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Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster
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Originally Posted by -cj-
I don't trust those places. I've never had to do it before myself, but I've heard stories from friends. My plans are to replace with a new wheel... and probably sell off the old wheel and let someone else refinish it. =)
Apparently it's also difficult to paint match black wheels.
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Interesting yet uninformed opinion. I'm almost curious to hear some of the "stories" but really actually not. I'll tell you a story, however, and it's 100 percent fact. In 15 years of claim handling, I have never heard of a repaired wheel failing.
Just like anything, there are companies that do good and bad work, however companies like Wheels America are very reputable companies that do excellent work.
A wheel is made of metal. In the days when knights fought with swords, blacksmiths repaired their swords and knights of course then used the repaired sword to defend their lives. An alloy wheel repair is the same lost art of blacksmithing. Gouges, chunks, bends etc can be easily repaired. Twists of the wheel and torn spokes cannot.
A wheel repair company is not going to repair a wheel that that they are not 1000 percent confident will be just as strong as it was before it was damaged. They can easily repair a wheel and send the owner back into the daily battle of driving on the street.
These days of course, wheels are also repaired and recut using a c and c machine which has the same precision as the one that originally made the wheels. Paint match is easily accomplished by plugging in the paint code for the wheel.
There are cars driving on repaired wheels around you every day. Insurance companies spec for wheel repair when possible, and of course once again, an insurance company is NOT going to risk a major lawsuit by sending a customer down the road with faulty equipment.
It's your wallet, so if the $400 savings over wheel repair isn't a big deal to you then it's certainly your prerogative. |
Uninformed or not, I'm taking the easy way out. I've seen first hand the work done to refinished wheels due to accidents. I'm not doubting the wheels are perfectly safe, they just don't always match the original wheel s.
My buddy had a brand new 2011 GTI and got smoked at an intersection. 16k worth of damage and they decided to repair the car. (Talk about shitty decision). Aside from his other issues, the repaired wheel doesn't have the exact same offset (looks like they trimmed a little from the outter surface) and it also has a pattern in the paint where originally there was none. (Thinking back, the offset could have been related to the accident and stuff being pushed in and not being repairable)
Another buddy had issues balancing his wheel perfectly after a wheel repair.
Maybe two bad experiences don't mean all places are bad, but why would I take the chance? I'd rather pay $600 total and not worry about it. Especially if I'm not happy with the first result (I'm incredibly picky).
(Typed on my iPhone. Fair warning ...)