Alloy wheel help!!!

[benmartingolf]

Hi all,

I havnt posted on here much although I check everyday whats going on.

For the first time in years I scuffed my Austin alloy last week and being abit OCD I had to have it sorted. I phoned my VW dealer to find out if they could refurb it and they recommended a company called Smart World in Exeter as they do all of VW's bodywork bits.

So I phoned them up and took the car in last week. When I dropped the car off the guy said the wheel can sometimes come out a shade darker but when I picked the car up and saw it in the light the next day it looked alot darker and instead of being a shiny finish it looks dull and almost plastic looking.

I am really stuck on what to do and bloody annoyed. I spend good money on getting the wheel sorted and now wish I had left the mark on there.

Has anyone got any advice or experience in the same thing?

Thanks in advance.

Ben

[Booth11]

Hi all,

I havnt posted on here much although I check everyday whats going on.

For the first time in years I scuffed my Austin alloy last week and being abit OCD I had to have it sorted. I phoned my VW dealer to find out if they could refurb it and they recommended a company called Smart World in Exeter as they do all of VW's bodywork bits.

So I phoned them up and took the car in last week. When I dropped the car off the guy said the wheel can sometimes come out a shade darker but when I picked the car up and saw it in the light the next day it looked alot darker and instead of being a shiny finish it looks dull and almost plastic looking.

I am really stuck on what to do and bloody annoyed. I spend good money on getting the wheel sorted and now wish I had left the mark on there.

Has anyone got any advice or experience in the same thing?

Thanks in advance.

Ben

Sorry to hear your wheel has come back darker and with a different finish.  Did they use the proper process required for refurbishing diamond cut wheels, i.e, diamond cutting lathe, followed by re-lacquering?

I haven't experienced that but I can recommend Lepsons if you are considering getting it re-done somewhere else and don't mind sending your eheel away to be done.  They work wonders with both diamond cuts and powder coated wheels.  I had one of my Pretorias (powder coated) done there last year and the colour match was spot on, despite it being a notoriously difficult colour to match.  Finish was perfect.  A friend of mine had one of his Austins done a couple years back and it was as new, and couldn't tell it from the others.  They have the specialist diamond cutting lathe required for that type of wheel. Price is around £85 + vat per wheel and do free courier service.

http://www.lepsons.com

[I wanted a GTi]

Sounds like they painted the wheel hyper silver. Get your money back and bring/send it to someone that do diamond cutting.

I know it's a bit late now but you should have asked on her before you had it done.

[Gabouk]

sorry to read about the wheel fella 

but yea +1 vote for Lepsons, few of my mates have used them an every time it has been almost perfect 
iv never experienced getting my wheels refurbished, iv always try to look after them when i park but of course such as life these things can happen to anyone, but iv always had black wheels an all i did mate was get a Sharpie an colour of the scratch on the wheel 
you couldn't tell for far, but of course when you came closer it was noticeable.

anyway i hope you get your wheel sorted an yea deffo hit up Lepsons man 
good luck mate.

[Mr GTD]

Sorry to hear this Ben.

So have contacted the garage about said finish of wheel..? what did they have to say..? Have they got a website and if so have you looked on there for there "guarantee" does it mention at all about if your not happy ect..?

I had a Monza Shadow refurb by Lepsons so can also vouch for them.

[dubber36]

Some refurbers will use chrome paint or powder coat to try and replicate diamond cut. One of my Vancouvers had been repaired this way, so I bit the bullet and bought a new wheel.

[Exonian]

Hi Ben,

Smart World, as the name suggests, do smart repairs so my guess is that's what they've done.
They've probably rubbed down, filled and then possibly lacquered the wheel face. The extra coat of lacquer might be the culprit in giving a darker finish. But I'm just guessing really. Any chance you could post a pic of the repaired wheel plus one of your other wheels as a close up?

SWWR on Marsh Barton are very good but they used to subcontract diamond cut wheels.
It would be well worth ringing them for advice if nothing else.
The owner, Bob, is very good and one of the guys who works there, Jon, is pretty well known on the VW scene locally.

I've used Lepsons before in the past. They used to have a branch in Swindon too but I think they've closed that one. Just as well too as I had a less than good experience with them so wouldn't recommend! The Kent branch have a great reputation.

[Brenbo]

Hi Ben

I live in north cornwall and used to have a GTI PP.  I also bought my GTI from VW Exeter.  I had an experience a while ago when one of the technicians in a late friday night attempt decided to fit the tyre on to the wheel back to front and then scuff/chip (tiny near rim, barely noticeable to a none car OCD person) in the process.  I inspected the wheel on the forecourt luckily and with my face next to the wheel noticed it filled with grime.  I told the girl handling the paperwork about it she was fantastic about the problem and got the technician to come straight out and see the damage.  He could not care less about.  The next time I went in his manager swapped the wheel with a showroom car wheel even though they were contemplating smart repair or refurbishment.  Do you need a new/2nd hand wheel now to replace the damaged one?

Can someone on this thread answer a simple question.  Am I able to use an 18" full size alloy (Austin) as a spare temporary limp around wheel, with a Golf R which has 19" wheels fitted as standard? The reason I ask this question is due to the AWD system. 

If the answer to the question above is NO!, then I may have a spare genuine 18" Austin alloy wheel up for sale for a good price if you want it Ben?  It is in very good condition except for a tiny chip on the diamond cut surface, this is the wheel VW damaged.  The wheel damage would be refurbish-able to new at the right place. 

Also there is a very good wheel refurbishment centre in Wadebridge, Cornwall if you fancy a jaunt over the border. 

If you do want the wheel I will await an answer to the question above, before saying it is definitely for sale as it is now my limp around wheel.   Will await a reply. 

[Exonian]

  Am I able to use an 18" full size alloy (Austin) as a spare temporary limp around wheel, with a Golf R which has 19" wheels fitted as standard?

Yes, you could run an Austin as a temporary spare wheel. The rolling circumference would be very slightly different to the Pretoria but not much, therefore so long as you reset the tyre warning before driving it would suffice for normal use for a while and would be much preferable to a space saver spare.

[Brenbo]

Thanks Exonian.  The reason I asked was due to someone at work stating you could not use an 18" wheel as a spare if the car was AWD and had 19" wheels standard?  I thought I would just ask on here incase it was BS, as the guy is known for it.   

Sorry Ben, going on Exonians answer I will probably keep the wheel and not sell it after all. However if you do want a good wheel refurbishment place, the one in Wadebridge Cornwall is very good.  heres a link

http://www.thepolishedwheelcompany.com/