Should I get a alloy refurb?

[tlionhart]

*have posted this on the wheels section, but no answer.

My dilemma is;
Forward left pas wheel has a minor scuff on the rim in addition to this there is a small chunk missing of one of the arms and a bad scuff/chunk on the rim. All done on the same day in the same incident. Now, I have tried 4 places and it hasn't gone well. All say the wheel can be refurbed and it isn't bad at all. They have seen worst, thats what they have all said. I've tried;
- A place that sends your alloys off and specialises in them. They only work with Genuine audi or VW alloys. However during the easter holidays they were busy with alloys. Due to sending them or receiving them back. In the end they never called me back to arrange a date to send them off.

-Then tried a wheel referber around the corner...they don't have the audi paint used on that alloy! Think they just touch up most of your vauxhalls, fords, etc

- A guy who comes out and to your address and does them, but turned out he was too expensive! Charging £140. Whereas everywhere is practically £90

-Slough Audi. However the guy who does them was sick today. So the job didn't get done. Only annoying thing was they called me at 1pm to tell me the bad news but I dropped the car of to them at 9am! Unless the guy comes in at lunch time?

Is this a possible sign just not to have it done? Friends have dissuaded me by saying, sure it would bother me as its my car. However when the car is moving who's gonna notice?! And being the front left pas, its likely to be hit again in its life.

I have got the genuine alloy paint for that wheel and prepared to just clean and touch it up. However do dealerships really penalise you for a scuffed alloy if you go to trade the car in? I could either; pay for the work in advance when I sell the car or just do it before I intend to hand it back...or leave it?

The alloy I have is the 18" S line alloy you get on most of the new S line model Audis. 7 twin spoke I think?

[Bratty]

I used to re-furb alloys (as a part time job) on Porsches and coming from an aeronautical backround (24 years as an Aircraft Technician in the military!) I was always a bit sceptical of what I was actually doing!!?!! (your wheel is probably being rubbed down by unskilled labour because it is **** work!! FACT!! , the fact is that the wheel is manufactured to take into account normal wear and tear and on a NORMAL car you have a massive safety margin (to allow houswifes to almost desimate your pristine alloys;)). But? I was given a set of magnesium wheels to do! and to be quite honest I was not happy, purely cause when you think of the accident on the tt where the MAG-Race wheel collapsed because there was a minute fault in it!

Dunk

[tlionhart]

that made me laugh. Thanks Bratty. Im still debating the alloy, if it was a slight scuff i wouldn't bother. But there is chunks missing, however still repairable. It is noticeable at a distance and ruins the care taken in my pride and joy. :(

I guess they are like a pair of shoes. Gonna get dirty and gonna get scratched. Learnt this the other day from my Timberland boots. Taken a lot of work to keep them clean and buffed up. But get dirty and scuffed to a point that it's unavoidable. A bit like stone chips.

[Andy Avant]

Your right with everything you say tlion hart you don't see it when you drive it and it is wear and tear. However it ll annoy the B£$~&(ks (B£$~@(ks) right off you every time you wash it, walk past itll and generally grate your mind.......:aargh4:
I managed to scrape the rim on mine and I was gutted it really did bug me something rotten. My mate knew a "man" who sorts the rims only, so managed to get it done for serious cheapness . So there I am motor back to its glory and Im out washing it a couple of weeks later and imagine my surprise when the same alloy has the same damage to it and I know it wasnt me.!! Mentioned it to the wife and back came the reply "is it dont know anything about that maybe the guy didnt fix it right" then scuttled away. This was followed by a text apology stating she had done it on route to the midwife. Ive still not had it fixed and as much as you can hardly see it I know its there and its killing me.
Trust me get it fixed you ll feel sssoooo much better :approve:

[tlionhart]

I've arranged with the dealer who couldn't do it, to do it when he is next back in. If it was slight scuffing, I would probably realise it happens and leave it. But as I said, these are big chunks and when my friends saw it they said "S**T! it looks bad. New alloy?"
If audi can't gimme a car for the day then I'll just make use of the spare wheel. However I ideally don't want to use it!

