Alloy Refurb - A3 8V S-Line

Audi Man Dan

Audi Man Dan

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The time came when I decided to let the girl friend borrow my now 4 month old A3 8V, surprise surprise and to my horror upon its return there is a chunk/deep scuff on the near side front alloy.

Long story short, has anybody had an alloy refurb done before? Is this something the dealer can do?

What sort of costs would be associated with this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
I think you'll need to find a good refurb wheel specialist. The S-Line has a diamond cut face on the spokes and your standard wheel guys are unlikely to be able to match it. The Audi dealer may have a contact, although I doubt they'd do the work themselves. Speaking to the service manager last week about black edition alloys and he said they have problems getting them refurbed. A new one on the A6 loaner I had was £1000 a corner for the 20" rims fitted.

How bad is it? It may be worth posting some pics.

I guess it really depends on how good you want the finish. Standard refurbs may cost you £80, whereas a tidy job to replicate the original I'd guess would cost double that.

P.S. I take it she's now the ex-girlfriend?
 
Often wondered about how you can repair these polished rim alloys... I think you will definitely need a good wheel refurb specialist... (try your local chipsaway.co.uk guy ?)... good luck and keep us posted.
 
Time for a new girlfriend Dan
 
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depends if you want a **** job that will last 8 months and just repair the area damaged or a great job that will last the lifetime of the car and repair, sandblast and respray the whole wheel

cheap option anything from £35 - £55

better option upward of £60 - 80 per wheel
 
The big problem you're likely to face is that most companies 'farm out' the diamond cutting to an external specialist. This can sometimes take a week to turn around. You'll be driving around on a space-saver for quite a long time limited to 50mph!

The second best option is a good quality standard 'painted finish' but you risk noticing the difference between front and rear wheels on the same side.
 
The Audi dealer in Chelmsford offers wheel refurb for £60 a wheel if I remember rightly and they do it on the premises.
 
Audi Man Dan said:
The time came when I decided to let the girl friend borrow my now 4 month old A3 8V, surprise surprise and to my horror upon its return there is a chunk/deep scuff on the near side front alloy.

Long story short, has anybody had an alloy refurb done before? Is this something the dealer can do?

What sort of costs would be associated with this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
Click to expand...

I feel your pain! When I got my current mk5 Golf GT my wife took it out after a week and managed to scuff both near side wheels. They're diamond cut 18" wheels and I couldn't find anywhere that'd repair them locally. I ended up having all the wheels painted silver, but the finish hasn't lasted too well. Not bothered now as the Golf's being part ex'd for my new Sportback due next week.

I must admit though that I wasn't aware that the 8v s-line wheels are diamond cut!?
 
They are indeed a specilist send away job I have alloy wheel and tyre insurance on my car offered by the dealer.
 
The dealer told me that the s-line wheels are classed as 'polished' and that they can refurbish them in-house for around £80 a wheel.

Apparently the larger 19 and 20" wheels on some of the A6/7/8 are 'highly polished' and can't be refurbished in-house, instead they are sent away.
 
I know a guy in NI who is great at it. Did the wheels on my old car. Looked amazing.
 
hittchy said:
I think you'll need to find a good refurb wheel specialist. The S-Line has a diamond cut face on the spokes and your standard wheel guys are unlikely to be able to match it. The Audi dealer may have a contact, although I doubt they'd do the work themselves. Speaking to the service manager last week about black edition alloys and he said they have problems getting them refurbed. A new one on the A6 loaner I had was £1000 a corner for the 20" rims fitted.

How bad is it? It may be worth posting some pics.

I guess it really depends on how good you want the finish. Standard refurbs may cost you £80, whereas a tidy job to replicate the original I'd guess would cost double that.

P.S. I take it she's now the ex-girlfriend?
Click to expand...


Thanks for the advice, haha she is not the ex-girlfriend but believe me its the last time she drives my car without me being there.

I believe the smaller rims may be able to be refurbed at the local dealer, this would be my proffered option. I don't know if I am being over the top with wanting my alloys to remain spotless, I just thinks it looks shabby with a 2" scrape on one of them. Maybe other people are not as OCD as myself.

I will try and get a pic up as soon as I can, the thing working in my favour is that the damage is only on the outer edge and not central.
 
squiretolley said:
I feel your pain! When I got my current mk5 Golf GT my wife took it out after a week and managed to scuff both near side wheels. They're diamond cut 18" wheels and I couldn't find anywhere that'd repair them locally. I ended up having all the wheels painted silver, but the finish hasn't lasted too well. Not bothered now as the Golf's being part ex'd for my new Sportback due next week.

I must admit though that I wasn't aware that the 8v s-line wheels are diamond cut!?
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Wives are just as bad as girlfriends then! Such an awful feeling as I spotted it haha. Very painful. Although I am not stereotyping female drivers, I'm sure there are some good ones out there, I've just never seen or met one.

(I imagine alot of abuse will now come my way)
 
mjcourtney said:
The dealer told me that the s-line wheels are classed as 'polished' and that they can refurbish them in-house for around £80 a wheel.

Apparently the larger 19 and 20" wheels on some of the A6/7/8 are 'highly polished' and can't be refurbished in-house, instead they are sent away.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this.

I think my dealer will be the first port of call, £80isn't too bad. Would rather have it done at Audi than at some backstreet Kevin Webster style garage.
 
