Crazed wheel lacquer

[reefer110]

Took advantage of the blue skies and gave the car a clean earlier, noticed this on one of the front wheels, which to my untrained eye looks like cracks in the wheel lacquer. It still feels smooth to the touch, you can't get a fingernail in any of the lines.

Not sure on the name of the alloys but they're the one's fitted to the BE A3's... 10 spoke titanium type look which is diamond cut.

Car is under warranty so I'm about to pop over to the dealer and see what they have to say. Car is a 67 plate, I've only had it 6 months and they certainly weren't visible when I collected it.

Question is, has anyone else seen this happen, what causes it? I look after the car, none of the wheels have been curbed and I never use anything acidic ion the wheels when I clean them.

TIA

 

[Mark_86]

Haven't seen that, I have diamond cut rims and nothing showing on mine. I'd get that to the dealer and ensure they replace it, not repair it.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

You are not the original I assume. I think that wheel has been refurbished from a previous curbing and was poorly done. Take it back to the dealer you bought it from.

 

[AlS3BE]

Seen and experienced similar things before.
So many things can cause it. First is always strong wheel cleaners acidic or caustic in nature. Even ph neutral isn’t safe as it’s the surfactant(sp?) that’s causes problems. A lot of the dodgy foamy car wash places don’t dilute the chemicals properly and don’t rinse properly can cause this.
Others is your normal automated car wash or jet wash with dirty brushes.
Also seen cheap smart repairs from chipsaway type places do that. Last a few months till car is sold basically.
Problem is once it starts it will keep working it’s way all over the face. Road salt and grit isn’t gonna help your cause either.
In your pics it looks like it’s brushed against something as the edges of the spoke looks worse than centre. The bits that are almost white.

I would try warranty first and go from there.

 

[Jassyo06]

I would try a abrasive polish first ie something with a bit cut to it then take from there

 

[Henda]

I had the exact ssme problem with my car I bought it from Audi when it was 10months old. I have now had it a year myself. And today I dropped my car off with audi as they have said its not acceptable for that to be happening, they will refurbish them and give me a 2yr warranty and i also have a courtesy car. Not costing me a penny.

 

[reefer110]

You are not the original I assume. I think that wheel has been refurbished from a previous curbing and was poorly done. Take it back to the dealer you bought it from.

No reg'd to the dealer prior to me. I collected it with 2500 miles on the clock.

 

[reefer110]

I'm racking my brain here as the more I think about it the more I seem to recall the dealer saying something about a wheel being refurbed when I was going through the process of trying to arrange a day to view the car. I'm sure I didn't imagine it, would make sense as it's only the one wheel displaying this.

 

[reefer110]

I had the exact ssme problem with my car I bought it from Audi when it was 10months old. I have now had it a year myself. And today I dropped my car off with audi as they have said its not acceptable for that to be happening, they will refurbish them and give me a 2yr warranty and i also have a courtesy car. Not costing me a penny.

This is interesting, don't suppose you happen to have taken any pics of yours do you?

 

[AlS3BE]

No reg'd to the dealer prior to me. I collected it with 2500 miles on the clock.

Dealer reg is still an owner. Most likely Ex demo or company car. A lot can be done in 2500 miles.
Could even be the valeters at the dealership cleaning it with dirty sponge.

 

[reefer110]

The thing is these marks appear to be under the coating, I can't get a fingernail in any gaps as they don't appear to exist.

 

[CHEZ]

Definitely looks like cracking of the lacquer..
A finger nail is no good to feel.
At work, (making ball bearings), we use a pencil to feel for imperfections on Raceways etc that we can't feel with our fingers.
Try running an automatic clicky pencil very lightly over the surface, you won't damage it, but will feel any imperfections.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

I'm racking my brain here as the more I think about it the more I seem to recall the dealer saying something about a wheel being refurbed when I was going through the process of trying to arrange a day to view the car. I'm sure I didn't imagine it, would make sense as it's only the one wheel displaying this.

Definitely take it back to the dealer and with the mileage it had prior to you buying and with the dealer as owner, it was a demo and very prone to being curbed. Do not attempt to try and fix it yourself, as the dealer may use this as excuse to deny liability.

 

[Henda]

This is interesting, don't suppose you happen to have taken any pics of yours do you?

Didn’t look much different to yours, it looks like the lacquer is starting to crack. They didn’t argue with me they just checked to make sure I hadn’t curbed them which I hadn’t and they booked it in same day to get them done a week later.