Wheel Nut Covers

[ednaroad]

Has anyone noticed the black wheel nut covers discolouring on their car?
All mine have started to discolour and are looking a bit of a mess:(
Took delivery in January and it seems a bit soon for things to start to want replacing.
On the upside everything else about the car is still awsome:D

[Gregmeister]

Has anyone noticed the black wheel nut covers discolouring on their car?
All mine have started to discolour and are looking a bit of a mess:(
Took delivery in January and it seems a bit soon for things to start to want replacing.
On the upside everything else about the car is still awsome:D


having not yet taken delivery of my car, I cant coment on the longevity but could you possibly post some pics so we can see what you mean?

[ednaroad]

All are looking like this.

[davej_523]

No idea but your rims are spotless, well done !!

[jonnymatrix]

Have you been using anything to clean the wheels? Maybe take the covers off before you do as if it contains any acid it will likely take the paint off the plastic covers.

[Autoparts]

Hi there we have had lots of people in complaining about this we sell lots of sets of new wheel bolt covers, it seems to be more common with people using alloy wheel cleaners as jonnymatrix said all these cleaners are full of acid and just strip the paint off them best to take them off if you are using wheel cleaners

[Gregmeister]

Hi there we have had lots of people in complaining about this we sell lots of sets of new wheel bolt covers, it seems to be more common with people using alloy wheel cleaners as jonnymatrix said all these cleaners are full of acid and just strip the paint off them best to take them off if you are using wheel cleaners

Is there anything in the VW blurb that says not to used this sort of stuff? If not, I'd be on to VW as it's entirely foreseeable that people will use 'acide based' cleaners (Wonder-wheels etc) unless specifically instructed not to. I've used it on all my previous cars and never had a problem ..... this will be my first VAG car for a while tho.

[ednaroad]

Have you been using anything to clean the wheels? Maybe take the covers off before you do as if it contains any acid it will likely take the paint off the plastic covers.

Looks like a thick ear for my local Polish cleaning team! :biglaugh:

[Gregmeister]

Looks like a thick ear for my local Polish cleaning team! :biglaugh:

haha.... indeed .... but if they can make the wheels resistant to such things then why not the wheel nut caps.

[FastEddieVW]

How can VW be held accountable for people using acid based cleaners on their wheels??

People seem to forget that wheels are painted and finished in the same way that the car's body panels are, and so should be treated accordingly. Would you use an acid based cleaner on your bonnet? Of course not.

Try something Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner, costs 4x as much as the crap you guys are probably buying from Wilkinsons etc.

[Gregmeister]

How can VW be held accountable for people using acid based cleaners on their wheels??

People seem to forget that wheels are painted and finished in the same way that the car's body panels are, and so should be treated accordingly. Would you use an acid based cleaner on your bonnet? Of course not.

Try something Meguiars Hot Rims All Wheel Cleaner, costs 4x as much as the crap you guys are probably buying from Wilkinsons etc.

Wonderwheels is the prime example, although I think that is caustic based. Any carwash or other such places used these chemicals to remove dirt from wheels. My local carwash also sprayes it on the lower part of the bodywork ... so yeah, I would expect any painted surface to protect the metalwork underneath. That's the whole point of it being on there in the first place. My point is that if an 'inapropriate' chemical was used, why did it not affect the wheel coating also. Given the abovementioned reports of others suffering the same problem, it suggests to me that it's a poor quality coating/product on VW's end rather then the chemical used.

Just my 2ps worth obviously :)