MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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Looking at buying a second hand Leon. Asked about the quality of the 18inch alloys on the phone and apparently one is in need of refurbishment. This will be done at no extra cost if I choose to buy (as it should be in my opinion).
What is the process and what kind of results do you get? Do they refill it or is it simply grinding away more metal to make it smooth? If so does this affect the integrity of the wheel?
We're having one sorted on Friday.
According to the bloke I spoke to it will be flatted back, any rough material removed, filled and profiled with some special filler which is as strong as the ali wheel, then painted to match the other wheels.
What does it cost, roughly? I have a couple that need doing, 18 inch jobs.
Around £50 per wheel, if done properly.
I always have it done when I'm selling a car, and you can't tell the difference between refurbished and new.
Edit: can barely tell the difference (for the pedantic!)
Worth checking out the price of a new one- some OEM wheels are surprisingly cheap.
My understanding...
Done properly: Remove tyre. Grit blast/strip wheel. Etch pime. Fill any defects. Spray with correct colour (code given by manufacturer), spray with urethane lacquer.
Done cheaply: Wheel cleaned and rubbed down a bit. Tyre kind of masked off with bag and tape. Sprayed with paint kind of the right colour. Maybe lacquered.
Then you have in between which can be perfectly adequate for light kerbing. They may not take it all the way back as the original primer is hard to remove and probably fine. ie remove tyre. clean and rub back any bad parts. File/fill etc any damage. Spray with correct paint. Lacquer. Refit tyre.
Obviously it will depend on the wheel etc but £50 is less than I thought.
The OEM route is one to check out for sure but as it's a wheel specific to a certain model of car I doubt it will be cheaper.
New one almost certainly won't be cheaper- but it'll possibly be less hassle, since there's no chance of getting a bad job done. Also probably quicker- just get the shop to swap your tyre and go, while-you-wait job.
Though personally I'd go for the cheap option as I'm tight.
Think I'm as tight as you NW, I would much rather find a way of doing without the car for a few days than getting 2 new wheels on in an hr. Then having to list the old ones on feebay. But yeah, the key is making sure the job will be done right.
I would look for a wheel on ebay. You can often find individual ones as someone has badly buckled one and replaced the set or bought a full set 2nd hand so it's easier to sell 1 than 3.
We bought a Mondeo with 4 really corroded wheels cheap.
Wheels off & process above (blast, etch, fill, prime, paint and lacqer) £250 the lot and done in a day. Not as new but they were flipping awful. Cant tell unless youre looking. To a casual eye theyre pretty tidy.
Ta for that.just to develop it a bit I ask the question as I drove 100 miles yesterday to view another Leon which i paid £150 deposit to hold.I was quite excited until I saw three badly scuffed alloys and bird crap on the windscreen. The car was not cheap and I thought the dealer was taking the Michael trying it on. I thought it would be clean and waiting for me to drive. When I told him I wasn't interested he seemed shocked and told me they could be refurbished. Why didn't they just do that in the first place?!