Alloy repair
Alloy repair
Unfortunately my alloy got acquainted with the curb. What's the best way to get this fixed, take it to a vw dealer or any recommendations? What would I be looking at to get this repaired? Many thanks.
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SRGTD
- Bling Bling Diamond Member
- Posts: 3541
- Joined: Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:40 pm
- Drives: 2020 AW Polo GTI+, Pure White.
- Location: UK
Re: Alloy repair
I personally wouldn’t get VW to repair a diamond cut alloy - the chances are a VW dealer would just send it to whoever they use for their wheel repairs and they’d probably expect a cut of the price you would pay for acting as middleman.
From your picture, the damage doesn’t look too bad. However, diamond cut alloys aren’t usually suitable for a localised SMART repair of just the damaged area - it’s usually necessary to do a full refurb of the wheel. It might be worth contacting a few reputable SMART repairers in your area just to see if they feel they could repair it. However, there’s a risk the repaired area may be visible after the repair as a SMART repair method will be different to the method originally used to produce the diamond cut face when the alloy was manufactured - a CNC lathe with diamond tipped cutting tool would have been used.
If you want a top quality professional refurb, then Lepsons are probably the people to use. They’re considered to be the best and get very good feedback on forums from people who’ve used them (I’ve not personally used them). They’re based at Gillingham in Kent, which is reasonably close to you (your forum signature shows you’re in London). Cost-wise, you’d probably be looking at £100-120 plus VAT these days for a top quality refurb to a 17” diamond cut alloy (based on your picture, your tyres are Michelin Primacy, so I’m assuming it’s a 17” Parker alloy in the picture). Some places also charge extra to remove / refit the tyre and rebalance the wheel.
Link to Lepsons website below - the second and third links are to pages on their website that outline the process they use and how the steps they undertake compare to a mobile wheel repairer;
https://www.lepsons.com/
https://www.lepsons.com/how-we-produce-stunning-wheels/
https://www.lepsons.com/full-refurb-vs-mobile-repair/
It would also be worth doing an internet search on alloy wheel repairers / refurbishers in the London area. You can often get a good idea of the type of company they are and the quality of their work from their websites;
From your picture, the damage doesn’t look too bad. However, diamond cut alloys aren’t usually suitable for a localised SMART repair of just the damaged area - it’s usually necessary to do a full refurb of the wheel. It might be worth contacting a few reputable SMART repairers in your area just to see if they feel they could repair it. However, there’s a risk the repaired area may be visible after the repair as a SMART repair method will be different to the method originally used to produce the diamond cut face when the alloy was manufactured - a CNC lathe with diamond tipped cutting tool would have been used.
If you want a top quality professional refurb, then Lepsons are probably the people to use. They’re considered to be the best and get very good feedback on forums from people who’ve used them (I’ve not personally used them). They’re based at Gillingham in Kent, which is reasonably close to you (your forum signature shows you’re in London). Cost-wise, you’d probably be looking at £100-120 plus VAT these days for a top quality refurb to a 17” diamond cut alloy (based on your picture, your tyres are Michelin Primacy, so I’m assuming it’s a 17” Parker alloy in the picture). Some places also charge extra to remove / refit the tyre and rebalance the wheel.
Link to Lepsons website below - the second and third links are to pages on their website that outline the process they use and how the steps they undertake compare to a mobile wheel repairer;
https://www.lepsons.com/
https://www.lepsons.com/how-we-produce-stunning-wheels/
https://www.lepsons.com/full-refurb-vs-mobile-repair/
It would also be worth doing an internet search on alloy wheel repairers / refurbishers in the London area. You can often get a good idea of the type of company they are and the quality of their work from their websites;
- how long they’ve been in business.
- website content and details of the process they use to refurbish diamond cut alloys - a very good reputable company are likely to have a very professional looking website and provide comprehensive details of the process(es) they use.
- the type / length of guarantee they give on their work.
- customer reviews of the quality of their work.
Re: Alloy repair
Appreciate you taking the time to write such a detailed response. I’ll research those options. Was going to sort this out early in the new year, expensive time of the year right now. Will be sure to update this thread once it’s sorted. Thanks again.