Wheel Refurb - Dealer Comeback

[Sammyb349]

Hi All,

Just want to check I am not going mad. When I bought my B8 RS4 there was some kerb damage to one of the wheels, and since the rear tires were being replaced the dealership got the wheel refurbed as well. I (stupidly) didn't pay close attention to the finish and totally didn't realise that there is a shadow line on the V-spoke wheels. Well with the sun out yesterday and some time on my hands I gave the car a full detail - pictures in another thread to come shortly.

When cleaning the refurbed wheel I noticed that it was impossible to clean. I tried using iron fallout remover as well as a citrus cleaner and neither shifted the marks. Further to my annoyance I've then noticed that the shadow lines were skimmed off my the refurb place. Something I didn't notice from a foot away.

I've emailed the dealer stating my annoyance with a wheel that is not OEM spec and faulty (since it can't be cleaned). Do you think I have ground to stand on? I'd certainly be back to the refurb place in a heartbeat, so assume the dealership will as well??

Pictures below:

Picture showing missing shadow line and dirt penetration

More unremoveable dirt

OEM

[John Johnson]

They look like man in a van jobs that most dealers use , mine were similar with a bill for a good few quid on the b7 and were quite poor really , not s great help to you but they all do it and I got asked why I went to who I used over the Barry blow over brigade and it's because I wanted quality and durability

[Sammyb349]

That's what I thought. Looks like they sprayed over dirty wheels (either a thin layer of paint or lacquer) hence why I can't shift the grub.

Next time I will not pick a car up in the evening and I will make sure I go over the car in extreme detail!

Waiting on the manager to get back to me. Will keep you posted.

[Sammyb349]

So I've got to take the car into the dealership. Let's see what they say...

[Jay_g]

Fingers crossed!

[Sammyb349]

So two hours spent at the dealership and they finally agreed that gloss wheels that had no shadow line and couldn't be cleaned needs to be redone. They want the car for a week whilst they send off two wheels (one to show what it should look like).

Hopefully don't need any further update....

[Sammyb349]

Okay - need some help. Car needs to be collected and returned to get the wheel back to OEM standard. They are giving me a temporary car in the meantime.
What I need help with is I think I should be owed some compensation for not having my car, having to do two 100 mile round trips back the garage and time wasted.

At a minimum I am asking for them to make sure the car is full of premium fuel when they return it (I only just filled it up).

Can I legitimately ask for anything else to compensate for the time and aggregation and if yes, what?!

[Sammyb349]

Finally after 2 weeks got my car back. I had a A4 saloon as a temporary car and they paid for the parking charges (central London). So far okay.

They did a full metal back refurb which I was expecting (here we go) to be 99.9% close to OEM.

Well, it's not. The wheel has a distinct blue tone and the face, whilst better is not OEM finish - I presume to being refurbished too many times.

Pictures below comparing original and refurbed. I've taken the two photos on 2 different days in 2 different lights to show that it's consistently blue!!

Waiting for the manager to call me back (2 days and counting).

Bright daylight (Original)

Bright Daylight (Refurbished)

Twilight (Original)

Twilight (refurbished)

Refurbished diamond cut

Original diamond cut

[zebede]

I've seen a lot worse name and shame the dealer

[John Johnson]

Common sense would prompt me to refurb the lot to match IMHO , not two . If I prang mine id refurb em to match

[chunky79]

Do you know where they sent them to be re-furbed? 2 weeks is a bloody long time to get wheels done. Thought it was normally a 3 day process?

[Sammyb349]

Car went back to dealer. They then took the wheel off that needed repairing and another one so the refurb could see what the original looked like. They then sent them off - the only send them on Tuesday's and Thursday's and get them back the same days, so if you miss the Tuesday delivery you have to wait.

I don't know who they used but I will find out. It looks to me that the wheel has been ground down too many times now and as such has lost its shape (this is the third attempt apparently). I am asking for a new wheel and for them to send it to another garage for fitting.

It's just been a huge waste of everyone's time.

[Sammyb349]

So... Got a call from Guildford Audi. They have a car that has come in with a perfect original wheel that they are going to replace mine with. They need the car for an hour (another 100 mile round trip) and swap the tyre and wheel over (since I have brand new tyres.

However - they had said there is a risk that they may damage the wheel when changing the tyre and they won't cover this. I'm a bit miffed by this statement so going to push back.

Anyone got any experience with tyre fitters marking/damaging wheels? Does it happen often?

[chunky79]

So... Got a call from Guildford Audi. They have a car that has come in with a perfect original wheel that they are going to replace mine with. They need the car for an hour (another 100 mile round trip) and swap the tyre and wheel over (since I have brand new tyres.

However - they had said there is a risk that they may damage the wheel when changing the tyre and they won't cover this. I'm a bit miffed by this statement so going to push back.

Anyone got any experience with tyre fitters marking/damaging wheels? Does it happen often?

Yes, a <beep> tyre fitter will damage a wheel, a good one won't. Sadly not many good ones around. Like when they use a screw driver to remove the old weights and damage the alloy
Where are you located? someone might be able to give you a name of a decent place.

[Special K C5]

Hunter have a cracking system to avoid wheel damage at tyre change think it's Hunter revolution the name of it could try find someone who has that machine.

I have had diamond cut wheels damaged at tyre change!