Pothole-riddled roads causes damage to vehicles in the Four corners

FARMINGTON, N.M. – Last month KOB 4 told you about how potholes are particularly worse in the Four Corners this year, and that problem can be an expensive one for drivers.

Damion Sanchez is the assistant manager at Four States Tire and Service in Farmington. Recently, he’s been seeing a lot of vehicles damaged by potholes.

“I had multiple vehicles come in to where they hit them, and it just completely blew out the tire and did damage to the wheel to the point to where we couldn’t fix anything, and they had to get a new set-up,” said Sanchez. 

And those repairs can be costly.

“If it’s a new tire it varies anywhere from a couple 100 bucks all the way up to three to four,” Sanchez added. “With the wheel it varies, if you can find a brand new one that’s the OE fitment which is the original equipment that comes with the vehicle, they range anywhere from $300 to $900.”

And that’s just the damage you can see, Sanchez says a lot of times potholes can cause invisible problems. 

“We have people come in all the time, and they’ll be like ‘Well I hit a pothole and I feel like I am drifting to the left now when I am driving’ and that is a direct result of that impact,” Sanchez said. “And it will cause you to pull one way or another which can also lead to uneven wear on the tires and a lot of issues as well.”

So, if you hit that bump in the road, it’s a good idea to get it checked out.

“As soon as possible because if you keep riding on it that extensive damage can just lead to other problems, and it gets really bad sometimes,” said Sanchez. 

The New Mexico Department of Transportation says they are actively working to fill those potholes as weather permits on state highways and roads in San Juan County.

If you see a pothole on state-maintained roads, you can send an email to james.murray@dot.nm.gov or call 505-629-8785.