7 minutes ago, kentdale said:

I like the standard look although I do think gloss black suits the car and are an improvement, a wheel refurbisher told me diamond cut alloys that are not painted always deteriorate quickly.

That's the problem I was having. Apart from the curb damage by my wife, the diamond cut edges of the originals corroded easily. I think I've had some of the wheels refurbed 2 / 3 times now. Hopefully the change to all black powder coating will offer more protection. 

Today, or rather this week I took mine for a 500 mile round trip, across country and over some hills, and hours of tedious M-way. It's mostly cruised at well over 40mpg, but been intermittently thrashed within an inch of it's life. That's the beauty of not having a remap, and a full warranty, it's almost an invitation...

13 hours ago, Colin170CR said:

That's the problem I was having. Apart from the curb damage by my wife, the diamond cut edges of the originals corroded easily. I think I've had some of the wheels refurbed 2 / 3 times now. Hopefully the change to all black powder coating will offer more protection. 

That’s true Colin, except it’s me who’s kerbed all four wheels since I’ve owned it. I have never kerbed any wheels on ‘00’s cars I’ve driven, but these ones have had an irresistible attraction to the kerbside. Putting that damage aside, the dreaded worm is caused by the lacquer coating being too thin and it’s not just these wheels, seems to be all of the wheel manufacturers do the same. The other day, I noticed that the wheels on a 2018 Aston Martin were suffering worm. 

Any diamond cut wheels will get white worm eventually, it’s a matter of when, not if, and it tends to happen even if you never kerb them. You can have them re-cut a few times but not endlessly so the finish has a natural shelf life IMO. 
 

I once had some Golf GTi wheels re-cut and the guy who did it swore blind that not applying lacquer and using good wheel wax regularly would be better. It never really sat well with me, but it’s worth thinking about.

1 hour ago, numskull said:

That’s true Colin, except it’s me who’s kerbed all four wheels since I’ve owned it. I have never kerbed any wheels on ‘00’s cars I’ve driven, but these ones have had an irresistible attraction to the kerbside. Putting that damage aside, the dreaded worm is caused by the lacquer coating being too thin and it’s not just these wheels, seems to be all of the wheel manufacturers do the same. The other day, I noticed that the wheels on a 2018 Aston Martin were suffering worm. 

I see Aston's regularly as I live in Newport Pagnell near the Aston Heritage works where they used to build them before moving production to Gaydon. No scruffy alloys on the cars that sit out the front of this place. 

It seems to me that alloy wheel refurbishment is a "revolving door" type industry with an a never ending supply of customers. I can remember the days when Rostyle's & other types of steel wheels lasted forever & tyre walls were fat & high which allowed you to "feel" where the kerb was before doing any real damage.  Modern rubber band tyres & alloys that sit right on the edge of the tyre are just asking for it. 

I remember my first set of alloys. A set of 13" Wolfrace wheels I put on a 1969 Viva GT to replace the original steel ones. Despite some "youthful exuberance" the deep dished wheels & fat tyres keep kept them looking as new as the day bought them 4 years later when I sold the car to start driving a long list of dreary company cars. 

Hey ho.     

Got wiped out by a pothole, big flat dent in the alloy on the inside edge and a burst tyre 

 

Now need to find the cheapest place to get a replacement VEGA 19" wheel.

 

Looks like £299 so far.

1 hour ago, Colin170CR said:

 Modern rubber band tyres & alloys that sit right on the edge of the tyre are just asking for it. 

 

I've recently traded a 2019 Karoq with tyres featuring a nice kerb rubbing strip which gave me a extra confidence when near the kerb - however, its replacement, a Superb, has tyres that appear slightly narrower than the wheels thus making me very nervous and slightly over-cautious when park at the kerb.

 

 

@Berisford

Added extra protection by install wider tires -

225/55r17 + 10mm, +5mm height, +1.5% diameter

215/55r17 stock

I had a buckled Vega alloy straightened following a pot hole incident.  Cost about £35.  Might be worth a try.

6 hours ago, ItalianJob said:

Got wiped out by a pothole, big flat dent in the alloy on the inside edge and a burst tyre 

 

Now need to find the cheapest place to get a replacement VEGA 19" wheel.

 

Looks like £299 so far.

I faced the same bad experience years ago. My 19" Trinity wheel had been repaired and repainted for ~250 € (tyre removed and wheel balanced once repainted).

May be worth to look for an alloy wheels repair station in your neighborhood... 

