Has anyone has professional alloy wheel repair and been totally satisfied with the results?

The fitters that just supplied my 4 new tyres have messed up 3 of my wheels, 2 of them quite badly, with deep scratches on the spokes and small chips around the rim.

I have to see the boss on Monday and I suspect they will offer me repairs. Should I accept that or demand new wheels?

Repairs??

No i would go for new wheels as a starter i think others would too.Try your luck.

Depends on the severity of the damage and if they can be repairable.

Good luck:thumbup:

I had paint removed from all my alloys by a careless local tyre fitter, and had a guy I know do the repair (they paid up). He did an outstanding job. However he is a guy who does a lot of high end alloys BMW, Porsche etc & i was impressed with the effort he took to color match & mask off. Fortunately the dammage was not as bad as if the wheel had been curbed!! I'm a real tough cookie to please as I used to show & judge concours cars, so can spot naff work at 400 paces

I guess it depends on how bad the damage is!! The last time a tyre fitter damaged an alloy they replaced it with a new one, but then my car was only 2 weeks old & it was a few years ago!!

Give 'en hell for it anyway, there is no excuse for that kind of workmanship!!

If they offer you a repair and you can't manage to convince them you want new wheels then I would write them a formal letter stating that you do not accept that a repair is a suitable option however you will allow them one attempt at repair which must be to an as new standard. Further adding that the repair is to be warranted for the remainder of the new car warranty applicable to your car and that if you are not satisfied with the repair then without question the wheels will be replaced.

That sound like a good plan!

Thanks all - I'll play it by ear and see what they offer.

I've had wheels repaired and powdercoated and the finish was better than original

I've had wheels repaired and powdercoated and the finish was better than original

Would you say that if I have to have two or three done I should insist on all four because they will look different?

Also, how long does the job take?

Absolutely. There is a chance that the repaired ones' paint/lacquer will age differently, or the color match may not be perfect.

I had a sidewall blow out and kerbed the whole outside rim. There is a engineers shop not far from where we live and they also do repairs to alloy wheel. They took a look at it first time and said the tyre would have to come off for further examination, which i did, not only was the rim damaged but the wheel had come out of shape. I said well thats a right off , but he said he has seen worse and can repair it .I did mention about the safety aspect and he said the tyre recess is ok ,it would just be the outside rim.Question to any experts out there , can welds come off?.

welds can come off but if going to its usually instantly and you certainly wouldnt be able to machine it back to profile if it was going to come off, they can also fail but id never expect it from a repair alloy even if it was welded very poorly

Has anyone has professional alloy wheel repair and been totally satisfied with the results?

The fitters that just supplied my 4 new tyres have messed up 3 of my wheels, 2 of them quite badly, with deep scratches on the spokes and small chips around the rim.

I have to see the boss on Monday and I suspect they will offer me repairs. Should I accept that or demand new wheels?

IMO asking for new wheels (unless the wheels were brand new that they were fitting the tyres to) is a bit much, however i would want them refurbished by a reputable wheel refurbisher, that offers a warranty on their work.

It may be worth you using Elite in future, although they are in Rainham, (Essex) there prices are very close to blackcircles.com (so worth me traveling the 60 ish miles to them) and their fitters are VERY good, i have been using them for the last 8 years and they have never put a mark on any of my wheels.

The first time i used them i made a point of asking what they would do if they marked a wheel, they said they would not, but if for whatever reason they did, they would pay for a full refurb.

can welds come off?.

If the person cannot weld then yes, but a proper weld would be as strong if not stronger than the wheel itself.

My alloy wheels are being refurbed tomorrow by a mobile company from East Grinstead. I wonder if it is Smartalloy.

Does anybody from the south east have any experience of them?