damage to car caused by tesco car park road

saml179

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice. about 5 weeks ago, whilst driving out of Tesco carpark over a large cobbled section of road, a large brick came out of the road and hit the underside of our car. we reported it to Tesco and they said that they doubted it would have done any damage and if we were worried to take it to a garage to get checked and let them know.
We didn't take it to the garage because my oh works six days a week and needs the car everyday, and we didn't have the money pay to get it checked. After it happened we noticed that the coolant needed topping up but didn't think it was connected, just a coincidence. Now six weeks later it has developed into a full on crack in the radiator. Have we left it too late to claim?
Thanks in advance Sammy x

vikingaero

Probably conincidence. Driving over a cobble will normally propel the debris rearwards and the radiator is at the very front of the car.

k3lvc

vikingaero wrote: »

Probably conincidence. Driving over a cobble will normally propel the debris rearwards and the radiator is at the very front of the car.

Maybe they were reversing at speed out of the cobbled car park :rotfl:

forgotmyname

I would have to guess that its unrelated.

BUT.. How did the brick jump out from the road? From your vehicle or another vehicle?

If it was from your vehicle then i presume it moved after you drove over it. So any damage would be behind your wheel.
Is your radiator behind your wheel?

A bit more detail on what exactly happened will help give better advice.

saml179

Hi all thanks for your replies. the cobble came out as we drove over it and it hit under the near side of our car and made a massive bang and was thrown out in front of our car. the bang was so hard it felt like our wheel had fallen out. We drive a mazda 6 that has a long, low placed radiator. I know I said cobbled but it isn't an old traditional cobble, they are large square stones that are larger and harder than a house brick. I have photo's that the Tesco customer service manager told me to take but I don't know how to upload them on here. Many thanks, Sammy

taxiphil

I wouldn't say it's too late to claim, but the key thing is establishing the causation. You've got photos of the road which is a good start, but the next step is to get a mechanic to have a proper look at the radiator to see if there's any damage commensurate with the incident you've described. If so, you can think about asking them to do a written report and take photos of the damage.

saml179

the car is booked in tomorrow with the garage to fix my suspension control arm bushes. My oh does tend to do most things on the car himself within reason so if the mechanic says it isn't related to the incident, he will probably change the rad himself. but if it was caused by the cobles then I think we should claim. Many thanks, Sammy

Stoke

When I think about the underside of my car. If i went over a cobble that jumped out, the cobble would probably fly up and hit the sump guard, or possibly the sump itself. No chance it would hit the rad. If I hit a cobble with a rear wheel, it might catch the inside of bumper or mudguard but would be pretty unlucky if it did.

C_Mababejive

It seems to me that for the cobble to jump out,your front wheel would have passed over it. If your front wheel has passed over it then the radiator definitely has passed the position of the cobble by a fair distance and as the car moves forward,the cobble would almost certainly flick rearward/sideward thus moving it away from the radiator.

I dont think it is related and even so,its a bit late..

atrixblue.-MFR-.

the front bumper has a undertray that covers the frame work for the radiator, it would shattered the tray and bent the support frame so much as to actually puncture the rad so I doubt its related the incident.

saml179

Hi all thank you for your comments. The garage rung and it was caused by the brick. It somehow went up around the wheel arch and hit the radiator it did cause quite a bit of damage :-( Not that it matters because my garage said that my car is badly corroded on the back and a frame support has gone?? It has aparrently caused the suspension wearing and the car is unfixable :-( So its not worth getting the rad fixed :-(. Thank you so much for all your comments though
Sammy x