I have corrosion on 3 of my 2009 S' 17" web spoke alloy wheels.

It's going into the dealer next week but they are already giving me the "This won't be covered under warranty unless you bought the road hazard guarantee" story.

The car was purchased in Oct 09, has 16k miles and is rarely driven in winter.

Anyone have any advice, tips, etc.

 

Unfortunately i will have to say one of the pictures looks way to much like curb rash to be covered. the other one close to the inner spokes that should be covered.

But with that said the one that looks like curb rash seems to show there is some kind of painted layer or some thing on it. Mine are not like that they are polished stainless and did not look like that when rock rashed one time.

 

There are many more spots. None in locations where it could be curb rash.

When you see it up close you can see it's almost like there is a thick, clear plastic covering the wheel that looks like its peeling away, then the area under it is corroding.

 

blowing up the curb rash one. you are right it looks as if there is some sort of clear coat or something that is pealing.

You may be able to push it with the ones that are not curb rashed. as they should be covered. under warranty. i know a few people who have had their web spokes redone under warranty for the spokes getting corroded if the paint chipped.

If there is another dealer close by then maybe head over there and see if they will do anything for you. If not push your dealer when you arrive and pressure them to give you a fantastic reason why it should not be covered. just remember to stay calm.

good luck

 

If these wheels are made by BBS then its very possible its the clear coat corroding and peeling off. The MKIV Jetta with the 16inch BBS two-peice wheels had terrible issues it this and even today if you have a set that is corroding VW will replace them under warranty.

 

when you washed your mini, did you used any type of 'wheel cleaner'? they're quite harsh on the wheels and can visually cause problems. that's y i never use them.

 

I have the same problem with mine. I have never curbed my wheels. I think the damage probably came from tire installers over the years.

 

Bingo, this is correct.

With the R98 webspokes, you can separate the wheel barrel and the wheel face and easily strip off the clear coat on the barrel and re-polish at home. If you don't want to tackle a refinishing project yourself, I would keep contacting the dealer and showing him other instances as others have gotten "wheel warranty" due to faulty / poor clear coat.

- Erik

 

Interested. How do you easily strip off the clear coat? After re-polishing, do you clear coat again?

 

Pretty simply once you remove the wheel face from the barrell.
You'll use some aircraft stripper solvent to remove the clear coat.

No, simply polish the metal to a good shine and leave it bare.
You can wax it to fill any micro-pours in the metal.
What's great is that if rescratched, or losses shine, simply repolish with your favorite metal polishing compound.

- Erik

 

Cool! Thanks!

 

My webspokes also have a bunch of "blemishes" like these that are not roadrash... unless they were repaired roadrash before i got the car. I have the roadhazard warranty might have a talk with my advisor.

 

My silver R98s had the same corrosion under the clear coat issues, PLUS all the curb rash from my wife's horrendous parking over the years. Anyone had any luck finding a wheel refinish place that would take apart the wheels and refinish the edges? Or know what the torque spec is for the bolts that hold the center web to the rim?

 

I found a set cheap on Craigslist and they were in poor shape, I was able to bring them back without much trouble. First time refinishing wheels and I think they came out decent. I did all four, used clean strip for the clear coat and some 3m sanding foam pads for the edges. Didn't bother re clearing them that way a simple sand will always keep them nice.

 

Wow, nice job bavmotors....I just picked up a cheap set off of Craigslist as well...might do the same thing....but mine have road rash in addition to the clear coat issue....

 

Bare aluminum is never a good idea for a wheel. That is why they are always painted or clear coated. They will corrode again and turn black. I'm not going to sand my rims every time I want to clean them! I've seen mobil wheel rash fix places advertised. I will get an estimate. I would rather they were even painted rather than the way they are, if another clear coat is not possible. I've never clear coated aluminum, but it can't be THAT difficult.

 

I didn't have any issue with bare metal since they were simply summer wheels. A simple wheel wax would probably protect them from corrosion. Minor rash will sand out, the quotes I received for the wheel refinishing were all higher than buying a good condition set.

 

Can you tell me what kind of price a "cheap set" cost? Just curious if it's worth looking, and refurbishing a set, then just swapping and selling my existings. The curb rash is pretty severe on two of them. Wife is a REALLY bad at parallel parking.

 

I see them go for less than $400 quite often in good shape, here and on Craigslist.

 

I've read on other forums the torque is around 28 ft/lbs. However I would check with the manufacturer to be sure. R98's are made by Ronal and R90's by BBS. Also, the bolts are considered one time use and new bolts should be used when re-assembling.

 

I bought my set of four with Conti all season runflats that have 6/32 tread depth for $150. I don't like the tires, but the deal was okay for my needs. The wheel cores are decent....some minor scratches, but the rims have lots of curb rash and peeling clear coat. All of the wheels run true. I just plasti-dipped the rims.....still kinda ugly though.

 

Holy Moly, WHAT A DEAL! Was that for the same 2 piece rims?? Dang, I wish I could find a deal like that!!

 

I paid 125 for mine the deals are out there, Craigslist is the best because they don't know what they are worth.