LE Damaged Wheels Register

[Broadside Barry]

Ladies and Gents,

Going on from my previous post regarding damaged wheels on my LE Vrs I thought I'd try and get a few people together so we can contact Skoda on mass and try and get some new wheels out of them, if not a few quid towards the ones we've replaced.

Im now losing preassure on 3 wheels, the only one that Im not losing air is the the one Ive replaced!

I'll contact skoda once theres a few of us on the case!

Cheers,

J

[brown_d9]

Ladies and Gents,

Going on from my previous post regarding damaged wheels on my LE Vrs I thought I'd try and get a few people together so we can contact Skoda on mass and try and get some new wheels out of them, if not a few quid towards the ones we've replaced.

Im now losing preassure on 3 wheels, the only one that Im not losing air is the the one Ive replaced!

I'll contact skoda once theres a few of us on the case!

Cheers,

J

I can unfortunately join this club, bent 2 wheels, had them repaired and now there bent again!!!!

They were losing pressure, but the bigger walls on the Ultracs (Compared to the ****ty Dunlops) seem to have stopped the leakage.

[vectra1]

Do you mind if I ask a silly question :|

How can Skoda be responsible for leaking wheels that were damaged by the owner ?

[cheezemonkhai]

Because they seem to damage very easily, eg not able to withstand the road conditions where the vehicle is sold.

[vectra1]

Because they seem to damage very easily, eg not able to withstand the road conditions where the vehicle is sold.

Ah, I see

Is this just with the LE wheels or the 18" in general?

Sorry for jumping on the thread but I will hopefully be ordering my Vrs in 2 weeks time and would like to know what to be aware of.

Thanks

[Raglits]

Ah, I see

Is this just with the LE wheels or the 18" in general?

Sorry for jumping on the thread but I will hopefully be ordering my Vrs in 2 weeks time and would like to know what to be aware of.

Thanks

Seems to be just the LE wheels. I've had a couple pothole hits in my vRS that shook the car and the wheels have survived so far...

[theandywaite]

Personally, while they look good, I don't think they should have been sold on a production car in the first place.

They are lightweight racing wheels, and really need more care. They won't stand up to the regular use and abuse that most people give their wheels.

I do find it a little bit frustrating that people don't take more care around speed bumps, kerbs and pot holes - in an ideal world people would take more care. But, it's an unfortunate fact that people do give their wheels abuse and Skoda should have realised this and not fitted such delicate wheels to a mainstream car without warning the buyers.

[gingerninja]

Ladies and Gents,

Going on from my previous post regarding damaged wheels on my LE Vrs I thought I'd try and get a few people together so we can contact Skoda on mass and try and get some new wheels out of them, if not a few quid towards the ones we've replaced.

Im now losing preassure on 3 wheels, the only one that Im not losing air is the the one Ive replaced!

I'll contact skoda once theres a few of us on the case!

Cheers,

J

[gingerninja]

Hi

We have had a LE from brand new since last september and are constantly having to check pressure and have today been told our car is unsafe to drive and that we need all four wheels and alloys changed as so dented. we do not drive like maniacs and have never has to replace a wheel on any other car we have had. Skoda say not their problem and we have got to find the money to pay for it all. Interestingly when we have got quote to replace they are substantially cheaper than the normal vrs wheels.

Have u had any joy in persuing skoda on this. we are considering what to do at the moment as I do not feel the wheels are fit for purpose. I dont want to have to replace a new set again in a few months!

Thanks

[Broadside Barry]

Hi

We have had a LE from brand new since last september and are constantly having to check pressure and have today been told our car is unsafe to drive and that we need all four wheels and alloys changed as so dented. we do not drive like maniacs and have never has to replace a wheel on any other car we have had. Skoda say not their problem and we have got to find the money to pay for it all. Interestingly when we have got quote to replace they are substantially cheaper than the normal vrs wheels.

Have u had any joy in persuing skoda on this. we are considering what to do at the moment as I do not feel the wheels are fit for purpose. I dont want to have to replace a new set again in a few months!

Thanks

Hi,

There is clearly a major problem with these wheels.

I reckon I can find 10 people plus who have problems with the wheels. Im going to contact Skoda customer services tomorrow, I will also be getting some legal advice regarding taking them to the small claims court.

I heard that there was a similar problem with BMW, once Watchdog got onto the case they started paying out.... watch this space!

Cheers

[Aspman]

Seems to be just the LE wheels. I've had a couple pothole hits in my vRS that shook the car and the wheels have survived so far...

Seconded. I've had some really big hits on my non-FL 18" alloys. Nothing happened to them.

Are they 'really' special sports wheels, or is the quality just not as good?

I'm think of stories of Halfords alloys being soft.

Edited 3 May, 2010 by Aspman

[beedie]

I've already bought a new wheel as it was leaking air. saw a little bend on the outside and it wasn't till i got the wheel off i saw a massive buckle in the back side of it.

got it priced for re[air and was told the large one in the back would be £40 and the 4 small ones in the front £10each! Glad i bought a new one at that price.

