Help/ advice

[Mikeevans]

Just had my Karoq sportline over a year with 4500 miles on the clock , just washed it to find both the rear alloys like this and most spokes. Is this defect in the alloys? Or is it just stone rash.

[CJJE]

Looks like the common problem with diamond cut alloys? If so the varnish over the silver part has let water underneath it, showing up as corrosion. 

 

It can be caused by tiny chips, or just the varnish losing adhesion at the sharp edge. Google 'Diamond-cut wheel problems' to check and see how it can be corrected.

 

Chris

[Mikeevans]

Cheers for the fast reply but I think it's stone damage as I can feel chunks missing. Is this a warranty issue because 4500 miles with no kerbing etc is pathetic 

[Merlinman]

I really do question whether this currently popular 'diamond cut' finish is sufficiently durable for our UK roads & climate. It keeps my friend who has a wheel refurbishing business very busy!

 

See so many late models of all marques with these issues.

 

I have 19" Crater rims on my Karoq, now removed for the winter and replaced with fully painted silver 18" Mytikas rims and winter tyres until April/May. 

 

When the dreaded 'white worm' appears on the Craters, despite my best efforts to protect them, I'll get them refinished in silver as I did on both sets of 'Annapurnas' on my previous  (much loved and missed) Yeti CR 170

 

Good luck on a warranty claim! (I've had a warranty new replacement on a previous Golf, but have heard that in some cases refurbed rims may now be fitted as warranty replacements?)

[CJJE]

1 hour ago, Mikeevans said:

Cheers for the fast reply but I think it's stone damage as I can feel chunks missing. Is this a warranty issue because 4500 miles with no kerbing etc is pathetic 

If it's stone damage, what would you base a warranty claim on?

Not fit for purpose? You'd have to prove that you hadn't misused them, which could be difficult, IMO. 

Poor quality alloy? You'd have to prove that yours was softer than that on other cars, again IMO. 

Diamond-cut wheels not suitable for a SUV?

 

Worth a try maybe, but I think you would need a very sympathetic dealer, and I also think the final decision rests with Skoda UK rather than the dealer.

 

Chris

[SurreyJohn]

14 hours ago, CJJE said:

If it's stone damage, what would you base a warranty claim on?

Not fit for purpose? You'd have to prove that you hadn't misused them, which could be difficult, IMO. 

Poor quality alloy? You'd have to prove that yours was softer than that on other cars, again IMO. 

Diamond-cut wheels not suitable for a SUV?

 

Worth a try maybe, but I think you would need a very sympathetic dealer, and I also think the final decision rests with Skoda UK rather than the dealer.

 

Chris

I suspect to claim successfully you would need to show you didn’t use alloys with summer tyres when roads had grit and salt.

 

They are not fit for purpose because diamond cut are not designed for use in these circumstances.  I suspect it would be an easier claim if you had asked dealer to change to all season tyres during delivery because they would have collaborated in using the wheels this way.

 

But as already stated trying a warranty to claim for stone/grit/salt damage is going to be tough unless you can demonstrate a manufacturing defect to get them to agree.

 

[Phutters]

For what it's worth, I reckon you're on a hiding to nothing trying to get anything done under warranty.

 

I don't think there's much argument that diamond cut alloys like these are more susceptible to the ravages of winter and kerbing damage than plainer ones, but having them is a choice you make when you buy the car - most peeps choose the car they do because they like the way it looks, and its wheels are very much a part of that.

 

If you pick a car with them you have to take the rough with the smooth and do what you can to mitigate the damage that just getting in the car and driving it is likely to cause. There's only so much mollycoddling you can do if you want to use the car for its primary purpose and not have it spend all its time on your drive under a hand-crocheted Angora blanket, only lifting it off gingerly to wax and polish every other warm and windless day.

 

I don't see how you could argue that the wheels you chose are unfit for purpose - alloys like this have been around for quite a while now, and people have been complaining about their vulnerability for just as long, so maybe there's a case to be made for saying that forewarned is forearmed.

 

As it happens, our Karoq has the same wheels. I think they're dead smart, and they were certainly a major factor in me choosing a Sportline in the first place.

 

And I fully expect to be doing what the OP did; washing the car and cussing out loud when cleaning off the muck reveals a whole new rash of chips, but it is what it is. It comes with the territory.

 

What I will do (when we finally get the car back from its three-month holiday in the dealership's back yard thanks to the massive delays in the factory supply of replacement parts) is put a set of front mud flaps on it.

 

That the damage to the OP's alloys manifests itself only on the leading edges of the rear wheel spokes is pretty incontrovertible evidence that the damage is being caused by stones flicked up from the front wheels, and my (admittedly rudimentary) reasoning says that a pair of mud flaps will reduce the amount of crap thrown directly into the path of the rear wheels.

 

Mud flaps aren't the most beautiful things in the world but they aren't that horrible, so it's a concession to practicality I'm happy to make.

 

I did the same thing to the Audi I had before after noticing stone damage on the spokes of its rear wheels (none on the fronts), and it certainly seemed to have helped.

 

.

 

 

 

 

[Delanor]

The problem with Diamond cut alloys is that the clear coat finish chips and the aluminium surface quickly starts to discolour if you leave it the aluminium quickly starts to corrode especially if any salt gets to it and you cannot replicate the machined finish by rubbing them back with wet n dry paper and then just touch them in like a painted finish.

 

I have sanded corroded polished alloys back but they need to be then polished again so it is progressively fine grades of paper followed by several coats of clear - it is not easy work.