# Scratched wheels after tyres changed



## Cozzer (Dec 18, 2007)

Not really a detailing question, but has anyone had their tyres changed and the people changing your tyres end up scratching your Alloys?

I took mine to renault to get changed as they were surprisingly the cheapest place ive found to get some conti sport contact 2s! But, trying to save money one way has meant ive got the head ache of my alloys being scratched.

Was wondering if this has happened to anyone else and what they did about it? Did they they try to repair them for you? what was the repair like. 

Im really gutted as its a 4 year old car, but ive kept it in very good condition, the wheels were in near mint condition, no scuffs. It looks like they used a chisel to put the new tyre on!


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## aceraf (Apr 11, 2008)

Get the people who changed the wheels to repair it, I would.


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## admg1 (Mar 4, 2008)

I agree with the above. If they damaged them then make them pay to repair/replace the wheel. I know i would make them pay


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## joeturner (Feb 23, 2007)

Trouble you will have now is that you didn't question it straight after having the tyres fitted.

Worth going back and kicking up a stink, but at a guess they'll just argue it was there before or done after the tyres were fitted


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## Trune (Jun 19, 2007)

Mazda replaced my wheels under warranty due to corrosion. They wrecked all 4 of the brand new wheels putting the tyres on.

currently waiting for my replacements... that was £1000 down the pan for them.

although i reported it straight away. but they should pay, normally they will only do refurb.


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## V8burble (Jul 3, 2007)

You will find that most tyre centres state in their terms and conditions that they are not responsible for any damage caused to alloy wheels when changing tyres. As this is Renault, rather than just a tyre place though you may be in a better position however. As far as repairs go... it's a bit of a mine field. I had all four of mine refurbed about a year ago through the Audi dealer, and to be honest they looked great after, but a year on and it is clear that the clarcoat is very soft and not as attached to the paint surface as it could be. There are a number of chips in the clear and salt has got behind it. Also brake dust has pitted the inners too. So, if you do get them repaired, make sure that they are high temp baked and it's worth doing local research to find THE place to get them done near you. Good luck with Renault first though.


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## Buck (Jan 16, 2008)

I had the same thing happen to me at Central Tyres

A long story but after me keeping the pressure on (in a polite but determined way ) I got them to pay for a decent refurb not just a man in a van spray over.

Happy with the results too. If you want any more info PM me

:thumb:


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## Buck (Jan 16, 2008)

PS Whereabouts are you located?


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## Buck (Jan 16, 2008)

V8burble said:


> You will find that most tyre centres state in their terms and conditions that they are not responsible for any damage caused to alloy wheels when changing tyres.


V8 - those Ts and Cs are actually not enforcable in law as this directly contravenes the 'duty of care' that they accept when taking your wheels to replace tyres or whatever.

You're absolutely right in saying that the OP needs to find a good local repair shop that will do a decent job and not just a quick spray over - I learnt the hard way on a previous repair too!


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## gtidriver (Apr 10, 2008)

my mk5 gti with 18s suffered from the dreaded worming all 4 where sent to a place in gillingham to be refurbed, when they came back they where superb within two weeks they where worse than when they went in not happy now there going black. dont accept a refurb you want new ones did you have pics before the car went into renault


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## little john (Jun 10, 2007)

It happend to me and the trye place refurmed the wheel. I have started to notice over spray or not a perfect match and the bit that was dammaged just doesnt seem quite right. It was a scratch round the edge of the wheel caused by the machine used. I now wash my wheels before any tyre work is done so I can easily check any problems afterwards. I have even cleaned a wheel in the tyre place car park before driveing away after they did their work to check.


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## Dave Spalding (Apr 16, 2008)

I got a tyre fitted by ATS Euromaster and they scratched one of my wheels but the guy tried to hide it by getting the soapy lubricant all over it. I didn't notice till 2 days later when i went to clean the car. They did take my word for it and fix the wheel though. Although it was pretty obvious what had caused it as it was a line on the same part of evry spoke from the tyre machine. Its not the best job of the wheel to be honest but its ok unless your really up close.


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## Tacklebury (Feb 27, 2008)

I get mine fitted by Scotthall BMW in Eastleigh. 

The fitter there is a total gent, he painstakingly replaced my tires and didn't even get them dirty!

If you’re local its well worth the £17 they charge. If you do use them, tell them Simon, the chap with the black 20' schnitzers sent you.

Top man, worked for Micheldever tires for years.


