I went to the supermarket tonight, and used their east side exit for the first time. It was right turn only, and as I turned, I felt my right front wheel stepping on something. Then I stopped and tried to nudge the car leftward so the rear wheel would avoid whatever it was. Nope...still hit it. So I went around the block, re-entered the lot, and came out to see what it was. The curb at the ramp sticks out like the number 7, and the sharp side took a small chunk out of my rear wheel. Oh man I was pissed. My front tire got scratched a bit but no biggee. I notice the curb had lots of tire and metal marks on it. I am tempted to write a complaint to the store and the city. This really sucks.

My question is: How do i know if my rear axle needs re-alignment or repairs. I dont care much about the wheel damage, but I worry that the curb might have bent something internal. Does the 5000 mile service check for alignment? How easy is it to damage the wheel axle? Finally, does anyone know how much it cost to replace a UL wheel if it gets trashed? I almost wished it were a hub cap so i can replace it at will.

I curbed my right rear wheel the other day. Turned into the parking lot a bit too soon and caught the rear tire mostly. I did find a tar mark on the wheel but it came right off. Can't for the life of me figure out how it didn't get scratched if it hit the concrete. I know hard hits like that can affect alignment. And now that I am paranoid about it I can sware I feel a bit of shimmy in the seats, which means its coming from the rear wheels. But the roads are so bad around here who knows?

I don't think they check alignment at 5000, but I'm sure asking them to.

Bummer.

But you shouldn't worried about bending an axle as they're pretty tough. You probably don't have any alignment issues either, unless you were going over 25 mph when you hit the curb. The rear end can absorb a lot more punishment than the front end can.

The 5K service doesn't check alignment, but you can ease your mind by telling the service guy what happend and just ask him to check for anything amiss.

Can't say anything about wheel costs.

Well said Viking!

People gotta chill out a little. It's a damn car. It's meant to be used. After four months I don't have my first blemish yet in spite of the fact that I park in head-in parking places every day. I'm sure I'll get a ding one of these days and you know what? No big deal.

Since your other questions has been answered already, I will just reply to your last one about the wheel. I got my front wheel curbed as well. Minor scratch on the edge, but still noticeable (at least to me). Check your spare wheel. My PP+ came with a full size alloy spare which my delearship going to replace tomorrow (the scratched one will go back in a trunk as a spare). It will only cost $20 for replacement, balance and TP sensor calibration. I have a feeling your UL will have a full size spare as well, check in your trunk. Also, there is a number of alloy repair wheel shops that can fix it and to make it look like brand new for $50-$150 (depending on work amount). I decided to replace mine with a spare cause I want to preserve that "brand new" look for a little bit longer

Wow, nice point. I forgot that I have a full size functional spare in the trunk. I made it clear at the dealership that this spare must be identical to the rest of the wheels/tires, and they assured me that it is. Nice. Not that Im gonna swap now, but when I get more nicks on it at least i know i have a choice to swap out.

Ya it is just a car, and I'm kinda over it now. I dont feel any bumps or swaying while driving....so it's all good. The new car paranoia will slowly fade....i guess when my wife starts driving it. This car does take quite a bit of beating.... the LA traffic is hard on any car.