# Not happy - Wife has gashed the wheel!!!



## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

My wife never drives my car, but she drove it today for the first tim ein about 6 months, and guess what, runs it along a bloody kerb and gashed all the front nearside wheel!:devil::devil:

Really am not impressed, car is only 11 months old!

Now if it were just a standard wheel then I would just get the wheel taken of and refurbed, £60-70 or something job done, no major issue, however, they have grey painted inserts, plus what I presume is a sort of polished front? If that is the case, how does refurbing work on them, or is it even possible???

I have attached a pic of one of the wheels before my wife drove it, can anyone enlighten me as to my best course of action to get it put right, only just gave them a good clean yesterday as well!!!!

She is in teh dog house now, really not impressed, the one bloody time........................!!!!!!!!!! Gggggrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!










Not sure this pic picks it up very well, but the fronts are like a highly polished front? Dont appear to be painted etc.

Any ideas, suggestions!

Havent got a pic of what she has done as it is dark, but basically she has run the wheel along the kerb, scraping the fronts of most of the spokes!!!

Not just minor scratches but big full on scrapes!!! Not happy!

Please help me.... please!!!

Regards James


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## DiscoDriver (Oct 27, 2009)

James, I can't be of any help re the wheel but if that's your wife in your avatar I think I'd be minded to forgive her anything


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## pdv40 (Sep 11, 2008)

Looks refurb-able like a standard wheel. Might be worth having your tracking checked if it's been seriously graunched


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## Will-S (Jun 5, 2007)

As it is a two stage finish it may cost a bit more to fix. Can your dealer recommend someone local to do the job?


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## petemattw (Nov 3, 2008)

try speaking to the guys at www.laptab.co.uk they are pretty crack hot on wheel refurbs and can advise what is and isn't possible!


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

DiscoDriver said:


> James, I can't be of any help re the wheel but if that's your wife in your avatar I think I'd be minded to forgive her anything


No but if it were, then yes I would forgive her as well!!! :thumb: But its not, so no havent forgiven her yet!!!


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

Gonna see what it looks like properly in the daylight tomorrow, she said that its driving OK, but will check myself.

Its a newish car still under warranty so do you think getting the wheel sorted and asking the dealer to check the tracking afterwards under the warranty is acceptable or not??

Thanks for the advice so far


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## -tom- (Jan 27, 2009)

try thease guys james 
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=144628


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## golf548 (Feb 27, 2008)

DiscoDriver said:


> James, I can't be of any help re the wheel but if that's your wife in your avatar I think I'd be minded to forgive her anything


Exactly what I was thinking matey......


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## G105ALY (Dec 6, 2006)

james_19742000 said:


> Gonna see what it looks like properly in the daylight tomorrow, she said that its driving OK, but will check myself.
> 
> Its a newish car still under warranty so do you think getting the wheel sorted and asking the dealer to check the tracking afterwards under the warranty is acceptable or not??
> 
> Thanks for the advice so far


Wouldnt have thought so, they will put it down to accident damage...not warranty related. See if you can get your wife fixed under warranty though???:thumb:


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## coxy (Aug 3, 2006)

Presumably they are like the eos wheels and the finish is diamond turned. Im afraid only select people do them and it isnt cheap either! They will return them then relaquer, the gouges wont have touched the painted parts. Can we get a pic of the damage and also clarify if the finish is diamond turned, which i expect it is. If you look close at the polished bit does it have little lines in it which are machining marks?


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## Shredder (Oct 10, 2009)

Looks like it has a diamond cut face. The wheel is painted then the face is machined back to metal and lacquered. Not all refurbishers can do diamond cutting and it will cost more. Lap-tab only polish they do not diamond cut - the two look different up close. A diamond cut finish will have tight concentric circles if you look up close, whereas a polished finish will be smooth.

Some places that will do a diamond cut finish: Rimfurbish, A1 Wheels, The Wheel Restorer, Lepsons, BJV Engineering.


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

Yes when you feel the face of the wheel they have tiny hair line grooves, bloody loads of them, so yes by the description they sound like they are diamond turned! Oh dear, doesnt sound good! :-(

Bloody wife, still angry about it now, just annoys me that the one time she drives the bloody thing and she does this, car looked really good yesterday after a quick wash and wipe down as well!!!

Thanks for the replies and info, much appreciated.

James


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## specks (Jun 8, 2007)

go rent a golf and switch a wheel.


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

specks said:


> go rent a golf and switch a wheel.


Good idea! :thumb:


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## specks (Jun 8, 2007)

just make sure you have a 0 excess and they won`t charge you for damaging *there* wheel


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## adam87 (Dec 11, 2008)

Bill her for a new wheel


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## CliveP (Feb 1, 2009)

Divorce! (only joking!):driver:


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## Mirror Finish Details (Aug 21, 2008)

What did someone say before, "punch her in the ****" that made me laugh.

Have you tried any mobile guys?


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## Rickymx (Sep 12, 2009)

my dad has similar wheels on his touareg and the faces are metal with lacquer on, i had to paint them like a normal wheel!


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## TMM (Aug 30, 2008)

Depending how deep the gouges are it may not be fully repairable - they may have to lathe off too much metal and the recessed painted bit of the spokes will be noticeably shallower then the other wheels.