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## Cozzer (Dec 18, 2007)

Im in liverpool, spoke to the service manager and he said bring the car in and we will see what we can do.

They said their body shop could repair it. 

Took the car in today, but the service manager wasnt in and the job card was locked in the service managers office. So the guy at the service desk took some photographes and emailed them to the service manager. Will be waiting for a phone call on monday to see what happens.

Im gutted as any refurb isnt going to be as nice as it used to be. 

Irony is, i just bought some jet seal and did all my wheels, it was all looking nice. And now i have scratches on them ........Annoyingly, ive had the car for four years, and all incidents happen because of someone elses fault!


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## Cozzer (Dec 18, 2007)

gtidriver said:


> my mk5 gti with 18s suffered from the dreaded worming all 4 where sent to a place in gillingham to be refurbed, when they came back they where superb within two weeks they where worse than when they went in not happy now there going black. dont accept a refurb you want new ones did you have pics before the car went into renault


Didnt take pics, as i didnt think a garage could do so much damage to an alloy whilst fitting the tyres. My brothers alloys got scratched whilst getting the tyres replaced, but that was down to the garage stacking the wheels on top of each other.

I shall wait and see on monday.


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## stevie211 (Jun 14, 2006)

had one of my rims damaged last week while tyres were removed and thankfully for them they owned up straight away
agreed to having it refurbed as long as a good job was done but it turned out well with nothing noticable


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## Richard (Feb 1, 2006)

Had the same happen with my audi rs4 wheels by ats in newcastle. took the car back and they had the wheel refurbed. not a great invisible repair though. 

Not looking foward to getting new tyres as I need 2 fronts soon and I have to use ATS as its a lease car


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## Mr.Mexi (Feb 23, 2007)

V8burble said:


> You will find that most tyre centres state in their terms and conditions that they are not responsible for any damage caused to alloy wheels when changing tyres.


How are they allowed to trade under these conditions?? Its always bugged me!!.
That means they have no responsibility for the damage they may cause.I'm sure the machines are not designed to cause damage, in fact there are safe guards against that built in. I'm sure the fitters are trained to change a tyre on an alloy wheels with out damaging the wheel - so - if they do it any other way, which DOES incur damage - then they are at fault - Surely!

That's like a taking your car for a valet and the chap saying, " I might not be able to get all the muck out of the corners and I might miss a few panels - but you still pay me" or a decorator coming in and saying "I'll do my best but I'm not responsible if I miss bits off the wall or I get a few sploges on the sofa" You'd tell him where to go. Unfortunatly where else can you go for tyres other than a tyre fitting place!!!

I'd love to know if that disclaimer is fully legal.

:doublesho RANT OVER !​


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## m0bov (May 2, 2007)

To prevent this type of thing happening, is it worth talking to the fitter before the work takes place? Maybe agreeing the alloys are scuff free before the work takes place?


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

I had a mint Celica with as new Aftermarket alloys on and went to my tyre place i always do. 

I have no idea why but he managed to mark both the alloys he changed tyres on. I checked them before he put them back and and pointed out the marks. He said the machine never marks alloys so i said if he can find any marks elsewhere on any of the wheels i'll leave it at that.............. He couldn't and agreed to pay for chips away to sort it.

I now let them have a good look to check for marks before so they know if they mark them.

Wish i did the same with a dent company, sorted the dent perfect but scratched the window at the same time so new glass and re tinted! £200 ish!

Cheers

PaulN

Ps If the company said its not ther problem if they mark wheels i would walk away and tell them why too.


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## Cozzer (Dec 18, 2007)

Spoke to the server manager, and like usual, they say they will call you back. Which never happens.

Anyways, They do refurbs in their own body shop, and they will phone me up to book an appointment to bring the car in. Any refurb wont look as good as new, but it will probably be an improvement to what it looks like now.


I really didnt expect this from a main dealership! Ive seen tyres being put onto a car, and i have no idea how they could mess it up, but they did. Perhaps they should have put the tyre on from the back of the wheel to avoid any scratching of the visible front side of the alloy!

I will get my wheels cleaned, take some pictures, take it in to get fixed and then take some afters.

Does Fairy liquid strip jetseal? I want to get rid of any protection so the paint sticks better!


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## Matt197 (Dec 27, 2006)

Had my tyres changed and I noticed damage but could not be certain it was caused by the fitters as all my alloys are pretty badly chipped and scuffed.

The damage looked like it was caused by the air gun slipping of the nut and striking the surrounding area.

I hate having my wheels done as no one takes pride in there job any more, cuting corners is the main problem.

