I was helping my son move apartments over the weekend, driving down route 295 toward Philadelphia when suddenly I hear a banging from the driver's side rear tire. It's a construction zone so I couldn't pull over for about a mile. When I stopped to see what happened, I see the mudflap tucked up in the wheelwell and hear a hissing. Tracing the sound I found the metal hook of a bungee cord protruding from a puncture in my tire. Once I removed it, the tire immediately went flat. The mudguard was apparently destroyed by the rubber part of the bungee cord slapping up against it and drawing it into the wheelwell where it was chewed up by the tire tread.
Fortunately a NJ DOT truck pulled over and offered to change the tire. He said that because of the construction, this happens frequently and they are dispateched to handle the tire changes. Unfortunately this will now cost me $500+ and a trip to the dealer.
My wife thinks the car is cursed. It's only 3 months old with 4,000 miles and it has already been hit by another car, and now this.
Yea you cant blame the car or urself for retard drivers and city workers..not as if they work most of the time lol and almost never clean up properly
They were able to repair the hole in the tire. Total cost for the mudguard and tire repair - $165. It would have been an additional $200 if I had to replace the tire. The dealer was open on Saturday so I dropped the car off Friday night and it was ready on Saturday afternoon. Now I've got to do a better job avoiding obstacles!