# Alloy wheel damaged at tyre fitters....



## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Evening everyone, I am after some advice please....

I got a new tyre fitted to my alloy wheel this morning and they have damaged the inside of the alloy. The 'teeth' damage is in 5 different sections round the inside of the alloy.

I noticed as soon as I got home and called the owner of the tyre place. He explained this is normal from when the wheel is gripped when they are fitting the tyre?! So I said basically even though it's a brand new alloy, which it is, you have to put up with it?! He also said I am the first customer in 21 years to complain about this.... really?! Also, he informed me 'you won't notice it when it's back on the car and it's dirty'.

He has offered a refurb but the chap at the local wheel refurbisher has advised me it wont be a 100% match and because they are only repairing one wheel it might be a mis-match. Great.

it just seems to be one thing after another with this car and I have only had it a few months


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## rob267 (Nov 27, 2015)

Wow. That aint normal buddy.
That is far from acceptable.
Maybe ask for a second opinion on the refurb. You could tell the tyre fitter that you have to have 2 wheels painted as they cant match the colour exactly, so they match on 1 side of the car.
See what they say to that.

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## wayne451 (Aug 15, 2016)

Short of it being a totally different shade, you’ll not spot a difference between the wheels front to back.

Humidity, air pressure, primer etc can all affect the final shade but you will not spot the difference if the same paint code is used. 

That’s pretty **** poor by the tyre fitters though.


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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

I used to know a tyre fitter.
Yes it is true that sometimes, with some machines there will be a mark in the lacquer where the machine grips the wheel BUT NOT A GOUGE LIKE THAT!
I'll try and take pics tomorrow of how such marks look like on my polished lips.
He was so careful, but where the machine clamped down it left a slight haze/marring.

In the end for the other 3 wheels, he flipped the rim face down so the machine clamped the back not the face. 
He called it reverse mounting and used plastic wedges to rest the wheel face down onto.
This would mean the slight marring would not be visible.

If your fitter reverse mounted the wheel and the gouges are on the back surface of the barrel and not on the face side, I would rather a smart repair to smooth and tidy it up. Thus no worries about colour matching or inferior paint finishes on the faces that you see.
Then never go back.

I have found a fitter who uses a Megamount Smart machine.
This has no metal clamps on the rim.
Uses a cloth coated clamp at the wheel center, and a plastic automated disc to remove the tyre from the wheel.





My rim on the machine
Manchester Tyre Services by Andy Ten, on Flickr

If Manchester isn't too far, give Manchester Tyre Services in Openshaw a try
Family run business.
Manchester Tyre Services by Andy Ten, on Flickr
If they can't source your tyres I get them online and delivered to them.
They normally charge £10 a tyre to fit valve and balance but i pay them £15 to take their time and use their Megamount Smart machine as it is alot slower on that machine compared to their standard ones


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Cheers guys. 

Am wanting to go down the new alloy wheel route. Not sure if they will agree to it but I dont really want them refurbished.


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

I don't like your chances of them agreeing to a new wheel. Even when tyre places have damaged the face of a wheel normally a refurbishment is as good as people get. 

I would be looking towards a localised smart repair rather than the whole wheel.


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## cossiecol (Jun 29, 2014)

Kerr said:


> I don't like your chances of them agreeing to a new wheel. Even when tyre places have damaged the face of a wheel normally a refurbishment is as good as people get.
> 
> I would be looking towards a localised smart repair rather than the whole wheel.


Agree with this, the view will be that the wheel is not damaged beyond repair so a refurb will be good enough.


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## should_do_more (Apr 30, 2008)

Funny it’s only on one wheel?

Unfortunately I’ve been through a similar thing with BMW. One of my wheels was chipped in one point on the rim. I also wanted a new wheel but when I spoke to a lawyer mate he told me that all I can really expect is for them to repair it as long as the repair is to my satisfaction. 

I used someone I know does a good job, not their guy, and he did an excellent smart repair. Same issue for me, two colour alloys so was very worried about a match on the whole wheel. 

Sadly you have to give these morons a chance to repair their work at least once, don’t get me started on the BMW smart repair guys on my paintwork...

Best advice here is if it’s on the back get a smart repair on that bit only.


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## sevenfourate (Mar 23, 2013)

100% not normal in any way. With a skilled and conscientious fitter - who takes some pride in their work.......and uses protection on the rims.....this is 100% not necessary.

In fact in 30 years of messing around with bikes / car, getting various grippy rubber fitted or having wheels powdercoated - i don't think i've ever had this issue. Hell: i've had two sets of 4 car wheels and a pair of motorcycle wheels done this year. Not seen that on any of these. I am careful with who i use and tell them before hand what i expect. I have 'walked' a few times if the fitter says they are unsure if they can achieve that (ie: No marks).

