Genuine vs Aftermarket Santiago alloys is there a difference?

[mariamartinez]

Hi

I have no clue about this, but if I want to swap my alloys for Santiago 18" is there any difference between genuine VW item and the numerous aftermarket ones on ebay for £399 (for 4). Also is it critical to get 7.5J vs 8J if 7.5J is recommended? thanks Maria.

[Guzzle]

While some replicas are OK, many others are cheap for a reason. You may get lucky, but replicas are often of lower quality. They can be heavier than genuine wheels and sometimes prone to buckling or cracking. Depending on the quality of the painting they may also start to show the dreaded whiteworm sooner than a genuine wheel.

However, it's also worth bearing in mind that even the genuine Santiagos will surrender to whiteworm if you damage them.

8J vs 7J is the width of the wheel, so if you increase this it will probably mean wider tyres. What's important is the offset of the wheel which will dictate how far the wheel sits inside the arch. There are websites that you can input wheel size and offset and it will advise how they compare to an existing setup, if I remember I think one of them is called willtheyfit.com

Be careful, if you decide to go for replicas make sure you are happy they are from a reputable source. Also to the best of my knowledge VW don't offer an OEM 18 inch Santiago, anything other than 19 inch is likely to be a replica despite any description on eBay saying otherwise.

[SRGTD]

If you can get four Santiago replicas for less than the price of one new genuine VW Santiago, then that should tell you something about the quality of the replica wheels you've seen on eBay.

Personally, I'd avoid cheap replica alloys. There can be issues with the structural integrity of some of these replicas; more prone to buckling if you hit a pothole. Also, the quality of finish may be substandard compared to an OEM wheel and being diamond cut, you could probably expect the early onset of white worm corrosion.

[Don76]

Replicas get a bad name - but often it's not justified.
I ran 19" replica RS6 wheels for 3 years on my last car. An A3 saloon. I covered 124k miles (yes, I'm a sales guy) and all 4 were straight and crack free when I removed them.

Buy from a reputable retailer rather than eBay where these guys care about their business reputation and you'll fare better.

Even if you're unlucky and have to change one or two....its a he'll of a lot cheaper than OEM.

[itavaltalainen]

Replicas get there bad name for a reason, most never went through the testing required for sale in Europe. They may look the same as the genuine item in many ways but usually are made from cheaper alloy, etc.
Also usually come without paperwork, no wonder as they were never approved for use in EU.

[dubber36]

I wonder what the insurance implications are, regarding both cover for modifications or in the event of a claim if not declared?

[SRGTD]

I wonder what the insurance implications are, regarding both cover for modifications or in the event of a claim if not declared?

Some insurers are fairly receptive to modifications whereas other insurers won't cover them, so if anyone is thinking of modifying their car, it's best for them to check their current insurer's attitude to modifications before they make any changes. The important thing is to always declare any modifications, and if the insurer won't cover them, there's always the option to cancel the policy (there may be a cancellation fee and admin charge to pay) and find a mod-friendly insurer who will cover them. Depending on what the modifications are, the insurer may charge an additional premium to cover the changes, and / or apply an increased excess.

Not declaring modifications could be construed as non disclosure of facts that are material to the insurer's assessment of the risk. The insurer won't have all the information they need to accurately assess the risk or calculate the correct premium. Could be considered as obtaining insurance cover fraudulently?

The insurance implications of a car with undeclared modifications being involved in an accident would depend upon the type of claim, the type of modifications and the individual insurer's approach to undeclared modifications. Possible outcomes (there will be other possible outcomes too);

• the insurer treats the policy as invalidated as far as their own policyholder is concerned, so pays nothing for their policyholder's losses
• the insurer pays the claim, but repairs to the car are made using standard parts and not replacement modified parts equivalent to the modifications that their policyholder had made
• the insurer pays the claim, but imposes a higher excess

Irrespective of undeclared modifications, any innocent third party who has sustained injuries or damage should be compensated though, although the insurer would have the right to persue recovery from their policyholder any third party payments they have made.

I have modified my car (different wheels). I told my insurer before they were fitted and they charged me a small additional premium and the modification is noted on my policy.

[Exonian]

Excellent post SRGTI
Good facts covered there about cover.
For instance my current insurer won't allow wheel spacers. They're quite happy with engine and wheel mods but spacers are the work of the devil in their eyes.
Anyone want a mint set of Sparco spacers?

Anyway, back on topic and very good points in the other posts in this thread.
I meant to reply the other day but got waylaid, however itavaltalainen covered much of what I was going to say.
There are castings and there are castings.
When you look around UK wheel 'specialists' you'll see a plethora of Chinese reps.
Have a look on German and other Euro websites and you'll see none in many markets.
The reason being, as posted above, these wheels haven't passed stringent safety tests.
I'm sure they're not all death traps but they won't have undergone stringent and expensive TUV testing.
But I'm not anti replica. Far from it, just be careful.
Having safety stamps on the back of the wheel is a good pointer as to how well made the wheels should be. Look for JIL or JWL which is an internationally recognised standard.

[fredgroves]

Unlikely to be an issue until something major happens - if the root cause of a major incident (ie fatality) was found to be a non standards compliant component fitted by you, then the insurance company will refuse to pay out and you will be lumbered with a massive compensation claim.

I had a look and couldn't find anything about CE marking or type approval for car wheels though. Although TUV do carry out approvals, I have a feeling that might be more for German Motor Traffic Agency (KBA) road traffic legislation...

Of course re what I said above, its not something you'd want to risk if you could have a proven product...

[fredgroves]

Of course, approval stamps can be faked along with everything else, they aren't exactly secure markings.

Someone I knew who made motorbike race exhausts used to offer a quick BSI kite stamp to stop plod from chewing you up when they walk around popular cafes at the weekend ;-)