BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The warmer weather has caused potholes to pop up across Western New York, and hitting one with your car could really put a dent in your wallet.
Hitting one of these potholes on the road could cost you hundreds of dollars in repairs. One auto shop says almost every day someone is dropping off their car needing it to be fixed.
If do end up hitting a pothole that causes damage your car might only need an alignment if you’re lucky. Bob Gugino with Bison Auto says that could cost you a few hundred dollars.
But if you blow out a tire or a rim, or bend a spring, that could be hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to replace.
Gugino says business has picked up in recent weeks because more and more people are damaging their cars thanks to those pesky potholes.
When we hit them with our car sometimes it’s an immediate thing. We blow out a tire or bend a rim or some other suspension part,” Gugino said. “A lot of times it’s a little more of a slow death, where our alignment gets knocked off or maybe some other part gets tweaked that you don’t notice right away but all of a sudden your tires start wearing funny, maybe the car doesn’t handle like it should.”
As Gugino says, you might not the pothole caused any damage at first.. And then over time you start noticing something isn’t right with the car. If you hit a pothole and think, maybe that did damage, have your mechanic take a look just incase otherwise it could cost you more in the long run.
The city of Buffalo said they have been working to fix the potholes that emerged over the winter.
Sarah Minkewicz is an Emmy-nominated reporter and Buffalo native who has been a part of the News 4 team since 2019. Follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahMinkewicz and click here to see more of her work.