Kerb damage to 18" Monza alloy - Help !

[magus]

Anybody out there know where in Yorkshire ( or in the rest of the UK come to that) I could get a repair done ??. Following a minor argument with a kerb I found I had scraped one of the spoke edges and put a surface scratch on the mirror finish. So I said Oh dear, or words to that effect and nipped round to my local VW main agent who didn't have a clue. Tried "Wicked Wheels" and "Scuffs and Scratches" who reckon to be able to repair alloys and they both washed their hands of it saying the finish was a new one and they couldn't repair it.
Thanks for your help ...

[gtodesign]

It sounds like you have the poly-chrome finish which unfortunately is a bit of a no-no when it comes to refurbing.  It's a static type elctro-sputtering finish that needs to be done in a special plant.  The reason you see it less these days in the UK aftermarket is because it hasn't been as durable as everyone thought it would be.  I did hear rumours of a place in Birmingham supposedly being able to replicate the finish but I thiink it had to be done from a bare wheel.  It's not a simple job to entirely remove the finish for any sort of refurb.

[magus]

Thanks for the information - I'll check out the Birmingham connection. Seems a bit short-sighted of VW to sell the Mk 5 GTI with an alloy wheel which is not capable of reasonably cheap repair by normal methods. To make matters worse, with low profile tyres there is no cushioning effect from the tyre wall to help to protect the alloy. I'm not that bad at parking normally but hell everyone touches the kerb occasionally. At £380 quid a pop for a replacement Monza this could be a very expensive way of improving everyones parking abilities. Regards and thanks again for your help.

[gtodesign]

Hmm... I assumed the 18" Monza's you were talking about were Team Dynamics Monza's in Poly-Chrome but from your last post it sounds like they're VW OE. TBH I didn't even know VW did an 18" option for the Golf.  Do you have a picture of the wheels you have?

[GTiMK5]

When I picked mine up the dealer warned me to be careful as the 18s are easy to damage and not easy to repair because of the finish on them.

I had a slight disagreement with the smallest of kerbs, in my old car it would have been no problem but with the new GTI it was, it put a small mark on the rear left wheel. It is not really noticable so I am not too bothered about it. It is annoying though on a new car but I dont see much point in getting them repaired for one mark as I could then go out the next day and damage it or another one again. If it was really bad I would consider it otherwise I would spend my money on other things to do with the car, my next purchase is a Miltek, should be on there as soon as I get back and also possibly an air filter.

[Alan C]

Same problem with mine last week - I'm really annoyed with myself!  My car's only 5 weeks old and looks (looked) absolutely perfect but now I have a horrible gouge across one spoke of my beautiful 18" Monza IIs.  And they're nearly £400 each 

Like yours, my VW dealer said they couldn't do anything but told me that "Wicked Wheels" in Guidford knew a company in Kent that could help.  I phoned them and it was true, except that the man at WW advised me that there wasn't a lot of point because the lacquer used to finish the job doesn't stick well and would probably peel off and look a real mess after a few months anyway!

I got excited when I saw this ad on ebay advertising a set of four Monza IIs for £400:  http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/18-NEW-VW-GOLF-GTI-WHEELS-MK4-MK5-AUDI-A3-A4-A6-A8-TT_W0QQitemZ4652353058QQihZ002QQcategoryZ28648QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem.  However, I phoned them up and they told me they're replicas, not the real VW part.  Presumably, for that price, they must be pretty inferior.

So, like the originator of this thread, I'm really interested in whether anyone has had a successful repair done on their Monza IIs.

Thanks,

Alan

[AlexRWD]

I kept warning my wife that she would have to be really careful with parking her new GTI, esp with the 18" alloys, as would be easy to kerb .... so what happens?  I've gone and flippin' kerbed the drivers side wheels  :embarassed:

Only scuffed them along the edges of the rim next to the tyre, but still very annoying

From what you guys are saying, it doesn't sound at all positive on the repairs front, sounds like I'll just have to be more careful, and live with it.

[Melchior]

18" Monza IIs.  And they're nearly £400 each 

399 Euro from Fischer Motorsport 

[Gene Hunt.]

So much for rim protector tyres  :cry:I've found them to be about as much use as an ash tray on a motorbike.

[Pike Man]

I'd add to this thread that if you have just bought your GTI and it's got the new Dunlop Sport tyres on it.. be warned! No one has them in stock - so if you get a puncture (like I did after 250 miles of use from collecting the car!) then you're stuffed. The tyres are so new, nobody has them in stock yet. Thankfully, my puncture turned out to be very minor was repairable.  As for those kerbs - I'm dreading it happening... and it will! I've used wicked wheels on my TT and good though they were - the colour match was poor and the finish was softer, so easier to damage a second time. On the plus side, they were cheap and came to me on my drive way. I suspect the 18" monzas are not easily repaired - best bet - buy another wheel I suppose. That's what I'll do if I bang one badly.