Pictured: Mark Jones
A major Wolverhampton used car dealer claims that more than 60
percent of vehicles on the road show evidence of damage consistent
with driving over potholes.
ACF Car Finance in Willenhall says that Britain's tatty tarmac
is costing it thousands of pounds each year to repair cars and
bring them back up to showroom condition.
"We are talking here about cars which are generally two or three
years old, but which bear the scars of much longer life," said Mark
Jones, the company's divisional operations manager.
"Of the hundreds of cars we acquire each year, around six out of
every ten need some type of remedial work for damage which is
likely to be pothole-related," he says.
Paint chips, dented wheel rims and bulging tyre walls are now
very common, reports Mark, and there are also many instances of
damage to shock absorbers and suspension systems.
Potholes can also knock the car's steering out of alignment and
present a severe driving hazard which might only come to light in
an emergency, he added.
A large number of the faults are only revealed when a car
undergoes ACF Car Finance's 136-point safety and mechanical check
which, due to its thoroughness, was recently accredited by the
RAC.
"We like to present the cars we sell in a condition which is as
close to factory-fresh as possible, so our inspection process
delves deeply for anything needing attention," said Mark.
"We carefully hand-pick every one of our vehicles, so the
national percentage of pothole damaged cars could be much higher
than the sixty percent we experience," he observes.
ACF Car Finance, which operates showrooms near many major UK
cities, says that this winter is likely to see a further worsening
of Britain's increasingly blighted roads.
"While councils continue slashing their repair budgets, we are
forced to increase our allocation of funds for repairing damage of
the type caused by potholes," said Mark.
"I think our experience suggests that anyone buying a car
privately ought to get an independent inspection carried out to
uncover any hidden pothole damage," he commented.