Alloy wheel scratch, advice please!

[Dtwm1]

I was giving the car a clean this morning and noticed this, the picture looks worse than it is but you can only see it up close and just about feel it with your nail.
I may be being paranoid but I've read all the reports on diamond cut wheels and how easy water can ingress and that's the last thing I want, especially with winter coming. I do have the audi alloy insurance but does it justify using 1 of the 10 claims? I've only had it 2 weeks

 

[veeeight]

You are right to be concerned, water ingress will lead to whiteworm.

But FWIW, that looks like it hasn't broken the lacquer so you shouldn't get any water ingress past the lacquer. The scratches are too small to worry about getting it repaired/recut, but for safety, I would buy a can of WURTH Automotive Clear Coat Lacquer (from eBay) and just lightly spray an additional coat onto that surface (masking everything else off first, of course).

 

[NHN]

Diamond cut, urmmm not great, I would try some plastic polish 1st, as its so fine it wont breakdown the water barrier, it maybe enough to get rid of the fine scratches, done this myself on paintwork, audi do a bottle of the stuff, but try on a tiny area to make sure it doesn't spoil the finish.

 

[Pulp84]

I scratched a diamond cut edge on one of my S3 wheels after wrench slipped - I fixed it with a clear lacquer touch up pen that came with the Audi touch up pen. To be honest I can't even see where I applied once dried, but it will protect it against "worming". The scratch disappered too with the lacquer on which was an added bonus.....

 

[Dtwm1]

Thanks for advice guys. I popped in Cheltenham Audi on the way home and luckily their wheel refurb guy from Reinventing The Wheel, Tewkesbury was there. He looked at it and said pretty much the same thing but to polish it first to strip any sealants and clean it then WURTH clear lacquer. If it doesn't work because it's diamond cut it will need a full refurb that's £110+vat but as I mentioned I've got the alloy insurance.

 

[phil1824]

Thanks for advice guys. I popped in Cheltenham Audi on the way home and luckily their wheel refurb guy from Reinventing The Wheel, Tewkesbury was there. He looked at it and said pretty much the same thing but to polish it first to strip any sealants and clean it then WURTH clear lacquer. If it doesn't work because it's diamond cut it will need a full refurb that's £110+vat but as I mentioned I've got the alloy insurance.

Are you absolutely positive the insurance is ok with Diamond cut? Often it is not, and Audi don't seem to know which is Diamond cut and which is not!

 

[Dtwm1]

Yes, I checked this before I accepted the policy as I'd been offered the same cover along with my gap but it didn't cover diamond cut. Even the refurb guy said to check my policy as ones sold by Cheltenham Audi (blade group) didn't cover diamond cut.

If I had to claim and wasn't covered I'd be furious that I'd been sold an Audi policy that didn't cover my Audi wheels, it's worth checking as by the sounds of it each group has a different policy.

 

[S32B]

Out of interest what did they charge for the cover? He gave me the leaflet but no price on it!

For information the retail price protection was quoted @ £499 you can get that direct for £157
As for the GARDX!!! started off at £500 and when I laughed and said no it went straight down to £399 still said no

 

[glospete]

I had to get a refund of the premium on my ALA alloy wheel policy because they don't cover diamond cut wheels so definitely worth checking.

 

[Dtwm1]

Out of interest what did they charge for the cover? He gave me the leaflet but no price on it!

For information the retail price protection was quoted @ £499 you can get that direct for £157
As for the GARDX!!! started off at £500 and when I laughed and said no it went straight down to £399 still said no

I got it for £300 as a package with the tyre insurance. I'd check the small print to make sure your covered for diamond cut. After speaking to Reinventing the Wheel today any scratch or scuff on diamond cut sections will need to be refurbished as once they strip the lacquer back and correct the defect it's all but impossible to reapply the lacquer and get an OEM finish. Reinventing the wheel do all the major dealerships in Gloucestershire including Bentley and Aston Martin and at £110+vat per wheel it could get pricey without cover.

I had to get a refund of the premium on my ALA alloy wheel policy because they don't cover diamond cut wheels so definitely worth checking.

I couldn't agree more Glospete considering the cost of a diamond cut refurb.