Ugh!

[Too Stroked]

In an attempt to liven things up a bit, I'll offer this. I caught a 3/8" bolt in the right front tire of the 4Runner the other day less than a half mile from home. (These aren't the factory wheels, but my aftermarket Enkei 20's BTW.) I turned around, went home and pulled the wheel and tire off. Sure enough, the bolt went all the way through, so it needed to be plugged. No problem, I work at a dealership, right?

I dropped the wheel and tire off before I started work with my usual instructions to be careful. Hell, everybody knows me and how picky I am with my stuff anyway. I figured I'd pick it up on my way out the door at the end of the day. When I went to pick the wheel up, this is what I found:



Or closer up:



To say that I was a bit livid would be an understatement. What the Service Tech did was pull the tire to install a plug patch from the inside - which is actually the preferred way of plugging a tire. I'm ok with that. But between dismounting, remounting and supposedly balancing the tire, he royally screwed up clamping the wheel. As it turns out, our Lead Tech - and good friend of mine - cautioned the Tech to apply tape to the face of the wheel. (Advice he obviously ignored.) The result is fairly deep scratches.

But it gets better, I got billed for Hunter Road Force Balancing. But when I turned the wheel around, the original weights - with no new weights - were still in place. I asked the Service Writer how the hell one could rebalance a tire with 20,000 miles on it and a new plug and not remove and add new weights. I got a blank stare.

But it gets better, If you look at the wheel, you'll notice the bright finish is from machine turning, then clear coat - not polishing or plating. So, polishing the wheel won't fix the problem. At this point the Service Writer said he was going to send it over to our Mecedes Benz dealership across town where they have a huge detail shop with the ability to refinish wheels. I told him that if it comes back and doesn't match the other three wheels, he's going to have to replace it.

But it gets better. The wheel is no longer available from Enkei.

Anybody want to guess where this one is going?

[Blown F-150]

Sounds like an opportunity to change up a wheel set!

But that is a pretty frustrating situation to be honest, especially on a set of such minty and well cared for wheels!


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[Kitzy]

When you say you caught a bolt in the front wheel, you mean tire correct?  The wheel was fine at that point and then magically it was damaged after the tire was plugged… at your dealership where they all know you no less.  You’ve had those wheels for a long time on different vehicles.  Guess it’s time to pick a new set unfortunately.  But that’s kind of exciting too.


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[sscully]

Sorry you got screwed on this.  Take care of your stuff and this is what happens.
Good to know stealerships do not discriminate and screw their own the same way they do run of the mill citizens.

Was it this dealership that mounted the tires in the 1st place, so they know how to do it correctly, just chose not to.

[Too Stroked]

When you say you caught a bolt in the front wheel, you mean tire correct?  The wheel was fine at that point and then magically it was damaged after the tire was plugged… at your dealership where they all know you no less.  You’ve had those wheels for a long time on different vehicles.  Guess it’s time to pick a new set unfortunately.  But that’s kind of exciting too.


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Sorry, my bad - and corrected. Yes, it was a bolt in the tire. Still waiting to hear how the "refinishing" went.

[Too Stroked]

Well, thy called me from work today on my day off to say my wheel was back from the company wheel repair facility. Although I had very low confidence that the repair would meet my standards, I went in to take a look at it.

In short, ugh! They tried to bury everything with a thick layer of clear. Surprisingly, it did cover the scratches our Service Technician put into the wheel - but they created a new problem. Look how grainy the finish is. It feels like sand when you run your fingertip over it. Oh, and then there's the run in one of the spokes. They're going to send it back again tomorrow.





My fear now is that this wheel is going to have so much poorly applied crap clearcoat on it that it won't have a chance of looking like the other three wheels. But, I'll just let them keep backing themselves into a corner. 

[Kitzy]

Well, thy called me from work today on my day off to say my wheel was back from the company wheel repair facility. Although I had very low confidence that the repair would meet my standards, I went in to take a look at it.

