goddamnit, fvcked up my wheel

theNEOone

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
5,745
4
81
i heard of people painting their rims to hide scuff marks. is there a paint that i can buy, or do i have to bring it to a bodyshop? it's so goddamn ugly, i just might have to buy a new wheel :| i'm just so pissed, because this could have been easily avoided. and eventhough the wheel is only $220, that money could've gone elsewhere.

pos


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Kipper

Diamond Member
Feb 18, 2000
7,366
0
0
That is one ugly scratch. Odds are you might be able to get it refinished...
 

theNEOone

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
5,745
4
81
it happened at a touchfree car wash. stupid POS machine has a ramped platform that senses the weight of your car once you drive over it. however the asshole engineers designed it so that it's about 6 inches wide, and offers no protection in the case you're an inch or two off center. there's a few other places nearby and none of them have this sh!t design. it just so happens that this car wash is in the same shopping center as my gym.


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MichaelD

Lifer
Jan 16, 2001
31,528
3
76
Ouch. That's an expensive mistake. You can definitely have it fixed, but it isn't cheap, nor quick. I'd say you'll be without that rim for about a month...unless the place is close (driveable) to you...you'd eliminate about 10 days of shipping time that way.

Good luck.
 

DingDingDao

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2004
3,044
0
71
You should be able to have the wheel refinished/repainted. Here in L.A. there are plenty of places that will do it for around $125 per wheel. That basically entails sandblasting the existing paint off, machining the wheel (the eliminate the gouge), repainting, and clearcoating. Turnaround for a refinishing job here is around a week to 10 days. From Ithaca, you'll probably be able to ship the wheel off for refinishing. Hope you have a full-size spare :thumbsup:

EDIT: A word of caution: there is a possiblity that the scuff is so deep that it gets into the pitted area of the alloy. If that's the case, the metal will "breathe" air from the tires. I had a wheel refinished when I got sideswiped by my friend's aunt, and after refinishing, the wheel lost about 3 PSI a day. Ended up getting a brand new wheel, worth $500, at her insurance co.'s expense :beer:
 

theNEOone

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
5,745
4
81
Originally posted by: DingDingDao
You should be able to have the wheel refinished/repainted. Here in L.A. there are plenty of places that will do it for around $125 per wheel. That basically entails sandblasting the existing paint off, machining the wheel (the eliminate the gouge), repainting, and clearcoating. Turnaround for a refinishing job here is around a week to 10 days. From Ithaca, you'll probably be able to ship the wheel off for refinishing. Hope you have a full-size spare :thumbsup:

EDIT: A word of caution: there is a possiblity that the scuff is so deep that it gets into the pitted area of the alloy. If that's the case, the metal will "breathe" air from the tires. I had a wheel refinished when I got sideswiped by my friend's aunt, and after refinishing, the wheel lost about 3 PSI a day. Ended up getting a brand new wheel, worth $500, at her insurance co.'s expense :beer:

hmm, thx for the info. the wheel is only $240 including 3 day ground shipping, so i'll probably just do that. (and i'm not in ithaca anymore, i graduated :p maybe i should update my profile)


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NutBucket

Lifer
Aug 30, 2000
27,152
635
126
I got lucky and found that my wheel manufacturer sells touch-up paint (just some minor curb rash).
 

theNEOone

Diamond Member
Apr 22, 2001
5,745
4
81
just ordered my new wheel. i was really upset at first, but now i figure i'll have an interesting item with which to decorate my room.

anyone know how much it costs to mount/balance wheels? our family mechanic can do it cheap, so estimate on the low end.


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Kntx

Platinum Member
Dec 11, 2000
2,270
0
71
There's this company that drives around in trucks to car dealerships fixing scuffed wheels. It takes about half an hour and costs something like 50 bucks. I've seen them take some seriously ugly looking marks off wheels. I wish I could remember the name of the company for you!

 

brigden

Diamond Member
Dec 22, 2002
8,702
2
81
theNEOone, the exact same thing happened to my GF's Mazda3. Touchless carwash and all. Scratch even looks the same.

Here's a beer, bro. :beer:
 

MrHappyMonkey

Diamond Member
Mar 15, 2001
3,091
0
0
Originally posted by: theNEOone
just ordered my new wheel. i was really upset at first, but now i figure i'll have an interesting item with which to decorate my room.

anyone know how much it costs to mount/balance wheels? our family mechanic can do it cheap, so estimate on the low end.


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The OEM 17" wheel for your '6 is only $120.00 from mazdastuff.com

EDIT: Just noticed you installed the OEM 18" RX-8 rims. Those wheels look sweet on the Mazda6.
 

dmurray14

Golden Member
Feb 21, 2003
1,780
0
0
Yes, that can probably be fixed. From your story, it would seem as if someone else should be paying for it, too (like the car wash). I know there are trucks that go around with an Alloy-Wheel-Refinishing-in-a-Truck that will fix your wheel in about an hour or so, but I'm not sure whether or not that would be cheaper than MrHappyMonkey's suggestion - seems like you might want to check that out.

Good luck!

Dan