I posted a thread last week about curbing my volks and decided to get them repaired. So the repair shop said that once my wheels will be repaired there will be two minor noticeable marks on the lip from taking out the bend in the wheel. So I got a call from them today and the guy told me that it was extremely hard to get the bend out and during the process of taking it out, I am left with a noticeable straight line going around the lip of my wheel! I am now left with a hard decision to make: I can live with the line going around my wheel or the guy told me that if I don't like it, they can polish the whole barrel of my wheel making it look perfect, however, once they do this he said that my wheel will begin to look extremely bad if I don't take impeccable care of it. He said if I chose that option I will need to get into every spot of the wheel at least once a week so it doesn't begin to go dull or whatever and that he doesn't recommend that option. I don't know if he just said that since it will be more work for him or if he's telling me the truth. What do you guys think?? I haven't seen the wheel yet, but I'm going to see it tomorrow and make a decision. What would you guys do?

 

He is just covering his a** because you have expensive wheels. I suspect the repair will go well. He sounds competent, and I do not blame him for protecting his shop and providing full disclosure.

It’s not unlike having surgery when the surgeon explains informed-consent (describes in detail everything that can go wrong).

I would proceed with the repair and have them do the polish, but not expect much "warranty."

I really think this guy is going to do a good job for you.

--Spike

 

The shop is letting you know that the wheel will never look the same as it did out of the box. I assume that polishing removes the finish and makes the wheel susceptible to corrosion.

 

^^ “Corrosion” won’t be a problem at all. High-quality wheels don’t suffer from this.

His “repair-guy” is telling him that his newly repaired wheel will look like new, and not match his other three wheels. But, after a month or so, all the wheels will look the same.

--Spike

 

The guy at the shop is basically telling you that they will have to remove the clear coat and they will then polish your wheels. This means you will have nicely polished bare aluminum wheels. Since there is no clear protection, they will corrode quickly like most metals would just sitting around outside. You will need to polish them and wax\seal them frequently to keep the nice mirror like finish. As far as how often you need to do this, I don't know, and maybe some more wheel experts will chime in.

 

^^ I have repaired gouged wheels and never had to do anything other than normal maintenance. The repaired wheels were just like the original wheels, and did not need any “special” treatment at all.

--Spike

 

Would it be possible for the OP to get the newly polished rim re-cleared?

 

Volk lips are anodized, polishing the wheel will never bring back the finish that the anodizing left on the lip. If you polish, you can clear coat them so maintenance is reduced. Also the polished wheel wheel will not look like original anodized ones. Same reason for the line, one part is polished and the remainder is anodized. Shop seems to know what they're doing....

 

he already did the repair and instead of the wheel having 2 marks on the lip, the lip has a line going across the whole wheel! I don't know if I should get him to polish the whole lip with likely future problems (according to the shop) and get rid of the the line or leave the line and have no problems in the future?

 

The line isn't there due to some of the wheel being polished and some of it being anodized, it's there from them trying to take out the bend in the wheel. Before the whole repair they said that taking out the bend would leave 2 little marks on the wheel, which I said was fine, but it ended up a lot worse after the repair. If he said there was going to be a line going across my whole wheel before hand, I wouldn't have got it repaired from them.

 

This discussion makes me rethink expensive aftermarket wheels. The stock wheels are easily repaired (I've done a repair and they look like new).

--Spike

 

I am having my wheels redone as well, but all four at the same time to avoid any issues with mismatched lips. I actually prefer to have them polished instead of clearcoated. The P21S Polishing Soap looks fairly easy to use and has had good reviews. That with the Wheel Sealant should make the maintenance inline with my normal detailing routine without the worry of the clearcoat getting damaged and having to have them redone again.

 

^^ Your statement makes me wonder why high-end aftermarket wheels are not delivered the way you describe.

I’m probably missing something here, but it seems odd that a wheel setup costing something like $3K cannot be easily repaired when there is a minor rim scrape.

Comparing this to how easily and inexpensively you can do a 100% repair on the Z’s stock wheel, I wonder about the value of aftermarket wheels.

Does anyone else see this irony?

--Spike

 

If you polsh one wheel you will need to polish all as they will not match. As far as clear annodizing you'd be hard press to find someone do it really clear. All of the annodizers I've contacted said that it will have a slight milky film on the wheel. As far as clear coating is not stong enough to with stand mounting and unmounting the tires. Once the clear coat seal is broken can start flaking off later. I myself and friends have had volks/rays/work wheels repaired and have left the lip polished and maintained it with some wax. PM me if you have questions on repairing the wheels.

 

the whole mismatching thing isn't as obvious as people say

 

I agree. Having paid a hefty price for wheels like Volks, I think it's reasonable to expect more durability and flexibility when it comes to repairs. In fact, I will go as far as saying that Volks should be more repairable because of their high price point which is why you'd want to repair wheels in the first place. Stock wheels hold little value so it's almost non cost effective to repair them since you can probably buy one in great condition instead of having it repaired. Maybe Volk expects you to buy a new rim if you have damage and their manufacturing process reflects that in some of their rims. In all fairness, some rims are just very hard to repair due to the construction type and the finish they have.