Took my car to be cleaned by some eastern europeans at one of the lovely "shiny" car washes that are springing up everywhere.

I normally do it myself but with the drop in temperature and me having white finger, i decided to spend a fiver and get someone else to do it.

When i looked at the car this morning i thought theres something different. I took a closer look and the wheel nut caps which were black are now white :S I dont know what they use to clean the wheels and the bottom half of the car but its that strong its got rid of the soot off the exhaust

If it does this to plastic what does it do to the rest of the paint work needles to say i will brave the numbness of the fingers and wash it myself in future.

Anyway, i need a new set of wheel nut caps, had a look on ebay but dont know what size i need. Does anyone know the size of the wheel bolts on a standard vrs?

Cheers, Jay.

you mea just the caps have changed colour? get them from skoda there cheap enough

The caps are the same as any other VAG car so any VAG dealer or on Ebay.

Paint them back or put some back to black on them you can even use a fine sandpaper too they all work

Yeah i mean they have lost all the colour in them. There is a set of silver audi ones on ebay but 4 of them are for locking nuts.

I think if i painted them it would cost more in the long run. I'll ask them to put me some new ones on when it goes in for its service.

There is alot of different sizes on ebay, think the superb ones are bigger.

Thanks for the replies.

I read a copy of Top Gear magazine recently, where they had a VW Scirocco on long term test. They also came across this problem when the car was about 8 months old - when it went to VW for a service (and the obligatory dealer valet), it came back out with white nut covers due to the cleaner used.

I'd also recommend just picking them up at the dealers if they aren't too expensive, or failing that, get some on eBay that fit the same size wheel nut the Fabia has - probably 19mm at a guess, but I'm not sure, I haven't had to take a wheel off in my ownership yet!

I'm sure I was told around £22 by my dealer when I wanted a new set. Lived without since, kinda got used to it but would like a new set.

Thanks for the info

I'll see if the dealer can put some on when its in for a service along with new wipers all round because there as much use as a chocolate fire gaurd!

All our wheel nuts/bolts are 17mm.