utink blog

Rim damage from potholes in and around Portland Vic area

Posted by Kevin - utink web design on Wednesday, October 5. 2016

Recently I sustained significant damage to my front and rear driver side rims. This occurred by hitting a large pothole (around 1 metre across by 40cms deep) along the Henty Hwy Portland. It was located just left of centre lines on the road heading into Portland. The rims were assessed by my local Kia dealer in Warrnambool with the news the rims needing replacement at $600 a rim. As I am on a pension this is a significant amount so I decided to lodge a claim with VicRoads. The response from VicRoads - not eligible for compensation due to the amount of $1200 being less than their lower payout threshold of $1380? This means the claim had to be $1380 or greater to be eligible. What a joke! As most locals are aware the roads around this area (Princes Hwy/Henty Hwy) are littered with potholes and is a real dodgem act to avoid hitting one. VicRoads seems to have thrown the 'Duty of Care' policy out the window? - this being the case there is no real incentive for VicRoads to actually fix the roads is there? Anyway, rather than fork out for a new pair of rims I decided to google around to see if it was possible to have the rims repaired. To my surprise and delight it was and could even see how it was done via youTube. As there were no rim repair options locally the only real option for me was to go with these guys: Wheel Solutions (Aust) Pty Ltd refer below. I found them to be very friendly and helpful (especially Matt & Bev Coleman) and they were able to fit me in on the day with only an hour’s notice. The job took around 90mins with a cost of $100 per rim. So huge savings made by having the rims repaired rather than replaced. I highly recommend these guys for pothole damaged rim repairs...