I certainly have 2 still with small buckles probably all 4 on the car, will check later, and one in a box in the shed with 5 buckles in it.

Fact is Team Dynamics wheels just arn't up to much (well my old Pro Race 2's weren't either) I had 2 completly split and sent them back for testing and was told there was nothing structurally wrong with them!!! Swore to myself at that point i would never buy TD wheels again. Little did i know i was buying them on a standard car

if Golf Ed30's can get BBS rims why can't Limited Edition Octys?

Why did Skoda think it would be a good idea to put wheels half the price of the standard zeniths on the car.

Hope we can get someting done about this as they clearly arn't fit for purpose.

Scott

[vrs442]

hi did you have any luck with the customer services route, i tried today and got the round around, now trying through the dealer.

I was basically told the best way is to try getting the money out of the local council :(

You can me to list

[cheezemonkhai]

10+ people all with evidence and a report saying they needed replaced and off to the small claims court.

Job done

[Nick P]

Are they 'really' special sports wheels, or is the quality just not as good?

Skoda should have had more sense than to put crappy TD wheels on a production car. TDs are fair enough as after-market wheels, where people can assess their suitability - Yes they're light, but they're also very cheap.

Low price, low weight, durable. Pick any two of those qualities. You can't have all three.

BBS can sell you a set of 19" forged wheels that weigh 16lbs, but they'll cost you in the region of 5 grand a set. Normal Skoda OEM 18" Zenith / Neptune wheels weigh about 29lbs but are durable. BBS CHs weigh 24 - 25lbs, are durable, but will cost you over 1200 for a set new. Then you've got TD who sell sub 20lbs 18" wheels for as low as ~500 quid a set. Is it any surprise they break?

Edited 10 May, 2010 by wega3k

[brown_d9]

Update - Mine now has another bend in the outside of the wheel, and losing pressure fast.

Yet again, I have not hit any major potholes worth reporting to the local council.

I am going to get onto Skoda, and ask them whether they can at least give me a discount on a new set of Zeniths or Neptunes which dont seem to suffer from these problems. Wish me luck!

My centre caps are also losing paint fast, havnt been using any nasty wheel cleaners, only autoglym wheel cleaner or normal Autoglym shapoo if there arnt too dirty.

[amity498]

i had my wheel re-blanced on saturday since i was getting vibration at 80.

had a look whilst they were off and and no dent or bends on the alloy at all. im starting to wonder if you guys have a bad batch of alloys

Edited 10 May, 2010 by amity498

[GriffoVRS]

Hit a pothole in my FL vRS (with Neptunes) and ended up with an egg on the side of the tyre (Dunlops), but the rim was fine.

[cheezemonkhai]

You say you're using AG wheel cleaner are you using the one with the orange label (acidic) or the one with the blue lable (custom wheel cleaner and non acidic).

I'd still be looking to go to court under the sales of good act and fit for purpose sections.

[brown_d9]

You say you're using AG wheel cleaner are you using the one with the orange label (acidic) or the one with the blue lable (custom wheel cleaner and non acidic).

I'd still be looking to go to court under the sales of good act and fit for purpose sections.

The custom wheel cleaner, the non acidic one.

I was very careful as to which one I bought.

[antrich1968]

Just had one of my LE front wheels repaired, due to the fact I scuffed a kerb and damaged the spokes, I also noticed a small dent/bow in the rim, I know I did hit a pot hole fairly hard a while back, luckily it only dented the outer rim by the looks of things. Anyway the wheel appears to be buckled as when watching it spin up on the machine for balancing the wheel it was weaving a little bit. The wheel refurb company I went to were less than complementary about the quality and manufacturer of these wheels !

[VRS-LE-OCT-II]

I have had 2 dings in my LE into potholes, both have created "straight" sections on the rim of the wheel (not notocable at first but they are there), I am waiting till I get a major ding, then replacing all 4 wheels with 18" Neptunes. FWIW I had the TPM light come on once, been fine since I reset the pressure. Shame really I like the look of them. but they are not viable for the road conditions we have in the UK.

Another name for any contact with Skoda!

One thing to note chaps is the high number of problems with these wheels across LE owners, we are talking of 500 cars in total, and we don't know about the Skoda owners who are not Briskoda members. Ie it seems to be a very high % of owners given the number of cars.

[amity498]

well it looks like my luck didnt hold out, looks like i have a flat spot on the outside of the alloy

anyone have a idea how much 1 wheel costs

[lee michael]

i have not had any problems to date with my limited edition wheels. my place of work takes me down pot holed country lanes with out any problems, so far!! worth trying small claims court though if so many of you guys have had problems!!

[brown_d9]

i have not had any problems to date with my limited edition wheels. my place of work takes me down pot holed country lanes with out any problems, so far!! worth trying small claims court though if so many of you guys have had problems!!

I wonder if there was a bad batch of LE wheels.