Is this wheel paint problem on a one year old A6 Avant a manufacturing defect?

[mikenott]

My 13 month old A^ Allroad Avant 3.0 has developed a problem on one of the front wheels, which I only noticed today. The final coat on the 20" alloy wheels has flaked off in an area 5cm by 5cm exposing the base coat (see attached image). There is no evidence of any wheel damage so i am leaning towards it being an "as built" manufacturig defect. Before I gird my loins and go into battle with Audi, i would appreciate others thoughts

Michael

Audi wheel 2.jpgaudi wheels 1.jpg

[Artiglio]

Do you use any of the handcarwash’s that are everywhere these days? Some have been known to use some pretty aggressive chemicals when it comes to cleaning alloys.

[AT.]

To be honest it looks like a refurbished, or non Audi alloy. I hit mine years ago, but I didn't saw any sign of paint there. For an Audi, this paint feels very thick for me. This painting looks like very cheap for me, IMHO it's should be not even acceptable on a VW.

As there is absolutely no sign of any damage, it looks like a manufacturer failure for me.

[mikenott]

They are the wheels supplied as delivered to me. They were an upgrade from the 19" to 20" so I assumed they were factory fitted. It's teh fact that it's coming of in sheets which seems to infer a patch of low adhesion. Thanks for reply :-)

[KevTrem]

I bet they say you have kerbed them because of this mark on the wheel edge and tyre.

[Tripletrouble]

The overall finish on that wheel looks very dull, have you been using an agressive wheel cleaner?

[Scott K]

Definitely worth going to your dealer and trying to get it fixed under warranty. Doesn't look like a good coating.

[shabazmo]

I think AT is right. It's looks like a reconditioned wheel which has been badly done. In fact I would say that the base coat and lacquer has peeled off leaving a primer on the wheel. First get the opinion of a wheel reconditioner and armed with the inforamation, take it to Audi. You must surely have a claim. It's certainly NOT kerb damage.

if it was an aggressive wheel cleaner the whole wheel would be affected n some way.

[A6S]

That looks like a bad refurb or a smart repair.
Smart repairs don’t generally last very long as it’s just good enough to sell a car off the forecourt.
Did you buy it brand new or used?

[mikenott]

Visited local Audi dealer who diagnosed it as a bad refurbishment. Of course, that meant they were not interested. However, spoke with supplying Audi dealer who agreed to fund new refurbishment. I was a bit suprised by tht damage being caused in the two months the vehicle was being run by the service manager at the supplyng dealer. Maybe a precautionary messgae about ex-demo/Audi staff cars?? Thanks for all the comments and feedback - much appreciated