So i'm on my way home from a birthday party last night (early morning) when i notice a car in a ditch off of the highway. As i get a little closer I notice the poor guy took out light pole (he seemed to be fine). What I didn't realize was that the pieces of the shattered pole were all over the entire highway and within seconds I heard a loud thump coming from my front passanger side and knew instantly what happened.

As i got out of the car to change the flat, I noticed the rim looked fine and when a cop pulled over to check on me we both agreed that the damage should only be limited to the rubber and that I just had some bad luck. However, the second I turn the tire (16 inch LS rims) over I notice the rim lip was totally warped and bent off the tire.

Had it just been the tire, I woulda just paid for it and moved on, but i now i need a whole new rim as well and I'm probably looking at around $1000 CAD altogether. I'm gonna call the city (wish i had the cop's badge number) and my insurance and see if there is anything they can do.. (although i'm sure the city won't do a thing). I'll probably call a few scrap yards and see if they have any..

 

make sure you send good pictures of the damage, best of luck man it won't be a quick battle but be pesistant.

I know how you feel. in the summer during the construction on the 401, som debry blow out two of my perrelli's on my SS/SC, and scratched one of my rims. the tires alone cost me about $900CND.
I'm still fighting wiht the city.

hopefully you have more success then i have had. but if the city don't pay it sounds like the insurance company will cover.

 

Well, things just got worse. I booked an appointment at my dealer tomorrow, but on my home tonight (in the rain) my spare just got a FLAT!!

I had to call roadside and have them tow me. The damn thing wasn't even on for 24 hours yet!!

I really hope these cobalt spares are not all like this!

 

Pay your deductible and make a claim on you insurance. That is why you have it. I doubt your rate will go up because of something like this.

 

Check the pressure on your spares. I put mine on this weekend and it was pretty low. That could lead to it failing quickly.

 

Well i brought (towed) the car to the dealer today and thankfully there doesn't seem to be any suspension damage from the impact. Unfortunately they said the rim is "boarderline" for repairability...so i'll keep my fingers crossed. According to the dealer, a new rim will cost about $650 CAD (those dealers are such juicers)...

After calling a bunch of scrap yards I found one for $225 (just in case) and through some friends found a brand new one (from GM) for $324. Seeing as how my deductible is $300, there doesnt' seem to be much of a point in filing a claim....on top of that, a bunch of people are advising against it arguing that regardless of if it's considered "not at fault" the fact that a claim was made will inevitably affect your premium somewhere down the line, regardless of how badly they the insurance companies force you to believe otherwise.

I should have an answer tomorrow, so I guess we'll see what happens..

 

sorry to hear the bad news. hope you end up ok! good luck!

 

Thanks Ralli...

Actually, I just found out that my rim is "seriously damaged" and that "it'll take alot of work to get it up to saftey standards, but don't worry, we can do it" As soon as I heard that, I told the service rep that I'd rather have a new rim..I'm not going to put a price on safety or sacrifice the wheel's integrity in the interest of saving a 150 bucks..
Anyway, I managed to get a rim for $360 CAD, but apparently these LS 16inch rims are popular and thus on backorder from GM.

As a result (after some complaining) I was able to get a rental..a 2005 Aveo..I'm not sure if anyone has ever driven one, but the thing looks and drives like an oversized toy..the horn even sounds like a bird chirping..lol..it's so fisher price...anyway, as long as it has 4 wheels and drives i'll take anything for now..