If you drive in West Sussex – or anywhere in the UK, frankly – you’ve hit a pothole. Probably this week. The state of British roads has been deteriorating for years, and the data backs up what every driver already knows: potholes are everywhere, they’re getting worse, and they’re damaging cars at an alarming rate.
But what actually happens to your car when you hit one? And how do you know whether you’ve caused real damage or just given your teeth a rattle? This guide walks through exactly what to check, what damage to look out for, and when you need professional help.
The State of UK Roads
The RAC’s annual pothole reports make grim reading. Their 2025 Pothole Index showed pothole-related breakdowns at near-record levels, with call-outs for damaged suspension springs, broken shock absorbers, and distorted wheels remaining persistently high.
Local authorities across England are responsible for road maintenance, but most are working through enormous repair backlogs. West Sussex County Council manages over 4,000 km of roads, and despite repair programmes, the sheer volume of surface deterioration means many potholes persist for weeks or months before they’re fixed. The freeze-thaw cycle each winter creates a fresh crop, and the repair budget never quite catches up.
For drivers around Burgess Hill and Mid Sussex, the combination of rural B-roads, busy commuter routes, and residential streets that see heavy use means pothole encounters are practically daily. The A273, the B2112, and countless smaller lanes all develop surface damage regularly.
What Happens When You Hit a Pothole
Understanding the mechanics helps you know what to look for afterwards.
When your wheel drops into a pothole, several things happen almost simultaneously:
The tyre absorbs the initial impact. The sidewall – the vertical face of the tyre between the tread and the rim – flexes sharply as it’s compressed between the pothole edge and the wheel rim. If the impact is hard enough or the pothole edge is sharp, the sidewall can be pinched and damaged internally, even if it looks fine on the surface.
The wheel rim takes a direct hit. The edge of the pothole acts like a hammer strike against the rim. Alloy wheels are particularly vulnerable – they can crack, bend, or chip. Steel wheels are tougher but can still deform.
The suspension compresses violently. Your springs and shock absorbers are designed to handle bumps, but a deep pothole at speed exceeds their normal operating range. The shock absorber bottoms out, the spring compresses fully, and the force transmits through the control arms, ball joints, and mounting bushings. A single severe impact can bend a control arm or crack a spring.
Your wheel alignment shifts. The impact can knock the precise angles of your suspension geometry out of specification. Even a small shift – fractions of a degree – is enough to cause uneven tyre wear and pulling.
Immediate Checks You Can Do Yourself
After hitting a pothole – especially a hard hit at speed – pull over when it’s safe and run through these checks:
1. Visual Tyre Inspection
Get out and look at all four tyres, paying particular attention to the wheel that hit the pothole. You’re looking for:
- Sidewall bulges – a bubble or swelling on the tyre sidewall. This indicates internal structural damage where the tyre’s internal plies have separated. A bulging sidewall is dangerous and means the tyre needs replacing immediately.
- Cuts or gashes – any visible cut in the sidewall rubber, especially near the rim edge where the pothole pinch occurs.
- Flat tyre or rapid deflation – a sharp pothole edge can puncture the tyre or unseat it from the rim.
2. Wheel Rim Check
Look at the rim itself, particularly the outer lip edge. On alloy wheels, check for:
- Cracks – even hairline cracks in the alloy can spread and eventually cause the tyre to lose pressure.
- Bends or flat spots – the rim should be perfectly round. A dent in the lip is common after a pothole strike and can cause a slow puncture.
- Chunks missing – severe impacts can break pieces off an alloy rim.
3. Listen and Feel as You Drive Away
Pull away slowly and pay attention:
- Vibration through the steering wheel – this could indicate a bent rim, a shifted wheel weight, or suspension damage.
- Pulling to one side – the alignment may have shifted. If the car now drifts left or right on a flat, straight road, the tracking has likely been knocked out.
- New knocking or clunking sounds – particularly over bumps. This suggests a suspension component has been damaged or loosened.
- Tyre pressure warning light – if your car has TPMS, a sudden drop in pressure after an impact confirms tyre or rim damage.
Beyond Alignment: The Full Range of Pothole Damage
Wheel alignment gets the most attention, but a serious pothole impact can damage much more:
Tyre Sidewall Failure
Sidewall bulges are the most dangerous form of pothole damage. The tyre can look normal from a distance but have a weak spot that will eventually fail – potentially at motorway speed. Always inspect the inner sidewall too (the side facing the car), which is harder to see but equally vulnerable.
Cracked or Buckled Alloy Wheels
A cracked alloy isn’t just cosmetic. The crack will propagate with every mile, and a wheel that fails at speed is catastrophic. Buckled wheels can sometimes be repaired by a specialist, but cracked ones almost always need replacing. Replacement alloys range from £100-£300+ per wheel depending on the vehicle.
Damaged Springs
Coil springs can crack or snap under a severe pothole impact, particularly on cars with higher mileage where the springs have already fatigued. A broken spring is usually obvious – the car will sit lower on one corner – and it’s an MOT failure. Replacement is typically £150-£250 per spring including labour.
Shock Absorber Damage
A hard bottoming-out can damage the internal valving of a shock absorber or bend the piston rod. You might not notice immediately, but the affected corner will feel bouncy or poorly controlled. Replacing a pair of front dampers typically costs £200-£400.
Steering Rack and Components
The impact force travels through the steering linkage. Tie rod ends, track rod ends, and in severe cases the steering rack itself can be damaged. A worn or damaged tie rod end will cause vague steering and is an MOT failure point.
Can You Claim From the Council?
Yes, in theory. In practice, success varies enormously.
If you’ve suffered vehicle damage from a pothole on a public road, you can make a claim against the local highway authority – in our area, that’s West Sussex County Council. Here’s the process:
- Report the pothole to the council as soon as possible, ideally within 28 days of the incident. You can do this through West Sussex County Council’s online reporting tool or the FixMyStreet website.
- Gather evidence at the scene if you can do so safely: photos of the pothole (with something for scale), photos of the damage to your car, the exact location, and the date and time.
- Get a repair quote or invoice from your garage. The council will want to see the cost of the damage.
- Submit your claim to the council’s insurance team with all your evidence.
The council’s defence will typically be that they had a reasonable inspection and repair regime in place. If they can show they inspected the road recently and the pothole wasn’t there, your claim will likely be rejected. If the pothole had been reported weeks earlier and nothing was done, your chances are better.
Success rates are not high – many councils reject the majority of claims – but it is worth pursuing for significant damage.
When to Book a Professional Inspection
Book immediately if you see a tyre bulge, the car is pulling hard to one side, there’s a visible crack in a wheel, or you hear new clunking noises over bumps.
Book within a week if the car feels slightly different to drive, the steering wheel is off-centre, or you’re simply not sure. The cost of a check is far less than the cost of driving on damaged components.
Book an alignment check if you notice any of the signs of wheel misalignment in the days following an impact. Even minor alignment shifts will start wearing your tyres unevenly from day one.
At Wheelbase Garage in Burgess Hill, we can inspect your wheels, tyres, and suspension after a pothole impact and give you an honest assessment of what needs attention and what’s fine. We’d rather tell you everything’s OK than have you driving on a damaged tyre or cracked wheel. If a pothole has knocked your tracking out, our wheel alignment service in Burgess Hill will set it straight.
Worried about pothole damage? Book an inspection at Wheelbase Garage or give us a call. We’ll check everything over and give you peace of mind.