Local garages are seeing a major increase in cars with alignment issues and dented rims as pothole season is officially here.
The constant freezing and thawing is wreaking havoc on local roadways and Londoner's cars. But, mechanics say the only way to protect your car from the perils of spring driving is to keep an eye out for holes in the road.
"We're starting to get a lot of loose front components ," says Andrew Malacaria, owner of AutoStrada Inc., a local repair shop and car lot. "If you hit a pothole good enough you'll have loose ball joints and tie rods, those kind of things."
The city expects to spend $450,000 this year patching potholes.
Despite spring finally arriving, Malacaria says it is not quite time to switch out the snow tires.
"With the temperature changes and all that freezing at night and it getting warmer in the day, you have to look for black ice, that's a huge thing right now. Don't be in too much of a rush to take off your snow tires because it's really important to have traction right now," notes Malacaria. "Once it starts getting about 7 C on a regular basis, that's when you get premature wear on your snow tires."
You can file a claim with the city for car damage caused by potholes, but you will have to prove the city failed to keep up the minimum maintenance and repair standards.