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Old Mar 21, 2006 | 04:25 PM
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Alan
drives euro trash
 
Joined: Jun 2000
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Default Wheel Repair - opinions needed!!

The shop who mounted the tires on my SVTF screwed up my wheels. The good news is they fessed up to the damage and want to take care of it. The bad news is they want to repair the damages, not refinish or replace the wheels.

The damage isn't horrible to the average person, to for an anal retentive enthusiast such as myself the car looks horrid. It isn't as if they bent a rim or anything. They did, however, scratch/chip every single one of my wheels during the tire mounting. These scratches/chips are down to the aluminum. The finish of my wheels is a metallic dark argent color (not a plain silver), so they stick out like a sore thumb.

My issue here is they want to pay to repair the chips using their mobile wheel repair company (or another similar company of my choosing). So basically the tech comes out, slaps on some touch up paint, and calls it a day.

Tell me if I am wrong, but a paint touch up on a factory powdercoated wheel is going to:
a. probably not match the color factory powdercoat
b. probably look almost as bad as a chip itself
c. probably not have the same longevity as the factory coating (i.e. will fade at a different rate, not hold up to the elements, etc)

I'm obviously a bit pissed off at this idea. This car is only 1 of 101 vermillion red 3-door SVTF with the European wheel option. Not like this was going to be a car selling in the six-figures 20-years from now, but hell, I intend on keeping the car for quite a while and would like it not to look like a shitbox due to no fault of my own.

So I'm curious if anyone here has had this sort of service done to their vehicle. If so, who would you recommend? I want to get about two estimates to get the work done....and I think the work that needs to be done is a complete refinishing of each wheel. Names and phone numbers would be greatly appreciated.

Couple pictures:


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