Alloy Wheel Repair

Audi Ashley

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So guys, after owning the car for 2 years I have slightly scuffed the nearside front wheel and Im so annoyed.

The wheels already have had some sort of refurb and it wasnt the best job. To be honest the damage is quite lite but still annoying. Im still deciding wether to get it sorted.

So I have been given a quote of £70, and that for someone to come out and sort it at my house.

What do you think guys, good price or should I just leave it.

Wheel
 
Up to you if you want to leave it or not, it'd annoy me (I kerbed my 19" V spoke 2 days after a full detail..... the refurb is my wife's Xmas present to me!).

Personally I'd find a proper refurb establishment that would do a proper tyre off repair and repaint/coat. That can be had (around here in Bucks anyway) for the same price as you're being quoted.

As an example (and for those within reach of Aylesbury, they're ****** good at what they do)

http://www.alloystars.co.uk/
 
I was quoted £65 for a similar repair at my local wheel refurb place so £70 on the drive seems comparable
 
Was that tyre off, full strip and repaint?

Not sure TBH, the person I spoke too termed it a 'cosmetic repair' My car goes back at the end of the lease in a couple weeks, I wanted to get a rough price so I can compare it to the BCA prices for wheel repair and avoid getting fleeced. If the damage exceeds 50mm in length BCA only charge £36.

This is my local company in Bury, Lancs : http://www.alloywheelsrefurbished.com/
I've never used them but they have a good reputation from what I'm told.
 
I paid 300 for all 4 which was wheels off and full repair and powder coat, so 70.00 for a smart repair is not that great. I would rather spend the little extra and get them done properly.
 
I got quoted but another shop £65 plus VAT for the wheel to be take off and sent away to be done properly, however becuase the other wheels have been refurbed but not the best job they said that the wheel will match paint wise but be your best looking wheel and may stand out.
 
I got quoted but another shop £65 plus VAT for the wheel to be take off and sent away to be done properly, however becuase the other wheels have been refurbed but not the best job they said that the wheel will match paint wise but be your best looking wheel and may stand out.

I guess its a case if you just want to rip the bandaid off and get them all done at once then you are 100% happy, or do a temp repair on one, but then thinking all the time that you dont like the looks of the other wheels as well.

If it was me and I did not like the looks of the wheels and they were poor previous repairs then I would just bite the bullet. If you cant afford all at once then do the front 2 first then the back 2 at a later date.

Most places will provide you loaner wheels while yours are being done.
 
I have a similar scuff on my alloy. Been quoted £100 for complete 'diamond cut' cnc machined repair. Chemical strip of old paint, re-machine,paint and lacquer. From what I have seen over the years on this forum that's cheap.. So £70 for a so so repair seems expensive?
ps My wheels are 19"
 
after owning the car for 2 years I have slightly scuffed the nearside front wheel and Im so annoyed.View attachment 207062

2 years! Well done you. Second day out in my S3 my wheel met the curb on a corner of a driveway at the perfect angle to do the most damage possible. I was - no, still am totally gutted!

Anyway, these might be interesting:


 
I have a similar scuff on my alloy. Been quoted £100 for complete 'diamond cut' cnc machined repair. Chemical strip of old paint, re-machine,paint and lacquer. From what I have seen over the years on this forum that's cheap.. So £70 for a so so repair seems expensive?
ps My wheels are 19"

I had my 5-V spoke 19” wheel completely refurbed and diamond cut for £85 by the company I linked to above. So yeah, £75 for a “cosmetic” repair on the drive does look expensive in comparison.
 
Incidentally, do people use tyres which come with a slight bulge where the tyre meets the rim (sorry, i don't know the proper term)? I had those on a previous Golf GT and it made a massive difference, I could only curb my wheels if i tried hard and at speed.

Seems like quicker and more expensive cars are less likely to come with them though, which seems daft.
 
There's a thread on here somewhere comparing which brand of tyre gives best rim protection.
 
2 years! Well done you. Second day out in my S3 my wheel met the curb on a corner of a driveway at the perfect angle to do the most damage possible. I was - no, still am totally gutted!

Anyway, these might be interesting:



The machine I operate at work is a similar model to the one in the vid. It's a Haas ST 15.:thumbs up:
 
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Incidentally, do people use tyres which come with a slight bulge where the tyre meets the rim (sorry, i don't know the proper term)? I had those on a previous Golf GT and it made a massive difference, I could only curb my wheels if i tried hard and at speed.

Seems like quicker and more expensive cars are less likely to come with them though, which seems daft.

Ha! I Kerbed mine pulling away from being parked and attempting a U - turn, all at less than 5mph. And that’s with Pirelli’s with “decent” rim protection.
 