Would be worth while getting a group buy going for a few machines, and have them located around the UK, that way we would never have any problems.


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## blr123 (Oct 26, 2005)

If there are any tyre fitters on the forum then I'll say it rite now "present company accepted".

This happens time & time & time again it's soul destroying cause there's no need for it whatsoever absolutely none.......all they have to do is ensure the machine has been adjusted to the correct height 

I have said before and I will say it again *NOTHING* and I repeat *NOTHING* should touch the top side of the wheel......so nothing touching the wheel = *NO DAMAGE*

This sort of thing really does my head in when people pay a fortune for alloy wheels and some numpty comes along and scratches them.......and yes that's in the plural..........they don't even seem to have the sense to stop when they have marked one they just go and do the same all round 

Hopefull 182_blue will be a long soon he'll tell you the carry on he had finding somewhere to fit tyres to his brand new wheels.

Thankfully I get my tyres supplied and fitted FOC by someone who knows what he's doing 

Bryan

PS it's not detailing but it would be worth having this as a sticky so people are made aware of the possible problems.......just a thought!!


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## Cozzer (Dec 18, 2007)

Has anyone had their alloys filled and resprayed?

I doubt they have the facilities to bake the alloys after the clear coat is put on. Just wondered how long this refurb would last.

It goes into the garage tomorrow! Another day wasted!


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## E5XTC (Oct 30, 2007)

I have had the same problem but with wheel nuts .......... I used to have an Evo and some ball bag used an AIR GUN to take off my wheel nuts and scratched and chiped the paint of my 18'' Rotas.

The garage said i should of requested they never used an air gun when booking my car in for the service ... I wount name and shame but they sell Mitsibushi's in Aberdeen.


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## Cozzer (Dec 18, 2007)

Was meant to be booked in for repair today, but when i got there they said the person who does the refurb was off on holiday. They really dont give a damn how much of your time they want to waste. Rebooked for wednesday now. I have the right mind to complain and ask for some sort of discount on my next service or mot!


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

The same's just happened to me, and they wouldn't accept any responsibility. Gonna have to pay for it myself now, the gits.

They kept saying "there is no way it could have happened becase the guard would have been here" (then held it up against the scratch, which happened to be exactly where the guard would have been), I pointed this out to them and they said if the guard was missing it would have done the whole wheel. not really sure about that myself but I didn't have time to argue so just had to take it. Luckily it's only £45 to get the wheel done, but still, I've just paid £340 for new tyres.


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## tmclssns (Dec 28, 2006)

Mother-Goose said:


> Luckily it's only £45 to get the wheel done, but still, I've just paid £340 for new tyres.


It really doesn't matter if it's £5 or £45 - it's all about principles. They scratched your wheels so they're the one responsible for the costs, as simple as that.

I've luckily never encountered such a thing but heard many horror stories so far - almost as much as body shop car polishing gone wrong  It's usually metal to metal - the place I used to go *never* had a special guard or protection in place.


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## Kiteyboy (May 20, 2008)

When I had new tyres put on S3, I used VAGTech as I was specifically worried that anyone else would mark them. Needless to say they did an excellent job (they look after my car anyway). 

I can live with me scratching my alloys, but no one else!


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## SuperchargedLlama (Apr 25, 2008)

Kiteyboy said:


> When I had new tyres put on S3, I used VAGTech as I was specifically worried that anyone else would mark them. Needless to say they did an excellent job (they look after my car anyway).
> 
> I can live with me scratching my alloys, but no one else!


Agreed.

Frustrating but ho hum.

The rims are also covered in all that junk they seem to get everywhere, just to check, I'm clear to plast that off without any problems right?



> It really doesn't matter if it's £5 or £45 - it's all about principles. They scratched your wheels so they're the one responsible for the costs, as simple as that.


 too right, next time I'll take pics of each rim before i go and get anything done.


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## Cozzer (Dec 18, 2007)

I got my car back today after their repair.

Not 100% happy, they've filled and masked the scratches and gougers!

But the finish they left doesn't look right, you can tell its been refurbished as the wheels dont seem to have a clear coat on them. Its lost its shine. Whether i need to wash them and put a coat of jetseal on is one thing. But im not entirely happy with the results.

I think i will have to speak to dealership again. They were the rear wheels, and had no scratches on them what so ever. Had the car 4 years and took alot of care when parking.

I am now at a worse position than before, if i tried to resell my car, im guessing ive lost some of the value, as the front wheels don't match the rear ones!


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