So, I was washing my wife's MINI the other day, and cleaning the wheels how I always do, with car wash soap and a chenille wash mitt (I use my microfiber one for everything else) and all of a sudden, my mitt started turning black. I was WASHING THE PAINT OFF! Needless to say, I'm a little pissed about the quality of the Motegi wheel finish now. We have Motegi trak-lites in flat black, and its starting to come off all over the place. Never used anything to clean her wheels but normal ole car wash soap, and the damn finish is washing off.

Now I've gotta figure out what to do about it, I'll probably just repaint them with BBQ grille paint (they are just flat black afterall) and get some decals made for the logos to go back on, but I just couldn't believe that they'd use such crappy paint for them. NICE wheels, high quality forging, super light, and the finish LOOKS great, its just a POS when it comes to durablility. ARGH.

Maybe this is the motivation I need to get them powdercoated, we'll see. I'm gonna try the homemade solution first, and if that proves to lack the durability I want, then powdercoat it is.

 

Have you thought of contacting the manufacturer or place you bought them from? WOW the paint coming off would be very unacceptable to me

 

well, I bought them from a guy on ebay, so who I bought them from isn't really an option. Thought about contacting motegi, but I'm not really confident that they'd do anything for me about it. Just thought I'd warn others, I new motegi's weren't that nice, but always thought their trak-lites were higher quality. Guess not. . .

 

Ohhh that sucks sorry. I would still try to contact motegi though. It can't hurt

 

Sounds like UV breaking the finish down. Cheap paint. That just sucks. Sorry to hear but will influence my future decision on wheels, so thanks for that.

 

The worst they could do is say no. Sometimes all it takes is an ask and a merchant will step up to preserve their reputation.

 

Might not be Motegi's problem - maybe the guy you bought them from used poor quality paint to spiff them up for sale. Whatever, just clean off the old stuff as much as you can, and get a high quality paint - automotive paint, not the BBQ stuff. Good luck.

 

I think your problem may be too high expectations....motegi aren't considered good quality wheels. You can get them at your local discount tire store. Cheaper wheels like motegi's and fliks are known for poor finish and quality.

See if you can find someone to powdercoat them for you if you're really worried about durability....sometimes you can find a good place that will do it cheap....especially if you just want flat black. It will last longer than paint....especiall rattle can paint.

 

I've not had a single problem with mine! I love them! Perhaps it's the black they used. I never liked black wheels anywho though...

 

Sorry to disagree but black wheels are da bomb

 

honestly I don't know what they COULD do. Best case all I can see them doing would be to exchange them, and then I'd be right back where I am now in a year. We just got a set of 16x7.5 Kosei's for auto-x wheels, so now we'll have something for her to drive on while they are off getting powdercoated. The Kosei's are in rough shape (got them for $300 with used azenis's, but the damage is all cosmetic). I'm gonna experiment with rattle-canning the Kosei's, and depending on how they turn out, will either rattle can these as well or send them off for powdercoating when it comes time for new tires. My only worry about powdercoating is that I've never seen powdercoating result in a matte finish (always comes off as a satin/gloss finish). I DON'T want them to shine, thats part of what we really like about these, they match the matte black trim and aero grille. Another reason I'm considering just BBQ grille paint instead of the standard automotive paint+clear. Gloss is the enemy here.



As far as motegi's general quality goes, I'm aware that MOST motegi's are cheap wheels, but the trak-lites (1.0 and 2.0) are NOT cheap (they are forged, not cast like other motegis), at least not as far as $. When you pay over $1000 for a set of 4 wheels, you expect better finish quality than this.

The quality of the wheel itself looks good, its just the finish thats cheap. Its hard to argue with 14.3 lbs for a 17x7, and they took VERY few wheel weights to balance (which is generally a good sign as far as the overall quality of the wheel).

 

Sounds suspisciously like the previous owner may have damaged the finish & repainted them.
Cheap wheels or not- manufacturers aren't that silly, despite what some of the self proclaimed experts on NAM may say.

 

I agree with steve11 guessing the previous owner had something to do with it.

 

I agree with steve11 as well. That was the first thing i thought.

 

i third what steve11 said... i had motegi ff6 before in silver and in the year or so, the polished lip was fine, the finish was perfect, there wasn't any problems at all in fact ever even up to the point when i sold them

 

I'm putting some on my car tomorrow, so I hope they hold up. Do you think a little Zaino who help?

 

they used watercolor to paint those wheels black?

 

it is indeed possible that it was the ebay seller, but I kinda doubt it. The part thats washing off is near the center caps, not the lip. I can't possibly see how he would have damaged this part of the wheels and felt it necessary to repair it. The wheels were advertised as new (and he sells a bunch of other wheels too, with a good feedback rating), they arrived in the proper boxes, wrapped in foam. The only reason I went to ebay to buy them was b/c they were out of stock almost everywhere we looked for them when she bought the mini. Now I'm kind of regretting it, although I really think that this is a motegi issue, not an ebay issue. Really, its just something I have to deal with at this point I suppose. . .

 

Did you wash the wheels when they were warm/hot?

 

nope, car had been sitting there for almost a whole day before I washed them. It was kinda warm outside (just under 90 degrees), but the car was in the shade

 

 

The finish quality on both sets of Motegi Racing Wheels I have on my two MINIs is average at best, and poor at worst.

The FF7 is actually holding up well, but the casting accuracy around the centercap cover is mediocre, as the centercap cover does not sit flush as it should. Paint finish is fine (hyper blakc center, polished lip) though.

The RT5 in flat black is another story. I will be having them re-powdercoated, as the quality was poor. The ydid not even powdercoa the lip around to the bead.

All that said, I knew darn well what I was buying before hand in Motegi Racing Wheels. Moderate, affordable wheels that looked good enough.

FF7:



RT5: