Is it me or are Skoda's oem fit alloys utter ****e.

I had a Fabia VRS. Less than 2 years old, small areas of three alloys start to delaminate.

A mate had the same thing on a 2 1/2 year old car.

I have a 2 year old Octy 2 VRS. Washing it this weekend (as I do almost every weekend) I find a very small area on one of my alloys doing the same thing :thumbdwn:

The alloys are always treated with Autoglym wheel cleaner and properly dried afterwards.

My friend with the Fabia reported his to his dealer and he didn't want to know.

Does anyone know the party line and what I should be able to do about it or is it a lump it as far as the warranty and getting Skoda UK to pay for the repairs??

theres your problem, washing with wheel cleaner, if you mention this to them, they will wash their hands of the issue, you need to wash them using car shampoo and warm water.

The problem is the wheel cleaner, if you have the smallest if nicks in the laquer caused by a stone for example then the cleaner gets inside and wreaks havoc with the wheel.

I do use wheel cleaner, and my alloys are in reasonable shape, with some pitting and blemishes on the laquer, caused by neglect at cleaning mostly though. Then again my 3 year old car now has 67K miles on it.

All the other alloys I have had on cars didn't do it despite being washed and looked after in the same way. And its not an isolated case.

I'll report it and see what happens, not holding my breath though.

What about my case, where the dealer sold me the autoglym treatment, and applied it, and gave me a goody bag with wheel cleaner in? I would say that if I had problems I should bet recompense from someone, as it was sold to me by someone who I should be able to consider an expert.

Really? If the dealers are giving it away then there should be no excuses.

Sounds like any excuse to squinney and not pay out if you ask me.

Very disappointing.

Do you use alloy wheel seal? Or wax. This will help a lot to keep them looking good.

My last car I waxed them once a month and they looked nearly as good as new after 3 years

All the other alloys I have had on cars didn't do it despite being washed and looked after in the same way. And its not an isolated case.

I'll report it and see what happens, not holding my breath though.

Autoglym wheel cleaner comes in two versions.. acidic wheel cleaner and the other.

If you're using the acidic one (orange label on the bottle IIRC, then as already said the dealer will wash their hands of it. The acid will eat into the lacquer damaged area and then cause the paint around it to be damaged.

Just my 2pence worth - I don't use alloy wheel cleaners on my wheels - as others have said, they usually contain an acid, which can eat away at the wheel lacquer if it's damaged in any way.

I use Meguirs All Purpose Cleaner - it can also be used on carpets and leather upholstery, which should give you a good idea on just how gentle it is.

wash then i put Alloy Wheel Seal from Autoglym - car cleaning products, car care products, car valeting, car detailing

then the dirt just comes off with no need to use any hard acid cleaners.

The AutoGlym Clean Wheels says on there web site: "Do take special care to use this product carefully. If you have non standard or anodised wheel surfaces, or only superficial road grime, use Autoglym Engine & Machine Cleaner instead."

I use Jetseal 109 on my wheels after i've washed them with normal autoglym shampoo. Generally, wheel cleaners are ALL acidic and bad for the wheels if used frequently. Once in a blue moon is normally okay if you're just trying to clean up some proper cacked up wheels to a state where a weekly shampoo wash will keep them clean.

Cleaning the wheels once a week to prevent brake dust build up is always best solution though.

Going back to 1st poster, have you indy body shops in the yellow pages that offer wheel refurbs? A friend who has Renault got his done last year, there where in bad way and now they look almost new, cost i think about £100 cash:) for the lot