don't really remember too much more of the specifics but yes, if a road problem like a deep pothole has been reported and not addressed, you do stand a chance to at least recoup some of your expense in getting repairs/replacements. Hope this helps.