Potholes aren't always just potholes. Sometimes they are craters.

A run-of-the-mill pothole is one your car can traverse without incident, while the sinister variety blows tires, bends rims, snaps springs and does untold other nasty things to your car's underbelly -- things that usually require a loan to repair.

"In extreme cases we've seen tires blown completely out through the sidewalls and coil springs snapped in half," said Chris McCall, owner of Tire Warehouse on Union Street in Schenectady.

He said damage from pothole encounters can run from $60 for a tire to hundreds of dollars to repair anything from springs to control arms to axle damage.

"And customers are not happy when a pothole costs them money they weren't planning on spending on the way to work," said McCall, adding that his spring advertising mailers include a "Pothole Special," a wheel alignment, tire balance and rotation for $89.95.

So, what are you supposed to do when you unwittingly hit a pothole and are stuck with a $500 bill to replace a high-end tire and alloy rim? Well, there is no simple answer and certainly no guarantee you won't just have to pay for it yourself.

Here are some of the issues that can make your pothole dilemma a little dicey.

The deductible blues

Since most car insurance policies carry a $500 deductible, the insurance isn't going do you any good unless your pothole damage is for much more than that, said Kevin Brogan, an agent with GEICO Insurance in Albany. He said potholes don't qualify as an act of nature, but rather are covered under collision insurance.

So if the damage is $600 and your deductible is $500, he said you have to decide whether if it's worth it to file a claim since it's considered an accident that could affect your premium.

Sorry, we didn't know

For example, in Albany, where potholes are as much a rite of spring as tulips, the first test of culpability is whether the city knew about the pothole that caused the damage. If the pothole had not been reported to the city, go straight to your checkbook and do not pass go.

But anyone whose vehicle is damaged by a pothole in Albany can file a notice of claim, according to John Riley, the city's corporation counsel. "You always have the right to sue the city," Riley said. "We investigate to determine if there is liability."

He said central to any liability is whether the city was aware of the pothole and if it did not fix it in a reasonable amount of time.

The two-day rule

Just like Albany, if the state didn't know about a pothole on a state road and you hit it and spread nuts and bolts over a 10-mile stretch of highway, you'll be stuck with the bill. But the state gives itself a two-day window to repair a pothole from the time it's reported to them, according to Peter Van Keuren, DOT spokesman at its Capital Region office in Schenectady. "We usually tell people to keep the receipts for their car repairs," he said. "We do have a claim office here and it keeps pretty busy this time of year."

Source : http://www.timesunion.com