SAN DIEGO — According to a new audit, streets in the City of San Diego are facing a $1.2 billion backlog on deferred maintenance. And mechanics say those unfilled potholes are causing damage that can cost drivers thousands of dollars to repair.
“We find that we need to do a lot of wheel alignments because of bent front end parts,” said Ray Frey, who owns an auto repair shop in Kearny Mesa. He said cars regularly come into his business after hitting potholes. “We find bent rims, we find cracked rims, we find tire separation, we find shock absorbers leaking.”
It's damage that can run from a few hundred dollars into the thousands.
“I had one car in here a couple weeks ago that the actual front axle on this Jeep Cherokee broke in half,” Ray said. “That was about a $6,000 job.”
CBS 8 asked city leaders about the added expenses potholes are causing. They’re definitely aware of the problem.
“We get a lot of emails from constituents who say - my tires are out of alignment, or my axle got scratched, or my rims are bent because of different potholes,” said Councilman Raul Campillo.
He recommends filing a claim against the city to get reimbursed.
A CBS 8 analysis of City records shows San Diego paid out almost $410,000 to drivers in 2023 because of pothole damage to their vehicles.
“We take care of people when our roads are the cause of their damage, just like any other issue the city creates,” Councilman Campillo said. “We cover that.”
But many times, proving a pothole caused your damage can be easier said than done. Especially if it’s not damage directly related to hitting the pothole.
Windshield repair shops say business has been booming from cars driving over broken pieces of road – shooting them into windshields that cause cracks that require the entire piece of glass to be replaced.
Ray said it can get even more expensive from there.
“I've heard of body damage by people swerving to stay away from the pothole and they hit the person in the next lane over,” he said.
The city says it has repaired over 630 miles of road across San Diego, but an audit released this week shows we are way behind on road repairs and there's a $1.2 dollar backlog.
This is despite California having one of the highest gas taxes in the nation.
“You can go to Arizona and they have the smoothest roads and the cheapest gas,” Ray said. “It's crazy.”
WATCH RELATED: Neighbors are concerned about potholes. Whose responsibility is it to maintain them? (Nov. 21, 2023)