Thanks for your reply Andy. Wish I had a wife I could blame the damage on. lol

[Bratty]

Not just a case of looks though (although that is the biggest prob for most people!), its also a safety issue!. By gougeing a large chunk from your alloy you have introduced an easy path for corrosion, to which some alloys are very prone.
Magnesium alloys (not your norm!!) that are found on super-cars certainly do not want to be left unprotected near salt water (winter driving!).

A wheel damaged by a pot-hole type scenario, especially a large diameter one would need to be crack tested if reworked (IMHO).

Dunk

[tlionhart]

to be honest, at first when I saw the damage my instance thoughts were 'new alloy' :( Not because I have just ruined the appearance, but I thought the damage was horrendous. The next day I took it to a guy who specialises with the alloys and he said...'not bad at all'. He cleaned the area up, by taking some of the sharp edges off the damage to prevent them splitting/damaging the tyre. And a degreaser to remove the brake dust, dirt and left over shards of the alloy. Then I was told to come back and they would send the alloy of for repair. He did say that the alloy wouldn't arrive back in 100% perfection, but will certainly look better and possibly unnoticeable at a distance.

A new alloy alone will cost £350...not worth it. :aargh4:

[Guest 2]

When I bought the A6, my wheels were mint but a year on and the wife has kerbed the life out of them :( She blames the car being too long and the wing mirrors are dirty and she cant see out them! I blame her not taking care of MY car :(

Chris

[MFGF]

Hi Chris,

You could return the favour by grabbing her favourite kitchen knife set and repeatedly bashing the honed edges of the blades against the garden wall until they have big chunks missing. You could blame it on the kitchen window being dirty, and the knife handles too long... ;):D

Or maybe not if you value your life!

MF.

[Guest 2]

Hi Chris,

You could return the favour by grabbing her favourite kitchen knife set and repeatedly bashing the honed edges of the blades against the garden wall until they have big chunks missing. You could blame it on the kitchen window being dirty, and the knife handles too long... ;):D

Or maybe not if you value your life!

MF.

Might take a knife to her handbag collection which has moved into my wardrobe and throw the evidence away (Y) .. and then blame the kids (Y)

Chris

[paul b]

Might take a knife to her handbag collection which has moved into my wardrobe and throw the evidence away (Y) .. and then blame the kids (Y)

Chris
Nah, go for the shoes instead. ;)

I hope you're good at running. :Blush2:

[Guest 2]

Shoes .. handbags .. hmmm ... Both!

[JimC64]

Hey there, please check out my thread on how to refurb your own alloys. It really is very very easy. All it takes is patience and you can get a near factory finish, I promise:approve:
Get the right products, especially the Wurth paint, have plenty of patience and be prepared to sand, sand and sand again in between steps and you will get the perfect finish. Do you have an old alloy you can practice on??
Anyway, here's the link, check it out.......
The prices you're being quoted are astronomical ( bearing in mid they have to make a profit )......If you buy the products you'll probably spend no more than £50 most of which will be the paint. The upside is....If / when you damage any of the wheels again, you can put you're spare on and refurb the damage to as good as new and have it back on the car in a few days:beerchug:
Makes sense to me:approve:

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=66233

All the best

Jim

[DSG4ME]

If you've not had them done yet, call Harry @ The Autowerks, he has a website so you can check it out first, located near Slough.

Tell him V V recommended him, he'll know what you mean when you say it to him.

[tommyweaves]

Depends how precious you are about your wheels. I'm planning on using these when mine getting too shabby : www.exelwheels.co.uk cos they'll come and take my wheels off at my house and put on some loan wheels while they refurb mine.

[audipersempre]

I just replaced 4 tyres on my A6 only to find one front alloy cracked and the other bent :( Definitely due to pot holes in the roads. Needed a 4 wheel alignment of course too.

Currently the bent one is on the back and the cracked one in the boot.

No way I am going to chance having either repaired (there are still places that say they weld alloy wheel cracks!) so I have a dilema.

Try and buy a couple of good condition matching Audi alloys on ebay, try to buy a couple of ropey ones and have them refurbished, buy a cheap set of after market alloys or continue just to drive on the ones I have given the state of the roads is not getting any better!

Opinions?