But: his 'excuses' and reasonings are even more pathetic. Should have man'd up and admitted his failures. He has a lot to learn IMO.


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

That's awful, and as the guys have said above, totally preventable with a small amount of care. 

If you're getting a smart repair done, make sure it's limited to the rear of he wheel. There's no need for them to touch the wheel face whatsoever. 

My rims are diamond cut, and what I do nowadays is buy the tyres wherever I get a good price, and take them to a local alloy wheel refurbisher to get them fitted. The guy I use said that all his staff have to be careful with alloys - they don't want to mark a rim that's just been refurbished by them. This was after I watched a local guy remove old weights on one of my wheels with a steak knife...

I hope you get sorted. Keep us posted.

Good luck

Cooks

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## mar00 (Jun 24, 2018)

I managed a tyre company years ago, that is completely incompetent, you would clamp the outside generally, even with the old machines we had we put pieces of card under the clamps and never have any problem, i would guess they struggled getting the tyre on and it slipped off the clamps,

Audi damaged 2 of mine a few months ago with the tire iron, made them pay for a local smart repair and you can't see the blend,


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Cheers for the replies guys.

I think I am going to go down the smart repair route, just can't face refurbing the whole wheel.

I know they been careless but the owner of the tyre company tried to tell me that it was the only way they could grip the wheel....


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## sevenfourate (Mar 23, 2013)

Rowan83 said:


> Cheers for the replies guys.
> 
> I think I am going to go down the smart repair route, just can't face refurbing the whole wheel.
> 
> I know they been careless but the owner of the tyre company tried to tell me that it was the only way they could grip the wheel....


Must have been the fact it was a round wheel that caught him off-guard........:wall:


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## Tyrefitter (Feb 13, 2010)

The fitter should have clamped it from outside the rim not inside,,the inside is more for steels,,I’ve seen the wheel lift when clamped from the inside & damagethe rim

Andy.


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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

Here's a pic as promised showing how my friend managed to marr the clearcoat on the diamond cut lip of my rim despite being careful.
The rim didnt slip or move, it was simply the metal clamp crushing the lacquer but nowhere near the damage your careless fitter caused!

Marred lacquer from tyre fitter by Andy Ten, on Flickr


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

I would rather of taken that damage over mine!

Just awaiting a smart repair quote... the more I see the damage the more it annoys me.


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

Well.........

The tyre fitters paid for a smart repair (someone they know) and this is the result....

To make matters worse I have discovered further damage on the wheel. It's on the lip of the rim but it's not always noticeable due to the location. This was almost certainly done when they fitted the tyre because there is no way I could of done this! 

I have demanded a new wheel but the boss of the tyre fitting garage wants to see me on Wednesday morning for a chat and to see my car? I am so mad they have done all this damage to my wheel, it was perfect like the other 3!

At the end of the day before my wheel went to this place it was as new, now it's a mess.


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Not an expert by any means, but wonder if the mark you’re showing on top of the lip / near tyre has been caused by putting tyre back on too soon after repair whilst paint was still a bit soft ???


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## Cookies (Dec 10, 2008)

Andyblue said:


> Not an expert by any means, but wonder if the mark you're showing on top of the lip / near tyre has been caused by putting tyre back on too soon after repair whilst paint was still a bit soft ???


I think the smart repair was done on the back of the wheel, bud. Unless I've missed something, the front of the wheel should not have been painted at all.

Cooks

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## HEADPHONES (Jan 1, 2008)

Really feel for you.
Makes you lose faith in anyone who works on your car/wheels.
Do what you can to get a good resolution from the fitters.
But try not to let it get you too down.
Life's too short to let it get to you too much.


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Cookies said:


> I think the smart repair was done on the back of the wheel, bud. Unless I've missed something, the front of the wheel should not have been painted at all.
> 
> Cooks
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


Aah, no you're right, that'll teach me to post on phone when I'm tired :wall:

My bad...


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## Andy1972 (Jan 12, 2014)

HEADPHONES said:


> Really feel for you.
> Makes you lose faith in anyone who works on your car/wheels.
> Do what you can to get a good resolution from the fitters.
> But try not to let it get you too down.
> Life's too short to let it get to you too much.


Totally agree. I'm a pain to live with if something needs fixing on my car.

Something put it all in context for me Last week. I went to survey a guys house for some extension Plans and during the chat he told me how he was off to chemotherapy after the meeting as he had stage 4 brain cancer. He'd been given between 3-14 months and would be leaving a wife and 3 kids behind. Didn't know what to say

I then got back to my car, covered in tree sap from his driveway and gave myself a slap for even noticing it


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## Rowan83 (Aug 21, 2007)

^ I know what you mean. Part of me thinks I am probably being petty and should just leave it...... It just annoys me that I didn't damage it.


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