The machine I operate at work is a similar model to the one in the vid. It's a Haas ST 15.:thumbs up:

Awesome, I'll just buy myself a Haas ST 15 for next time i scratch my ri..............€41,000 second hand!!!???
 
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Incidentally, do people use tyres which come with a slight bulge where the tyre meets the rim (sorry, i don't know the proper term)? I had those on a previous Golf GT and it made a massive difference, I could only curb my wheels if i tried hard and at speed.

Seems like quicker and more expensive cars are less likely to come with them though, which seems daft.

Quicker and more expensive cars come with lower profile (sidewall) tyres hence the more likely to kerb, irrespective
Of rim protection. You could get “gators) which add a bit more “protection” or just be very careful


https://alloygator.com/uk/product/s...P4O0IYb-tni2Rq9Rg9CLLWqUgfECfUqhoCGY0QAvD_BwE
 
Do they help? Are you rims scratch-free?

In my case, no, and no. The rim protection strip tore when I did mine - as I turned the wheel to do a U turn pulling away from a parking space. Best is just be ultra careful. I could I suppose fit wider tyres and live with the car going faster than indicated by a couple of percent, but the extra cost of tyres would outweigh the alloy refurb cost.
 
Well it turns out that the guy who does the mobile fitting is a friend of the family so he said he will do it for £60.
 
Well it turns out that the guy who does the mobile fitting is a friend of the family so he said he will do it for £60.

Honestly for about 20-30 quid more I would have the tyre removed and have a lathe, paint and clearcoat refurb rather than a Smart repair.
 
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Honestly for about 20-30 quid more I would have the tyre removed and have a lathe, paint and clearcoat refurb rather than a Smart repair.

Problem is that the rest of the wheels didnt get the best job so now im thinking of getting the whole lot done professionally. arrgghh.
 
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Apart from fixing the cosmetic damage, bear in mind to get plenty of protection back on - the damaged area is bare aluminium and an entry point for corrosion (white worms etc.) over the coming months.

When I curb damaged my diamond cut wheels (standard 1.4 s-line design, so same as yours?) I decided eventually to have them fully powder coated (in original Audi colour). They look almost identical (obviously without the diamond cut glint) but have the benefit of much better resilience against corrosion & easier repair at home (as the finish is paint not lacquered bare metal). P-Zero tyres have helped too with their very good rim protection. Until the wheels were painted I used a lot of lacquer quite liberally applied, just to offer corrosion protection in the damaged area... As far as I can see from the photo, your's have been fully painted previously.

I think the diamond cut approach is is a great marketing idea to help sell cars, but really isn't a technology appropriate for car wheels used in the real world. The refurb folk I took mine to were Alloy Weldcraft in High Wycombe, who I would recommend. They admitted to me that even though they have invested heavily in being able to diamond cut for those that want it, that you really can't get enough lacquer on the (sharp'ish) edges at the edge of a diamond cut to offer the same level of corrosion protection compared with powder coated paint, so the finish will always likely 'fail' before a painted equivalent. The lacquer is also a much thinner layer than paint, so more susceptible to stone damage going through to the metal, whereupon you get water ingress and the corrosion cycle starts :-( Appreciate you may not be near High Wycombe to get yours done there, but same principle applies wherever.

(Actually Alloy Weldcraft are an interesting company - they say they get other companies sending wheels to them when they have extensive enough damage that they can't be fixed locally. They have samples of wheels they have 're-built' from what I can only describe as wrecks when original wheels simply are no longer available. The only scary thing is what they do to wheels they need to manipulate and weld in terms of heating them, but I guess you just have to trust a company that's been in business long enough to know what they are doing... I my case they said one wheel was a bit bent (possibly due to a pothole) and straightened it as part of the refurb. All I can say is the wheels felt perfectly balanced when the car came back.)
img_20190911_124719-jpg.190339
 
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Looking good fella, I do think these wheel look better painted than diamond cut

As an aside, when I had my spare 5-V spoke wheel refurbed - it had been badly painted and then kerbed - eBay cheapy - Alloystars owner said they would only refurb diamond cut wheels twice, after that they just say "sorry, we'll have to paint them".

I'm not a great fan of diamond cut wheels anyway, but they came with the car, and at least they're not black and silver.
 
As an aside, when I had my spare 5-V spoke wheel refurbed - it had been badly painted and then kerbed - eBay cheapy - Alloystars owner said they would only refurb diamond cut wheels twice, after that they just say "sorry, we'll have to paint them".

I'm not a great fan of diamond cut wheels anyway, but they came with the car, and at least they're not black and silver.

Yes, you can only diamond cut them back so much - each time removes more material and affects their shape/profile and maybe even their integrity.
 
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