Gil Giro doesn't need a license plate to tell where a car is from -- he just looks underneath the chassis.
"Every time we see a car that comes in from the district, you can see that its suspension is torn up," said Giro, the owner of Gili's Automotive in Rockville, Md., outside Washington D.C. "It's almost like the vehicle has been driven off-road."
The nation's capital isn't alone in offering motorists teeth-rattling rides as U.S. lawmakers tussle over how to pay the bill for mending battered roads. Mechanics such as Giro say they see the hidden tax car owners pay every day in torn tires, misaligned front ends and bent axles.
Drivers won't get relief any time soon.
The U.S. Highway Trust Fund, which helps pay for road and transit projects in Washington and all 50 states, has been bailed out by Congress three times since 2008 for a total of $34.5 billion. The gasoline tax that supports the fund hasn't been raised in 19 years, and, with the cost of materials such as steel and asphalt on the rise, the fund is expected to have a deficit of about $10 billion this year.
Car owners already shell out far more than that to repair damage done to their vehicles by America's ruined streets and highways, industry and academic researchers say.
Motorists pay $67 billion annually for increased fuel consumption, dents, worn tires and premature wear wrought by pitted roads, according to The Road Information Program, a research group. The group's board includes representatives from construction-equipment makers Caterpillar and Deere, as well as Vulcan Materials, a Birmingham, Ala., asphalt and concrete producer.
$324 per driver
That works out to $324 per licensed driver, says Frank Moretti, TRIP's director of policy and research. The figure is an average of all vehicles and can vary widely between cars and large commercial trucks, which are prone to costlier damage, he says.
Karim Chatti, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan State University, estimates that damage linked to poor roads probably runs between $15 billion to $25 billion annually for car owners, not including tire damage and fuel-efficiency costs.
Chatti's lower estimate of $15 billion would cover this year's projected deficit in the highway trust fund; an additional $10 billion would help prevent the nation's highways and arterial roads from slipping further into disrepair.
'True cost'
"It is a true cost to the nation, there's no doubt," says Chatti, who has conducted research for the National Academies on how pavement conditions affect vehicle operating costs. "You start adding them up and you get into the billions."
Justin Nisly, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said in an emailed statement that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has often stated that "America's transportation infrastructure is in desperate need of repair, which is why it is so important that Congress pass a transportation bill."
Washington's lawmakers aren't close to a consensus on a long-term solution for the nation's road network -- or even how to pay for keeping highways from deteriorating further.
The last comprehensive highway policy and funding bill passed in 2005 and ran through 2009. Highway funding has continued since then through nine extensions, the most recent of which is set to expire June 30.
The House has passed a 10th extension that would continue funding through Sept. 30. The Senate has approved a two-year bill that the House hasn't considered.
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