Sorry to say, but it may be cheaper/better just to buy a new wheel. My car has diamond cut wheels and you can buy a set of brand new wheels for less then it costs to repair some corrosion from wheel weights.


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

Thanks for that :-(

I have taken a few pics today in the daylight and they are here, what do you think?

Been ringing local places today and no one answers phones!!!!





































James


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

specks said:


> go rent a golf and switch a wheel.


haha immense idea!


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2009)

You see this is why you should have steel wheels, aside from the fact they look better, they are more resilliant to this and also about 1/10 of the price!


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

G220 said:


> You see this is why you should have steel wheels, aside from the fact they look better, they are more resilliant to this and also about 1/10 of the price!


Yeah but dont look half as good!

Bloody women, unreal arent they!!!


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2009)

I prefer my steel wheels to almost anything. Well, at the end of the day, it's a car, and the wheels are there in a hostile place. Some may say it's not there to look pretty 

I must say it is a bit unlucky especially since those tyres are the fat type and are meant to prevent it, but, I wouldn't worry about it, its only gonna happen again..


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## edition (Sep 7, 2008)

Give her gash a lick of paint


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## amclean (Jul 29, 2008)

Unlucky mate, I feel your pain. 3 years ago my mrs done this about 5 months after I got my AMG C32 and I was gutted, I was a bit annoyed with her but as she was driving it most of the time (too thirst for a daily drive to work) I kind of expected it to happen eventually. To be honest I've still got the marks two years later as I would have probably had to shell out for all 4 wheels to get done for a perfect match, so now, all 4 wheels have marks and I'll get them done before I sell it next year.

They look a similar finish to the wheels I had on a Mk V RS2000 12 years ago and they had a sort of plastic finish made to look like a diamond cut. At the time there was no one who could provide that finish so I had them painted silver and laquered.

You might be lucky and find a good refurb specialist. Good luck.


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## Shredder (Oct 10, 2009)

TMM said:


> Depending how deep the gouges are it may not be fully repairable - they may have to lathe off too much metal and the recessed painted bit of the spokes will be noticeably shallower then the other wheels.
> 
> Sorry to say, but it may be cheaper/better just to buy a new wheel.


TIG Weld can be added to kerbing and then machined back.

It's not at all cheaper to buy a new wheel.


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## Shredder (Oct 10, 2009)

james_19742000 said:


> I have taken a few pics today in the daylight and they are here, what do you think?
> 
> Been ringing local places today and no one answers phones!!!!
> 
> *** pics edited out ***


Those scratches don't look very deep, they will machine out fine. :thumb:

You could even sand them out with some medium grit paper, but that wouldn't leave you with a diamond cut finish. 

Where are you located in the country (just thinking who your nearest local refurbers are)?


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

Shredder said:


> Those scratches don't look very deep, they will machine out fine. :thumb:
> 
> You could even sand them out with some medium grit paper, but that wouldn't leave you with a diamond cut finish.
> 
> Where are you located in the country (just thinking who your nearest local refurbers are)?


Thanks for the replies guys, I am in Torquay in South Devon which logistically might as well be the other side of the world sometimes, found a place in Exeter and tried contacting them about 4 times today but they just dont answer the phone!

Any suggestions of where might be able to do it and get a reasonable finish would be appreciated :thumb:


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## Shredder (Oct 10, 2009)

If you don't find a local place, I know that Roger at The Wheel Restorer http://www.thewheelrestorer.co.uk (NB: he has a price for front face refinishing only too), Rimstock www.rimfurbish.co.uk and Pristine http://www.pristinealloywheels.co.uk all do mail order and diamond cut finishes.


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## Mattywatsit (Oct 2, 2008)

Sorry to hear and see that mate! I have seen a guide a while ago where someone refurbished a set of wheels the same as yours! Just found the guide and I will provide the link below.

A DIY refurb of just the faces could be an option for you; but you would obviously loose the diamond cut finish.

Here is the guide.

http://chrishowells.co.uk/?page_id=252

Regards,
Matthew.

P.S - I have done one set of wheels with a DIY refurb and im well into my second set now... with a third already bought for after 

It is relativley cheap; and the work although hard at times - is very rewarding.


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

Thanks for the replies chaps, all very helpful, just looked at the refurb places, great that they can do it, but by the time P&P is added, then the premium for the diamond cut etc it starts to get expensive!! Ouch!

Problem I have is that its a Motability car and when its returned in 2 years it needs to be in tip top condition, except some wear and tear, otherwise you loose the good condition bonus that you are entitled to on return, I am very proud of my cars and always like them to look top, when things liek thsi happen, so depending on what the final costs come in at I might have a word with Motability and see what options they give me?


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## adam87 (Dec 11, 2008)

Have you even asked VW how much a new wheel is? Sometimes they can be pretty cheap!


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## james_19742000 (May 8, 2008)

adam87 said:


> Have you even asked VW how much a new wheel is? Sometimes they can be pretty cheap!


Not yet, I was in there on Wednesday talking about alloys for our Beetle and he was saying they are mega expensive for wheels, so hadnt gone down that route yet, however, I do get on very well with the sales manager there so might be time to go and do some negotiating!!! You never know!


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