1 hour ago, Bap33 said:

I faced the same bad experience years ago. My 19" Trinity wheel had been repaired and repainted for ~250 € (tyre removed and wheel balanced once repainted).

May be worth to look for an alloy wheels repair station in your neighborhood... 

Not sure it can be repaired?. It's not a dent, it's deformed the rim on the inside so there's a big flat section where it bottomed out.

Colin, you’re right there. I had Weller alloys on our Cooper S with the stickiest Kelly Springfield tyres that lasted about 2000 miles before I needed a new set on the front. I seem to recall, they were about £25 a side. The Wellers were still like new when I sold it in ‘83 (yeah don’t… I know; I should’ve kept it). 

3 hours ago, ItalianJob said:

Not sure it can be repaired?. It's not a dent, it's deformed the rim on the inside so there's a big flat section where it bottomed out.

You could be surprised what some specialist are able to do.

 

Just 2 examples:

 

 

 

And they're probably not the most awesome!  

12 hours ago, numskull said:

Colin, you’re right there. I had Weller alloys on our Cooper S with the stickiest Kelly Springfield tyres that lasted about 2000 miles before I needed a new set on the front. I seem to recall, they were about £25 a side. The Wellers were still like new when I sold it in ‘83 (yeah don’t… I know; I should’ve kept it). 

Ditto. I should have kept my Viva GT. Rare as rocking horse poo now. However, when you are 20 years old & been used to old bangers & endless weekends under the car keeping them on the road & someone offers you a brand new company car with free petrol & maintenance, what do you do?  

13 hours ago, Bap33 said:

You could be surprised what some specialist are able to do.

 

Just 2 examples:

 

 

 

And they're probably not the most awesome!  

 

Interesting stuff that!

Today I changed my spoiler 

 

 

Is the old one in the top pic? 

Fitted twin USB charger in place of the rear 12v socket.

 

 

Also put a hardwire kit in for my dashcam as well as installing the rear cam. All wiring tucked away nicely.

On 20/05/2022 at 11:57, Colin170CR said:

All done. What do you think?

 

Before.

 

After.

 

 

The only thing I'm not happy with is the rusty inner hubs & calipers. Which means I might have to have a go at them myself. Other than that I think the wheels look pretty good & give the car a meaner look.

 

I'm a fan, I've noticed my 19" alloys are doing the same. They were in great condition when I got the car last April, but a year on and they're started to deteriorate. I'm almost convinced the company I bought the car from had had the wheels refurbished, as I can't see how between Sept '17 & April '21 they remained pristine, and then a year of me owning them they've gone bad. I noticed mid last year, when cleaning, I could see what looked like clear coat peeling off from some of the cut edges.

 

If you don't mind me asking, was it expensive to get them done?

9 minutes ago, Hdsn555 said:

 

I'm a fan, I've noticed my 19" alloys are doing the same. They were in great condition when I got the car last April, but a year on and they're started to deteriorate. I'm almost convinced the company I bought the car from had had the wheels refurbished, as I can't see how between Sept '17 & April '21 they remained pristine, and then a year of me owning them they've gone bad. I noticed mid last year, when cleaning, I could see what looked like clear coat peeling off from some of the cut edges.

 

If you don't mind me asking, was it expensive to get them done?

I paid £70 per wheel & got them done here http://www.rimtec.co.uk/ 

I have spruced them up a bit know & put Skoda emblems on the plain wheel centre caps. I think they should also have black wheel nut covers which I will look into.

Either way I'm happy with the result. 

 

I'm in the process, very slowly, of going from all black to this 

 

 

14 hours ago, Colin170CR said:

I paid £70 per wheel & got them done here http://www.rimtec.co.uk/ 

I have spruced them up a bit know & put Skoda emblems on the plain wheel centre caps. I think they should also have black wheel nut covers which I will look into.

Either way I'm happy with the result. 

 

Wheel bolt covers should be available from Wish, at least that’s where I got mine (charcoal grey). 

9 minutes ago, MICKSVRS said:

Wheel bolt covers should be available from Wish, at least that’s where I got mine (charcoal grey). 

👍. Got 20 x black ones coming from Amazon today. £8.99. 

8 minutes ago, Colin170CR said:

👍. Got 20 x black ones coming from Amazon today. £8.99. 

Nice one. The ones from Wish,  from memory were lest than a quarter of that price but probably took at least ten times as long to arrive lol.