jgcec

Here are some websites for filing claims that damage was caused to your car from a pothole.
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,...3194--,00.html
http://www.dot.ca.gov/damageclaims.html
http://pauldup.co.za/car-damaged-by-...laim-from-raf/

Are the road in your area getting worse, in recent years, where you live?

If you only drive a LS 430 or similar most of the time, you probably don't notice,
since the car has such a great suspension, you may think,
what potholes? My roads are excellent!

This ties into the question of why have a great riding car like the LS 430
and why driving a great riding car, is a safety item, to many people.

I live in the San Francisco CA area and I have noticed recently
that there are many unfilled or poorly filled in potholes
and just generally poor road maintenance in recent years.

There is a particularly bad set of potholes in the right lane as you are approaching
Candlestick point going north from SFO, (where the 49ers played at the former Candlestick park).

It is a mystery as to why there are so many of them.
The SF bay area has ridiculous housing prices caused by the tech boom,
so there must be plenty of taxes to pay for our roads.

I don't remember the roads being this bad?
Maybe I am just getting older, and notice them more?

I am from the Detroit suburbs and have lived in CA for 35 years
and I remember Michigan roads as being very good.
I have lived in both northern and southern CA over the last 35 years and I think the roads are good.
I was in Michigan for an extensive road trip several years ago and the roads were better than SF area rodes.

There is really no excuse for all these potholes !!!
Something should be done about this.

Johnhav430

On one of my major commute routes, the road is awesome, I think it took about a year to fix, and that was 2 years ago. When it begins to fall apart, it affects so many people. And once it's so smooth, we actually forget about how bad it once was.

In NJ, roads are generally bad. There was a major highway redone, and there are horizontal sections that are riddled with potholes, where the rest is perfectly smooth. It's one thing to laugh, that's the government, but quite another, to actually spend tens of millions of dollars, repave things, and then leave out sections that everybody has to drive across.

Potholes can do a lot of damage, especially to nicer cars. Knock on wood it hasn't happened to me, but there is a TSB on my 335i where if you hit a pothole hard enough and the speed is high enough, the entire subframe must be replaced. And that's like a $5k job. BMW won't admit it was poor engineering, but wouldn't you know the problem was fixed from 3/08 on, and affects all '07's and some '08's.

2KHarrier

Milwaukee roads are on par with some rural roads in Russia. There are a few that have been redone, but for the most part many of the side streets and a few of the major thoroughfares are in rough shape.

I know these streets have taken their toll on my Sonoma, but that suspension is much stiffer and more simplistic.

Tom57

Michigan roads are awful. Lived there for 10 years (southeastern Mi) and was there 2 weeks ago. For decades, the state did not sufficiently tax gasoline at the pump for road repairs. Starting Jan. 1, 2017, gas tax was increased to address the terrible roads. But they're so far behind in road repairs, it'll take decades to catch up. http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2016/12/...se-in-january/

airchomper

I think road quality has been in decline since the 1980s. It wasn't noticeable because suspension (tires included) seemed to improve faster than roads deteriorated but now some roads are so bad that no suspension would mask the quality.

The taxes certainly go up but most public budgets are devoted to retired public employees, safety, and healthcare. It's not uncommon for police officers to retire in their 40s/50s with pensions in the six figures. The money has to come from somewhere - it's a national problem, tax revenue is going up and the quality of the services are decreasing. If defined benefit pensions aren't breaking your budget, health care costs are. Go ask public employees about their health plans, you'll find unusually small deductibles and generous coverage.

Roads are deteriorating - what can you do?

I think most people have chosen SUVs but I don't think the common SUVs are that much better than the cars they replace. I consciously chose 16s for my LS, and now I prefer ride motorcycles with long travel suspension and spoked wheels because they can handle the sorry state of roads.

I guess we can also advocate for municipal bankruptcy as a mechanism to break pension and healthcare obligations, just don't let the California police hear you say as much or you might get cuffed.

Tom57

^ +1 spot on correct, airchomper.

BradTank

The problem is not a lack of taxes, California actually has the highest income tax of all 50 states.

It's how the money is being spent that is the problem.

texan_176

iTrader: (5)

It is literally the wild west in Texas when it comes to municipal planning. Other states have regulations when it comes to roadway capacity and design as well as zoning to keep things as orderly as possible. The Houston area has none of that stuff. We keep adding lanes to freeways while neglecting roads that already exist until they are completely a wreck. A huge debt is run with each sale of bonds of finance total road replacement once in a blue moon instead of maintaining the existing roads more frequently.

The worst roads I have ever been on in the United States were about a 1/2 mile from the Ambassador bridge in Detroit around the year 2001. It looked as if you had left the country and gone into some war torn nation where enemy mortars had landed all over the roads. The holes in the pavement were literally 12-18 inches deep. If you were not from there and drove it at night you would probably crash.

Suspension is a safety item IMHO. I have a quirk in my SC300 where the rear suspension fails to stay properly planted after going over a bump. The shocks are fairly new and I can find no play in the bushings or ball joints so I will have to shell out to hire a pro. The car is scary to drive in the rain because the rear end feels unstable even at the slightest bump in the road.

jayclapp

Not to worry, Trump will have all infrastructure deficiencies fixed by next week (including potholes)!

rkw77080

Check out Post #10 on the link below...
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...placement.html

Potholes can easily take out your LCA ball joint, especially on the passenger-side where the road slops for drainage.

Scootymad

New Zealand roads aren't particularly flash either. I'd sooner sacrifice my Corona than take the LS on some roads round where I live. Even on my way to work the LS rubs like a barsteward, and I haven't even cut the springs lowered it further yet

Johnhav430

I dunno what it is about the LS430, but when we go to a theme park that we have a pass to (closed right now), they have one way spikes exiting the parking lot, and they always make a scraping sound. imho if poor road conditions are an issue, an SUV which sits much higher is way better than a LS.