R32 Alloy wheel refurb Opinions? - £300 don't look good

[Jakedevine]

Hi All,

I'm not sure if this is posted in the right section but can anyone give me their opinion on this alloy wheel refurb ?

I have genuine R32's VW that was painted in black like the photo all with paint peel and significant kerbing.

I was told he couldn't fix the indent in the wheels where the nuts are as it looks like someones chiseled the nut out. However surely sanding and filling as required would smooth the 'dents out

If you zoom in on the valve stem area its significantly pitted and not smooth nor shiny. Physically rough too the touch. I've also noticed specs of overspray and like dust where the paint has sat on top. Like inside the nut holes its gritty and there's dirt embedded in the paint where it has set.

He said they was corroded and that's why I've got the pitting and too bring it back in the new year too see what they can do.

I purely went with the company based on reviews as they had over a 100 with 4.9 stars with no bad reviews maybe one but that didn't have a comment attached.

I'm not happy that this is £300 worth of a quality refurb and I expected them too be better especially being powder coated.

I know I may never get them too look new but am I being picky ? I feel I should be asking for them too be redone and if they're not up too standard too refund me and ill go elsewhere. Please see images

This id the first set of wheels ive had refurbed and was proper looking forward too them. But I'm just not happy they don't like other silver alloy paint its just not smooth all over is that too much of me too be asking ?

Edited by Jakedevine on Sunday 27th December 06:43

[DaveCWK]

I don't think you're being picky - although I'm assuming you made your expectations clear?
It's perfectly possible to get a smooth finish where there has previously been pitting/corrosion, it just takes some time, care & effort.
Clearly that's just been acid dipped; possibly not even blasted with anything, not filled, & no attention paid to the area when applying the final powder coat/lacquer to ensure it went on evenly so now its patchy/rough.

I'm so sick of poor quality wheel refurbish jobs - a company that does nothing but these all day has no excuse to not be turning them out perfectly.

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

I don't have much knowledge of wheel refurbs but is £300 a bit cheap for four reasonable size wheels?

[Section 8]

Looks pretty standard refurb quality to be fair and the finish is sub par but it’s nothing I haven’t seen over and over. Place in Cannock that I have used to refurb some said they were redoing them as they weren’t up to standard. They must have used a rattle can and Stevie Wonder then because what left the place was still riddled with imperfections ( runs, shy in places and sanding marks under laquer) but I just couldn’t be arsed to moan and have them bodge even further and this is supposedly a premium place. Some people just don’t care what old crap they turn out as long as it looks “ better” than before.

Like a mechanic if you find a good alloy refurbisher they are indeed worth their weight in gold.

[Drawweight]

The rims where they have been kerbed look pretty bad in the original picture and they seem to have done a good job on them.

It looks like they have spent all the effort on that and maybe skimped the rest. £300 is quite cheap so they have possibly underestimated the time needed.

[andy43]

I’ve used the wheel specialist in Manchester - far better than others I’ve tried. It’s a franchise so maybe there’s one near the OP. More expensive than 300 but you get what you pay for I suppose.

[normalbloke]

Looks about right for a £300 job,

[832ark]

normalbloke said:

Looks about right for a £300 job,

I’ve had a better job done than that for £30/wheel.

[Rozzers]

Given the before and after, you have got your moneys worth.

They could be better though, but that will take a lot longer.

[d_a_n1979]

It's all down to that alloy refurb place

£300 is about your average for x4 alloys to be stripped and powder-coated and for most folk; that finish will be fine

But IMO it's a poor job and they've simply done as said above; stripped and then powder-coated; no care and attention, no smoothing of imperfections etc.

Also don't believe the reviews you say; a lot of them will be fake! It's so easy to do these days unfortunately...

Where are you in the world OP? Mention that and see if you can get some decent recommendations from folk that are local to you etc

[gf15]

That's a shockingly poor standard of workmanship.

We had 4 BMW mv1 18 inch wheels refurbed in 2014. They only needed light work, on the rim of two of the wheels, but did all 4. Total cost was £320. They came up like new. I could not identify the 2 that needed work. 6 years later, they are still as good as new.

I would definately get them to redo the work, being clear that they should do a reasonable job.

[Chubbyross]

Matt_E_Mulsion said:

I don't have much knowledge of wheel refurbs but is £300 a bit cheap for four reasonable size wheels?

Yes. If you want the best wheel refurb use Lepton’s. I wouldn’t go anywhere else. £300 is going to get a shoddy refurb.

[BertBert]

Chubbyross said:

Yes. If you want the best wheel refurb use Lepton’s. I wouldn’t go anywhere else. £300 is going to get a shoddy refurb.

I imagine you are thinking... https://www.lepsons.com/

[rotaryjam]

I paid £150 for a 4 wheel refurb at some backstreet place, quality was not great but better than what you show there.

So for £300 would certainly expect better than what you have got there

[Jakedevine]

I asked around my local area and pricey ranged from £200 - £300 I'm in the noth West near Liverpool.

I thought £300 was reasonable but like I said first time getting anything refurbed.

This car is going to have the works over the next year as I plan on keeping for the long term.

I just don't feel like the whole 'they was bad before, slightly corroded' washes every time.

I didn't realise I was paying cheap but in all honesty guys if you was in the same situation what would you be doing ?

I'm going to let them try again and specifically state what I want and the quality I'm expecting. If they can't provide them I'll ask for a refund and go else where. I'm not willing to pay £300 for a sub par job. I genuinely thought that was a good price but nevermind 😂

I understand they was bad before but if you was out of your depth then surely they should have phoned me and told me of the situation instead they said it was all good and let me go with my ste wheels.

I'm willing to take it back in jan and let them try again as I believe in 2nd chances. Its a shame really as I just never have luck with cars. This was meant too be my Christmas present too myself.

[Jakedevine]

Just so people know I showed pictures and explained what I was after he only mentioned the corrosion after he'd painted them. Which surely you should have mentioned beforehand.

Instead it genuinely feels like they've tried too pull a fast one on me. And I'm 100000% just not accepting it ive asked you guys and a local mechanic and they've all said they're shoddy and even for £300 they should be higher quality than what was returned.

[anonymous-user]

Sounds like you paid TOO much.

[grudas]

£300 is full acid bath, repair and quality powder coating. I paid that recently for a set of 19s in "shadow chrome" and there were no marks. This looks like a cheap tyres on valves in refurb. I'd not been happy with that at all.

[Chubbyross]

BertBert said:

Chubbyross said:

Yes. If you want the best wheel refurb use Lepton’s. I wouldn’t go anywhere else. £300 is going to get a shoddy refurb.

I imagine you are thinking... https://www.lepsons.com/

Indeed I am. Thank you for pointing that out. I’ve clearly had one sherry too much this Christmas.

[andy43]

I suppose the only answer is pay whatever the local going rate is - from "30 a wheel" upwards, but get recommendations before you choose.
I've learnt the hard way too