Knackered alloy (Panda 100hp), what to do?

[chris182]

My friend had a bit of an incident with a pothole in her Panda 100hp and as a consequence one wheel is not entirely round any more. My understanding is that buckled alloys cannot be straightened, is this correct?

A Fiat dealer quoted £372 for a new wheel which was just a silly amount IMO, is this normal? A search on Ebay did not bring up any used wheels and I am not sure where best to go from there or where else to look?

Any assistance is appreciated.

[krisdelta]

It depends on the extent of the buckling I believe. However, £372 is silly money for one (15"?) wheel. Try a breakers yard or some of the big refurb alloy places.

[Prof Prolapse]

In my experience they're for the bin after you give it a good belt. They're not malleable so tend to fracture.

I'd buy a full set from somewhere, preferably another Fiat, then sell the 3 wheels you have as individuals on ebay. You'll get most of your money back.

[Bluebarge]

These guys aren't near you, but it says they can collect from Bath
http://www.alloyweldcraft.co.uk/index.htm
Otherwise, a set of aftermarket wheels could be had for less than the cost Fiat are quoting
http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/

[Jacobyte]

I have a set of 100hp alloys in my garage which I might be persuaded to part with. Will PM you after speaking to the boss (as they're meant for her car).

[lufbramatt]

Surely loads of other cars use the same size wheel+fitment- fiat 500, ford KA etc? as above get a full set on ebay and sell yours as singles. singles are always worth more per wheel.

[chris182]

Prof Prolapse said:

In my experience they're for the bin after you give it a good belt. They're not malleable so tend to fracture.

This was my understanding also, though I would be happy to be proved wrong.

krisdelta said:

It depends on the extent of the buckling I believe.

It isn't that bad, there are no visible cracks and from a distance it still looks round but when you look closely at the bit where the impact happened the inside edge is flattened slightly.

She won't want to go down the aftermarket route as it will increase the insurance premiums, devalue the car and look bad so that one's out I'm afraid.

Jacobyte said:

I have a set of 100hp alloys in my garage which I might be persuaded to part with. Will PM you after speaking to the boss (as they're meant for her car).

Thanks, might well be interested.

Thanks for all the input, any more ideas/leads also appreciated.

[civicduty]

Ebay

[lufbramatt]

Looks like they are 4x98 same as loads of other fiat alloy wheels. Plenty of OEM fiat wheels on ebay which won't look barry.

In my experience if the car had alloys from the factory, the insurance co wont care if you change them to a different style OEM alloy. Might get a small admin charge, but when I've phoned up the past they couldn't care less.

[Targarama]

Bluebarge said:

These guys aren't near you, but it says they can collect from Bath
http://www.alloyweldcraft.co.uk/index.htm
Otherwise, a set of aftermarket wheels could be had for less than the cost Fiat are quoting
http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/

I've used Alloy Weld Craft. He did a good job on one of my TVR wheels which looked like a 50p piece.

I would check the best place to get a wheel on one of the Panda forums such as this - http://www.fiatforum.com/panda/

[podwin]

We got this wheel sorted, the tyre kept going flat (no surprise) and it has been fine since I took it to a place in Manchester.

Is it worse than this?

[LuS1fer]

Photos of wheel and pothole and claim off the Council.

[Dr Interceptor]

podwin said:

We got this wheel sorted, the tyre kept going flat (no surprise) and it has been fine since I took it to a place in Manchester.

Is it worse than this?

Sorry, O/T, but Ovation tyres? Really?

[podwin]

Dr Interceptor said:

Sorry, O/T, but Ovation tyres? Really?

I know I know, they were on when we bought it, they were brand new so not worth changing.

I bought UniRoyal RainExpert tyres when the fronts needed new ones thank you.

It now needs 4 all round, which will finally get rid of the 'Ovation', think I'll go for Vredstein Quatrac.

Will they be OK?

[Chris993C4]

chris182 said:

A Fiat dealer quoted £372 for a new wheel which was just a silly amount IMO, is this normal? A search on Ebay did not bring up any used wheels and I am not sure where best to go from there or where else to look?

From memory, I thought that 100hp wheels were around the 150 mark - personally I'd ring around a few more dealers.

I also seem to remember that Fiat changed the colour slightly at some point...

[Benbay001]

podwin said:

I know I know, they were on when we bought it, they were brand new so not worth changing.

I bought UniRoyal RainExpert tyres when the fronts needed new ones thank you.

It now needs 4 all round, which will finally get rid of the 'Ovation', think I'll go for Vredstein Quatrac.

Will they be OK?

Id stick more Ovations on. It not like you flew off the road in a ball of fire, is it?

[podwin]

Benbay001 said:

Id stick more Ovations on. It not like you flew off the road in a ball of fire, is it?

It's the wife's car, and she hasn't skidded, crashed or died at all.

[podwin]

Is it worth checking Ebay?

[Prof Prolapse]

podwin said:

We got this wheel sorted, the tyre kept going flat (no surprise) and it has been fine since I took it to a place in Manchester.

Did they actually repair the alloy, or did they use that "no guarantees" sealant that eventually breaks up?

[podwin]

Prof Prolapse said:

Did they actually repair the alloy, or did they use that "no guarantees" sealant that eventually breaks up?

They repaired it, I think they said something about a press.

I picked it up and it was round again, and that was over a year ago, so it was worth doing for ~£50.

They were referred to me by the The Wheel Specialist, who highly recommended them. I can't remember their name though.