Dealer is terrible Dan. They use cheap smart repairs like i said in post above
 
All fixed. I went with the dealer option. £60 +vat, looks good as new, will see how it holds up.
 
How long have they guaranteed the work for Dan? Seems like good value, if they've guaranteed it for a good amount of time.
 
As long as you're happy with the job, that's all that matters. After all, what's the worst that can happen.... it flakes and you get it done again in a year or two.

There's so much variability in main dealers, it may well be that your dealer takes pride in their workmanship and it'll last as long as you own the car.... or at least until the girlfriend has another go anyway!
 
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I'm having a do-I-or-don't-I moment regarding the alloy and tyre insurance. I've had my car 2 weeks now and I asked my local Audi about buying it after the sale. They said you get 30 days to take it from the day of collection.

£399 - 10 alloy refurbs and 5 tyres.

Worth it for peace of mind?
 
Damn right it's worth it.

As the salesman said to me, if you drive over some nails with only 3mm left on your tyres and all four get nails in them then the insurance will replace all four tyres.

Also if you kerb an alloy it doesn't cost anything to get it repaired.

What ain't to like???
 
Audi Man Dan said:
The time came when I decided to let the girl friend borrow my now 4 month old A3 8V, surprise surprise and to my horror upon its return there is a chunk/deep scuff on the near side front alloy.

Long story short, has anybody had an alloy refurb done before? Is this something the dealer can do?

What sort of costs would be associated with this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
Click to expand...

Wife just scraped my black edition rotors. Didn't even tell me she had done it until I noticed the damage and thought I had somehow done it. She just said to me relax its only a wheel. Silly Cow. I was fuming. Felt like smashing her hair dryer up or burning her clothes. RANT OVER
 
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Danny Fireblade said:
Damn right it's worth it.

As the salesman said to me, if you drive over some nails with only 3mm left on your tyres and all four get nails in them then the insurance will replace all four tyres.

Also if you kerb an alloy it doesn't cost anything to get it repaired.

What ain't to like???
Click to expand...

Sounds like that salesman could sell sand to the Arabs. Would love to see how many people have had a nail in all 4 tyres at once.

I suppose it depends on your driving style and how careful you are. I had my last A3 just under 3 years from brand new, not a single mark on an alloy, only had to replace the two front tyres due to general wear and tare. I drove around 15,000 miles a year.

Some people would like the peace of mind so I could see the attraction. I'd rather keep the £400 notes.
 
lgooch said:
Wife just scraped my black edition rotors. Didn't even tell me she had done it until I noticed the damage and thought I had somehow done it. She just said to me relax its only a wheel. Silly Cow. I was fuming. Felt like smashing her hair dryer up or burning her clothes. RANT OVER
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Brilliant. I thought only I had that reaction, good to hear its not just me. Same scenario, same phrase used, "Its only a wheel".

Red rag to a bull !

Anyway, hope you get the rotors sorted.
 
Audi Man Dan said:
Sounds like that salesman could sell sand to the Arabs. Would love to see how many people have had a nail in all 4 tyres at once.

I suppose it depends on your driving style and how careful you are. I had my last A3 just under 3 years from brand new, not a single mark on an alloy, only had to replace the two front tyres due to general wear and tare. I drove around 15,000 miles a year.

Some people would like the peace of mind so I could see the attraction. I'd rather keep the £400 notes.
Click to expand...

well I've had a few new cars before and I have had, on more than one occasion, nails and screws in tyres and it can be expensive.

im surprised you have insurance at all as I doubt you will ever need that too,lol.
 
What about when the missus gets out of the car and she slams the door! and if I say anything she gives me that look!
 
They also do cosmetic body repair insurance which covers minor dents and scrapes less than 150mm diameter (not roof/bonnet). Seemed like a good idea to me at the time as a friends car had just had an anonymous scrape in a supermarket car park which would be infuriating.

I think they wanted £599 for alloy wheel and cosmetic repair or £499 for just cosmetic repairs. Covers up to £1000 damage over three years. I managed to do a deal and got both for a bit less.

Whether its worth it obviously depends on how much you claim. If I hadn't signed already I think I might be inclined to 'pay as you go' , given the odd repair seems to only be £60 to £150 ish.


** have I just paid £500 for £1000 insurance ??? I best read it again. :confused: **
 
selar said:
I'm having a do-I-or-don't-I moment regarding the alloy and tyre insurance. I've had my car 2 weeks now and I asked my local Audi about buying it after the sale. They said you get 30 days to take it from the day of collection.

£399 - 10 alloy refurbs and 5 tyres.

Worth it for peace of mind?
Click to expand...


where did you get that?
 
lgooch said:
N8 how much are we talking on some light kerbing on a black ed rotor. Also how long does it take. I don't have a spare wheel and I can't do without my car
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im toying with the idea of getting a 2nd set so I can alternate between winter and summer tyres - once ive got the 2nd set ive send the 2 damaged ones for repair
 
I bought a second set of the S line alloys/tyres off a brand new car (owner upgraded to 19s). I'll b putting winter tyres on them and if any of the alloys get scuffed they'll b 'demoted' to winter wheels cos they look a nightmare to repair! Luckily the tyres that came with the second set of rims are identical to those that came on my car so I won't have to buy summer tyres for a few years either!
 
and now for the bad news.......

I have the diamond cut alloys and they are starting to cloud on the polished surface :(
 
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