In short, ugh! They tried to bury everything with a thick layer of clear. Surprisingly, it did cover the scratches our Service Technician put into the wheel - but they created a new problem. Look how grainy the finish is. It feels like sand when you run your fingertip over it. Oh, and then there's the run in one of the spokes. They're going to send it back again tomorrow.





My fear now is that this wheel is going to have so much poorly applied crap clearcoat on it that it won't have a chance of looking like the other three wheels. But, I'll just let them keep backing themselves into a corner. 

Looks like cast aluminum now.  They thought that was ok?  Why did they even waste your time calling you other than to say we are sending it right back out. 


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[Too Stroked]

Looks like cast aluminum now.  They thought that was ok?  Why did they even waste your time calling you other than to say we are sending it right back out.

Honestly, I think they figured it would be good enough. The Service Manger was clearly ticked off that I wouldn't accept the work. I hope I don't have to go over his head on this one.

[Too Stroked]

Just got a call from the Service Writer. He said they sent the wheel to the Detail Shop at our Dodge store across the street (instead of back to the Wheel Shop) and they said it's beyond repair. (Big surprise.) He wants me to come in and talk to the Service Manager today. This ought to be rich.

[Too Stroked]

My conversation today actually went quite well. The Service Manager agreed that the wheel is now toast and that they owe me a replacement - if one can be located. He even hinted that if I can't find one, he knows what he's got to do.

Well, I searched the interwebs for 30 minutes and guess what? I found exactly one - if their website is correct. I'm just waiting for approval to order it from the SM right now. Fingers crossed!

[Kitzy]

My conversation today actually went quite well. The Service Manager agreed that the wheel is now toast and that they owe me a replacement - if one can be located. He even hinted that if I can't find one, he knows what he's got to do.

Well, I searched the interwebs for 30 minutes and guess what? I found exactly one - if their website is correct. I'm just waiting for approval to order it from the SM right now. Fingers crossed!

That’s seems odd they would have one discountinued wheel in stock that they were just sitting on incase someone needed just one wheel.  I’d be surprised if they have it but for your sake I hope they do. 


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[Blown F-150]

My conversation today actually went quite well. The Service Manager agreed that the wheel is now toast and that they owe me a replacement - if one can be located. He even hinted that if I can't find one, he knows what he's got to do.

Well, I searched the interwebs for 30 minutes and guess what? I found exactly one - if their website is correct. I'm just waiting for approval to order it from the SM right now. Fingers crossed!

Well, that would be pretty great. I hope they actually have it in stock!


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[Too Stroked]

My conversation today actually went quite well. The Service Manager agreed that the wheel is now toast and that they owe me a replacement - if one can be located. He even hinted that if I can't find one, he knows what he's got to do.

Well, I searched the interwebs for 30 minutes and guess what? I found exactly one - if their website is correct. I'm just waiting for approval to order it from the SM right now. Fingers crossed!

Well, that would be pretty great. I hope they actually have it in stock!


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Situation Update: The vendor did not in fact have the wheel. Bummer.

I took that information back to the Service Manager and we discussed several options. What we agreed to was that since the tires on these wheels are worn pretty well, he's going to pick up the cost for 2 tires (that's about $450) and I'll cover the other 2. He'll then guarantee a perfect mounting and balancing on his dime. And yes, I trust him.

I'm going to try one more place to repair the damaged wheel. It's not terrible, but it's definitely not up to my (and our) standards, so I've got nothing to lose.

[Blown F-150]

Sorry the new wheel option fell through!  I hope the other options work out.


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[Too Stroked]

I took the offending wheel back out to our Wheel Reconditioning shop myself today and talked to the lady who runs the operation. I explained what happened and she asked to see the wheel. She was clearly disappointed at the quality of the workmanship. I offered to leave it with them for as long as they need it. This is definitely the last gasp for this wheel though.

In the mean time, I've been searching for a set of new wheels for the truck. Enkei no longer makes my wheel, but has something very similar to what I have:

https://enkei.com/shop/wheels/truck-suv/m6/

I found a vendor who has a pretty decent price on four of the above and just have to decide if I'm going to bite the bullet. I think I'm going to wait to see what my existing wheel comes back looking like before I pull (or don't pull) the trigger.