MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Picked up our new car on Friday (lightly used ex-demo Seat), loving it so far, looks great, drives like a dream, BIG step up from my old Corsa! Left the Corsa with We Buy Any Car last night and the bloke was admiring the new one, mentioned we should insurance on the alloys as they're nice 18" diamond cut jobbies, never heard of such a thing! Anyone taken a separate policy out or added it to their existing insurance? The way he explained it how it works seems logical enough and he had nothing to gain from it, but though I'd ask in typical WWSTWD style!?
Depends. How bad is your wife/other half at parking?
Insure them against what?
Nope...I don't and don't really see the need for it - but I view a car as a tool to get me and kit from A to B, not something to show-off as a fancy toy. However, I tend to be careful when parking against a kerb. I also try to make sure I avoid potholes (looking ahead and leaving space in front of the car ahead of me).
Alloys cost a small fortune, but I figure if I'm careful then if anything does happen to them, it wasn't down to me.
Just get some 22" spinners.
It's those or nothing round these mean streets of Sussex...
DrP
Insure them against what?
Well, what would you normally insure stuff against? Damage mostly, normally from someone scraping those nice new alloys along a kerb for 3ft.
Personally I wouldn't bother - particularly with diamond cut wheels which are notorious for lacquer failing - even more so if you live anywhere lots of salt goes on the road. The minute they get a chip of scratch water gets under the lacquer and they start to go white. You can only refurb/repair diamond cut wheels so many times as metal is machined off during the process.
Just drive the car and if they get a bit tatty get them refurbished.
I just got my diamond cut wheels powder coated as I was fed up trying to keep them looking good.
A full refurb is only c. £250 - how much is the insurance?
I struggle to see why an insurance company would provide this kind of product unless they charged a huge premium!
The moral hazard would be huge unless there was a large excess and then you would be better off not buying the product and just refurbishing them if they are badly damaged.
Last car I bought, they offered me the 'manufacturers wheel insurance'. Up to two wheels refurb'd a year. max of six (in a three year period) - £499. I nicked one on a curb but it wasn't picked up when I sold it to a different dealer.
It's a bit like those 'shine packages' they offer. Just incremental selling that you shouldn't really need.
I think it's absolutely necessary. Insurance companies wouldn't offer it if it wasn't, that would be irresponsible.
I would swap the wheels for something smaller, tyres will be cheaper, comfort will be improved and better fuel economy. You might even make some money out of it if your current 18" wheels are desirable.
I would speak to the supplying dealer as they tend to offer the best rates. You have up to 30 days to take out such a policy after buying the vehicle.
From my experience BMW have offered really good policies and dependent on wheel size they start from around £400 to cover wheels and tyres for 3 years. Excess is £10 per claim and I think it is 5 tyres and 10 wheel repairs in 3 years.
I travel in excess of 20k miles a year so the chances of me suffering a puncture or damaged tyre/wheel is higher than someone doing less than 10k so as with most insurance it's all about chance and probability. Also with my car having run-flat tyres once you do get a small puncture they tend to be unrepairable.
For me it is money well spent as I had all 4 wheels refurbished on my last car and also 4 tyres over a 4 year period. The last tyre was replaced 5 days before I picked up my new car which at over £200 would have been rather annoying.
My last few cars have had diamond cut alloys they look lovely and still did when returned. Don’t waste your money.
The car we have a deposit on has forged alloys, I think I'm going to turn into one of those ***** who park two ft from the kerb or I might get some steelies off eBay and stick the others in the garage for safe keeping. 😁
I just paid £470 for a new set of alloy wheels and mid range tyres!
#smugsmallcardriver
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My wife's car has black alloys. These are great as I can just sharpie in the scuffs when some kerb leaps at them.
Awesome tinas, I love that.
My missus diamond cut ones have been perfect, the car is 8 years old now - all down to looking after them and touching up and scuffs - helps if the tyres have the anti-curb strips/rubber edges - something I look for in any replacement tyres. Black is dead easy, I've used hammerite on my sons scrapes.
The biggest problem are the wheel/tyre combos fitted, ie 18/19” rims with low-profile tyres, and virtually no sidewall to protect the rims - this is particularly noticeable on BMW and Mercedes; when I started my current job, and doing arrivals inspections, I’d make a note of any wheel and tyre damage, take closeup photos, etc. Now, we hardly ever bother, at least on Motability cars, ‘cos they don’t replace or refurbish the wheels, and the ones with low-profile tyres are more often than not trashed by the time we get them.
Bumpers too, they seem to be almost a consumable...
They do get tidied up on higher-end cars with low mileage, though, same with Arval lease cars, but we get Golf R, Tesla, Range Rover and Porsche from them, so a bit more up-market...