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Hi all,

I bought a 2000 S4 Avant about 2 months ago and the seller pointed out to me that he had used wonder wheels and some of the laquer had come off in patches on two of the alloys (17" Avus). I wondered how best to get this sorted ? They are only small but I like to keep the car clean and having washed it it pains me to see these blemishes on the alloy. I also read in one of the threads that this can also corrode the actual wheel ??? Do I need to take it to a Wicked Wheels type place or is there a better / cheaper way ?

Also the left indicator on the dash flicks very quickly when indicating left and I have noticed that the front indicator light sometimes doesnt seem to work when I set the alarm / indicate left, could this be the fuse or something more serious ?

Your thoughts would be appreciated

indicator - will flicker fast to tell you a bulb has blown on that side - could be front, side or rear bulb.

wheels - refurbing of alloys doesn't have to be expensive. I used wheelrefurbishing.com they're cheap and did a really good job on mine. The only down side is I needed to buy a second set of wheels to put on the car while I had my originals refurbed - this depends on how much you need the car. It only took three days monday to thursday. You could probably buy some lacquer and re cover the little parts that are missing but my guess is that it'd still show up - probably worse than it does now. Also on this, the lacquer will come off any alloy after so many years, it's not a part fault just wear and tear.

If you're interested I still have the second set of wheels which I am trying to sell - they're 17" OZ superlegerras.

I had my original wheels refurbed by Wicked Wheels. They peeled so the guy came back. They peeled again and the guy stopped returning my calls.
I know that other people have had their wheels refurbed OK, but my experience was bad.

Last year I needed new tyres so I thought I'd have another go thru Elite (a very reputable tyre company in Berkshire). They said they'd loan me 4 wheels while mine were being refurbed, but they never managed to organise it. So in the end I just bought a set of RS4 reps.

4 RS4 reps cost me about 500 quid, and I sold my 5 Avus wheels (I had 6 - that's another story) for 300 quid. Yes you MAY get 4 Avus wheels refurbed for 200 quid but chances are it would be more.

Anyway, I wish I'd got new wheels in the first place. If these wheels get shoddy in a few years there's no way I will refurb, I'll just get new ones, even if I can't sell the old ones (but there's nearly always a buyer around for old wheels).

i had this conundrum too.

it came down to I liked the s4 avus wheels better than the rs4 reps, plus the rs4 reps are really heavy (from what I've been told) and you don't need to inflate your insurance if you keep std wheels.

I promise you, have a look on the website I quoted, full cost was going to be £186, I got it slightly cheaper than that.

If you are feeling very adventureous and really don't want to spend money on wheel refurbs (I imagine you might have to have all four done due to colour matching) you could always re-lacquer the wheels yourself.
Probably best to get the tyres removed then get some very, very fine wet and dry paper and rub the existing lacquer off. Then spray a couple of coats of new lacquer on and leave for 24 hours to dry properly.

John

vw_nutta2 wrote:i had this conundrum too.

it came down to I liked the s4 avus wheels better than the rs4 reps, plus the rs4 reps are really heavy (from what I've been told) and you don't need to inflate your insurance if you keep std wheels.

I promise you, have a look on the website I quoted, full cost was going to be £186, I got it slightly cheaper than that.

Yeah - I was told that too but I don't believe it. Last time I had a puncture I tried a very rough comparison of weight (me lifting the wheel). My RS4 rep felt a bit lighter than the Avus!

New wheels don't have to cost more on your premium. My insurance company didn't care.

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New wheels don't have to cost more on your premium. My insurance company didn't care.[/quote]


I did a quick look on elephant who I'm with and it would be an extra £25, ok so not much extra but it could be more depending on who you're with.

Also, dippy, did you get the fact they're not bothered in writing? A friend on mine runs a body shop (not for ladies products ) and he's always telling me about picky insurance assessors who'll disqualify an insurance policy on the pickiest little things. Fair enough tho if you tried to tell them and they say they're not bothered, I would have said most insurance companies would be bothered tho.

Oh yes. As I think you've noticed, the wheels are the least of my mods. Every year at renewal time I write a letter listing my mods and the cost to replace them, and get confirmation from my insurance company.

This year the underwriters decided to ask a few questions (obviously nobody really looked at my letters until this year), but since I had several years proof of informing then of the mods then soon shut up again.

So you're right, and I think the underwriters are getting a bit wiser to mods, so those who don't inform their insurance companies may be in for a big shock one day.

Also remember that Elephant only insure you for the increased risk caused by the mods, they do NOT insure the parts themselves!