Curb Damage vs Road Hazzard

L

Lazy Glen

Member
:
'07 Mazda5, Steller Green, MTX, Touring
OK, if there is no curb on the side of the road and you damage the rim going off the edge and back on is it curb damage or a road hazzard?

I have 3200 miles on Wifeys 5 and over the weekend she had an 'event'. Front rim and wheel are toast. I took it into the dealership and they called the extended warenty company. "The edge of the road is considered a curb - curb damage is not covered."(pissed)

So I get a quote for OEM rims $520 (omg) EACH. When I get home I decide that I should move the doughnut spare from the front to the back. Thats when I discover that the back rim is bent also. Dollar signs float past my eyes and I need to sit down.

HELP!

Suggestions on getting the warrenty company to pony up?

Failing that, shall I take this 'opourtunity' to upgrade the rims?

Suggestions on what rims would look good with the stellar green color? I obviously do not want to make the wheels MORE prone to this, so I don't want to increase the rim size. I've never made any upgrades to the sedans I've owned over the years, so I'm new to this and could use some guidance.

Glen Smith
 
Rims

Lazy Glen said:
OK, if there is no curb on the side of the road and you damage the rim going off the edge and back on is it curb damage or a road hazzard?

I have 3200 miles on Wifeys 5 and over the weekend she had an 'event'. Front rim and wheel are toast. I took it into the dealership and they called the extended warenty company. "The edge of the road is considered a curb - curb damage is not covered."(pissed)

So I get a quote for OEM rims $520 (omg) EACH. When I get home I decide that I should move the doughnut spare from the front to the back. Thats when I discover that the back rim is bent also. Dollar signs float past my eyes and I need to sit down.

HELP!

Suggestions on getting the warrenty company to pony up?

Failing that, shall I take this 'opourtunity' to upgrade the rims?

Suggestions on what rims would look good with the stellar green color? I obviously do not want to make the wheels MORE prone to this, so I don't want to increase the rim size. I've never made any upgrades to the sedans I've owned over the years, so I'm new to this and could use some guidance.

Glen Smith
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear of your problem. Your best bet may be to source a set of used Mazda5 wheels....I believe someone had a set for 4 for sale either on this forum or the MPVCLUB.COM forum at a pretty decent price; this was a while back so I'm not sure if these are still available. You should check to see if they are still around. This way you'll have a set of 6 rims i.e., two as backup for the future.
The other option is to get a set of aftermarket wheels....You can probably get a set of 4 new wheels for < $1000 i.e., the price of two replacement OEM wheels.
Are the tires reusable?
Anthony
 
Sorry to hear of your trouble, I feel your pain! This sounds like something that your Auto insurance might cover?

Anyway, you have several options, A: you can pick up a set of 16" wheels and tires, and have less chance of damage in the future going with a smaller wheel and a taller tire profile. B: You can pick up some used mazda3/Mazda5 rims, or C: you can get the damaged wheels repaired.

I am sure there are others here who might have some ideas as well.

For what it's worth, my Wifey also curbed a rim and took a chunk out of the tire sidewall at around 3k miles, I was fairly upset, but it wasn't a week after that I curbed the other rim on passenger side. I then picked up a set of 4 new take off rims from a fellow member here and put them in the garage for when I resell the car, or replace the tires, whichever comes first.
 
Delete this thread and remember, it was a huge pothole you hit. *wink* They want to play games, you have to play their game too. Those extended warranty companies are a bunch of sheisters and will do whatever it takes to not pay out any money.
 
dommo_g said:
Delete this thread and remember, it was a huge pothole you hit. *wink* They want to play games, you have to play their game too. Those extended warranty companies are a bunch of sheisters and will do whatever it takes to not pay out any money.
Click to expand...

Not to bust anybody's balls, but that's a bunch of bunk. The warranty company should not have to pay for the consumer's negligence. I know everybody hates the big corporate machine (myself included) but trying to claim curbage is a warranty issue is the exact same thing as running into a tree and claiming warranty. The vehilce did not fail, the road did not fail, the driver failed.

As far as what to do about finding replacements, everybody has pretty much laid out your options:
Try to find some Mazda5 take offs.
Take offs from another vehicle (Mazda6, Mazda3, ect.).
Move down to 16s and gain some sidewall.
Aftermarket wheels.
Find some steelies (that way next time it won't be so expensive)
Try ebay. Aftermarket wheels can be found on ebay for dirt cheap, and the fitment is generic so you shouldn't have any issues finding ones that fit.


Good luck
 
Sorry to hear of your wife's misadventure and getting ripped off on the road hazard insurance.

After some reading on the subject, it turns out that road hazard insurance is usually just that, for hazards you find on roads. Not for hazards found if you drive off the edge of the road, whether there is a curb there or not. I also learned that these insurance scams don't always pay out even if it's a hazard found on the road.

I think the best bet in this case is to get aftermarket rims and tires. Sell the remaining stock ones to recoup part of the expense. Or buy used stock rims from someone in the same situation. For under $1000 USD you can probably get a complete new set that'll be worlds better than those crap Toyo "tires" that come on the Mazda5. I don't have any particular recommendations but I'm sure you'll find a lot of choices out there. Check out Tire Rack's offerings if you don't want to buy locally.

Jon
 
the_saint said:
Not to bust anybody's balls, but that's a bunch of bunk. The warranty company should not have to pay for the consumer's negligence. I know everybody hates the big corporate machine (myself included) but trying to claim curbage is a warranty issue is the exact same thing as running into a tree and claiming warranty. The vehilce did not fail, the road did not fail, the driver failed.
Click to expand...

I wasn't with her when this happened, but she took me out to show me where it did happen. The white line is on the chunks of pavement in the bottom of the hole. It's not like she went wide on a curve and did some four wheeling on the shoulder.

I aggree that if she was negligent she (We) should pay for it. But a pot hole on the edge of the road is still part of the road.

If they won't cover it, I will not comit fraud to get them to do so. I took a picture of the broken up line and will take it in so the adjuster can look at it. If he says no, I'll get some new rims and maybe wait a while to find some OEM replacements - OR - sell the 2 that are unaffected.

Glen
 
Lazy Glen said:
I wasn't with her when this happened, but she took me out to show me where it did happen. The white line is on the chunks of pavement in the bottom of the hole. It's not like she went wide on a curve and did some four wheeling on the shoulder.

I aggree that if she was negligent she (We) should pay for it. But a pot hole on the edge of the road is still part of the road.

If they won't cover it, I will not comit fraud to get them to do so. I took a picture of the broken up line and will take it in so the adjuster can look at it. If he says no, I'll get some new rims and maybe wait a while to find some OEM replacements - OR - sell the 2 that are unaffected.

Glen
Click to expand...

Sounds like a road hazard to me.
 
the_saint said:
Not to bust anybody's balls, but that's a bunch of bunk. The warranty company should not have to pay for the consumer's negligence. I know everybody hates the big corporate machine (myself included) but trying to claim curbage is a warranty issue is the exact same thing as running into a tree and claiming warranty. The vehilce did not fail, the road did not fail, the driver failed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, like you've never EVER done anything remotely similar. I'm sure he paid good money for that warranty/road hazard coverage. She drove on a ****** up road, and now has some ****** up wheels.
 
Lazy Glen said:
I wasn't with her when this happened, but she took me out to show me where it did happen. The white line is on the chunks of pavement in the bottom of the hole. It's not like she went wide on a curve and did some four wheeling on the shoulder.

I aggree that if she was negligent she (We) should pay for it. But a pot hole on the edge of the road is still part of the road.

If they won't cover it, I will not comit fraud to get them to do so. I took a picture of the broken up line and will take it in so the adjuster can look at it. If he says no, I'll get some new rims and maybe wait a while to find some OEM replacements - OR - sell the 2 that are unaffected.

Glen
Click to expand...
If the road IS damaged take it up with the city or county where the road is damaged. Take lots of pictures of the section of damaged road responsive for the damage and get ready for a long battle.

What specifically does your extended warranty cover? What are the specifics or the road hazard coverage?

dommo_g said:
Yeah, like you've never EVER done anything remotely similar. I'm sure he paid good money for that warranty/road hazard coverage. She drove on a ****** up road, and now has some ****** up wheels.
Click to expand...
Whether I have or have not done anything similar is irrelevant. I still stand by my original statement that this is not a warranty issue.
But yes, I do have some curb & drive through car wash damage. D'oh (hand)
 
I just picked up a set of Mazda 5 OEM rims and tires for $350.00, but it was a steal of a deal and two of the rims had a little rash, but they were for my new Bridgestone Blitzak winter tires so who gives a .... If you do go the ebay route, remind the seller that cardboard boxes can scratch the surface of rims. My first try on ebay ended when a guy who had some very nice 17" 3 rims ups'ed them to me without anything around them but the box. The rims were very heavily scratched from rubbing on the cardboard box that they were placed in. The guy did give me my money back but it was a real pain in the backside to go through. Just make sure whoever is selling them covers the face of the rims in some nanabrasive packing material and you should be ok.
 
I work in the civil engineering field and deal with DOT more often than I would like. If the area of road happens to be in or near a construction site you should take your photos (road and rims) to the Prime Contractor and demand to be comped. If they don't, go to the Department of Transportation in your state and file a complaint against the contractor. If the road isn't in a construction situation then you need to identify the road. I know in Florida most major roads have a worded name to the public, but law enforcement, truck drivers, and people in my field will use the numeric name for that same road. ( ie: Military Tr is CR 809 and I-95 is SR9 in Fl) If it is a state road (SR) than contact the DOT for your state. If it a County road (CR) contact your county/providence on down the line, even as far as a HOA if it happened in a community that maintains their own roadways. I hoped this helped and this was written vaguely to fit anyones situation.



GOOD LUCK!!!
 
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