What to do with scratched wheels?

2084 Views 18 Replies 15 Participants Last post by M Cribbs, Mar 21, 2010

Uellee

Discussion Starter · Mar 2, 2010

So I went into Sears last weekend to get an alignment after adding some spacers and alignment bolts but they scratched up my factory wheels a bit.

It was nothing too crazy but if I was to get a couple alignments there I might expect to have my wheels all bunged up around the edges by the time they were though.

I was finally able to speak with the manager about it today and they accepted responsibility. He asked me what I was trying to get out of it and I didn't have a good answer for him other than "I want them back the way they were before your guys scratched them all up."

I told him I would think about it and try to figure something out. The scratches aren't any deeper than the paint so replacing the scratched wheels is pretty much out of the question I would guess

Any ideas about what I might reasonably ask for? Any past experience with this?

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

dubie2003

· #2 · Mar 2, 2010

You can ask for new wheels and they may agree.

You can also ask for powdercoating be done and they may agree.

Heck, you can just ask for some money and paint them yourself with some rattle cans.

Uellee

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 2, 2010

They have pretty much already said that they won't get me new wheels. I could go through the whole insurance process with them and make a claim and try to get new wheels but I don't know if it would be worth it and I really doubt they would do it anyway.

If I can figure something out that they will settle on then hopefully we can just settle up and skip the whole process.

Thank you for the input though that is what I am looking for.

Dan in Littleton

· #4 · Mar 2, 2010

My brother had something very similar with his Xterra. The tire shop got him a rental for a few days and they took the wheels that were scratched up to a body shop and fixed them to like new condition. That's what I would ask for.

Devius1

· #5 · Mar 2, 2010

It's really up to you and your conscience of what's fair... having the tech. who scratched the wheel get on his knees to try and buff it out?

This is coming from guy who takes his 18" Nismos through rock piles tho'

Uellee

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 2, 2010

Devius1 said:
It's really up to you and your conscience of what's fair... having the tech. who scratched the wheel get on his knees to try and buff it out?

This is coming from guy who takes his 18" Nismos through rock piles tho'

Yeah, I gotcha.

Some of the scratches took all of the paint off so there's definitely no buffing it out.

HarshReality001

· #7 · Mar 2, 2010

firestone did this to me when installing new tires almost 2 years ago. i went back and complained, the manager tried to tell me that there are other scratches already on them, whats the problem? i told him, i did those during my daily driving, but the other ones were due to his employee's negligence, so i shouldnt have to "deal" with them.

i eventually got $150 cash back and left. looked at my scratched rims for about a year before i decided to paint them myself. they look so good now and are easily fixed with a rattle can by me - cant believe i didnt do it sooner.

TnRedNeck

· #8 · Mar 4, 2010

HarshReality001 said:
firestone did this to me when installing new tires almost 2 years ago. i went back and complained, the manager tried to tell me that there are other scratches already on them, whats the problem? i told him, i did those during my daily driving, but the other ones were due to his employee's negligence, so i shouldnt have to "deal" with them.

i eventually got $150 cash back and left. looked at my scratched rims for about a year before i decided to paint them myself. they look so good now and are easily fixed with a rattle can by me - cant believe i didnt do it sooner.

What color ?

Irongrave

· #9 · Mar 4, 2010

say screw it, paint them your self.

poppop

· #10 · Mar 4, 2010

There are shops that reconditon wheels for the insurance/body shops. Wife's Honda needed one and it looks good.

VietGuy

· #11 · Mar 4, 2010

Sears did the same thing to me when I bought in my new Honda wheels to be mounted. The nicked all 4 wheels in several places. I took the wheels to a repair shop and got an estimate, $150 per wheel. Got $600 out of Sears and never repaired the wheels, just bought touch up paint for them

devious1

· #12 · Mar 4, 2010

Take them to a good body shop, have them fixed, pay the bill, and give the bill to them. A good body shop with know what to do with them, how they were painted from the factory and if powder-coating is necessary will have access to a good one if not have one on site.

Jeff024

· #13 · Mar 4, 2010

new wheels (after market) wheels will be cheaper then the factory wheels or have them refinished.Go to a shop and get an est. then you might be able to change the color if you want or get a price on powdercoating

HarshReality001

· #14 · Mar 4, 2010

i used rustoleum hammertone dark bronze paint. looks sikk

ToddG

· #15 · Mar 4, 2010 (Edited)

TnRedNeck said:
What color ?

Harsh's truck, rims and sliders painted to match:

See less See more

HarshReality001

· #16 · Mar 5, 2010

thanks todd!

roastbeef

· #17 · Mar 5, 2010

when i went to four wheel parts to get a new tire a couple months ago, the guy came out for the pre service "damage inspection" and i pointed to my truck. he stopped walking towards it, scribbled over the picture of the truck on his paper, and we turned around and went back inside. hahahahaha

maclufrontier

· #18 · Mar 5, 2010

poppop said:
There are shops that reconditon wheels for the insurance/body shops. Wife's Honda needed one and it looks good.

We had an aluminum wheel on our Mazda 3 damaged by a moving truck that cut the corner to sharply while we we stopped at the intersection. The insurance company sent the wheel away to be refinished. Other than a bit of orange peel in the clearcoat, it looks new. Apparently, going that route is WAY cheaper than buying the wheels from the factory.

M Cribbs

· #19 · Mar 21, 2010

Wow I'm in the exact same spot right now. I brought my six day old 2010 Pro-4x (280 miles on it) to a tire shop to swap out for some Dueler A/Ts. Picked it up three hours later and the all of the lips were all scratched up, there is a spot where they dropped something on one, and one was chipped where they pried out a centercap. Brand new truck---are you kidding me?!? Just to top it off they wiped the rims down with a gritty rag and scratched the hell out of the machined faces.

I polished out the superficial scratches, but the ones around the lip are there to stay. Can't do anything about the chip or the small dent in the clearcoat, of course.

I don't know what I'll get out of them. Good luck with your situation.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

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