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To buy new rims or?

DVad3r

DVad3r

Diamond Member
Hey guys,

So here is my dilema.

I have an aging 2001 Lexus ES300 with the original factory rims. 2 of the rims are warped pretty bad from years of potholes and winters, plus all of them are peeling from corrosion. I also noticed they ate through my tires pretty fast from just being shitty and unbalanced.

I found a set of rims on tire rack for around $ 400 bucks, I'm thinking of getting them with tires already mounted, and tossing my old rims into the trash. No sense in getting new tires and putting them on the old rims as they will probably get eaten up prematurely.

So I guess my question is, should I go for the new rim setup, or try and look for used rims from a junkyard or something? Only thing is, even decent used rims around here basically cost almost as much as new rims from tirerack.


Car has 220 k km on it, I'm pretty sure it will last another 200 k easy with the way I take care of it.
 
DVad3r said:
Hey guys,

So here is my dilema.

I have an aging 2001 Lexus ES300 with the original factory rims. 2 of the rims are warped pretty bad from years of potholes and winters, plus all of them are peeling from corrosion. I also noticed they ate through my tires pretty fast from just being shitty and unbalanced.

I found a set of rims on tire rack for around $ 400 bucks, I'm thinking of getting them with tires already mounted, and tossing my old rims into the trash. No sense in getting new tires and putting them on the old rims as they will probably get eaten up prematurely.

So I guess my question is, should I go for the new rim setup, or try and look for used rims from a junkyard or something? Only thing is, even decent used rims around here basically cost almost as much as new rims from tirerack.


Car has 220 k km on it, I'm pretty sure it will last another 200 k easy with the way I take care of it.
Click to expand...

If buying new rims with tires mounted is in your budget, why not? If you keep your warped rims you'll just keep burning through tires.
 
That's a nice car that's getting old. How important is it to have pretty rims? Steel rims with hub caps will save you a few dollars.

Your car, your money, your choice on what's important.
 
jaedaliu said:
That's a nice car that's getting old. How important is it to have pretty rims? Steel rims with hub caps will save you a few dollars.

Your car, your money, your choice on what's important.
Click to expand...

I've got a set of steel rims that I just bought in December with my winter tires. I suppose I could swap out tires and use those, but someone told me it's not good to change over tires so much from the rim.

Not sure how accurate that is...
 
which wheels are you looking at? it can matter you might just have the same shake you have now. if you want it for a little bit of a looks bump go ahead. otherwise you can buy re-manufactured OEM wheels.
 
Black2na said:
http://www.finishlinewheels.com/LEXUS/ES300/2001/

http://catalog.thewheelwarehouse.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=980_36_809_383

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-OF-4-Fa...Parts_Accessories&hash=item256c27861f&vxp=mtr

but the wheels you look at on Tirerack i would go with also not a bad looking wheel.
Click to expand...

These are the wheels I have that are warped and corroding.

Is this the price per wheel or for a set of 4?

http://www.finishlinewheels.com/LEXUS/ES300/2001/A-74154U20/

?

If that's per wheel then screw that, Ill go with the tire rack ones.
 
I'd check out Kijiji in your area too. Lots of people rip off the stockers to put on their 20s, and have perfectly good stock wheels with tires just sitting there. Lowball a guy and get a nice set of newer Lexus 17s for a couple hundred.
 
Best deal and quick fix if you don't care for some gaudy aftermarket wheels is to hit up Craigslist and search for Lexus/Toyota wheels. Often you can find a complete set with 50%+ tires too for 200-300 or so, people who just swapped them for aftermarket rims and want them gone.
 
One thing about buying used wheels- you really need a wheel balancer to give them a good evaluation. Spinning the wheel on the car while it's in the air also works (except it's obviously hard to get drive wheels to move very quickly).

But when just examining a static set of bare wheels, you won't notice if they're bent unless there's an obvious ding in the rim. They may appear round, but exhibit a lot of runout when spun on a centered, stationary bearing.
 
Black2na said:
http://www.finishlinewheels.com/LEXUS/ES300/2001/

http://catalog.thewheelwarehouse.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=980_36_809_383

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-OF-4-Fa...Parts_Accessories&hash=item256c27861f&vxp=mtr

but the wheels you look at on Tirerack i would go with also not a bad looking wheel.
Click to expand...

I bought a wheel from finishline wheel. I wanna rate them like a 8/10. While the wheel was true and round. The respray job was a little poor around the center cap area and the barrel of the wheel is EXTREMELY rough, full of overspray that they didn't bother to smooth out. I did get it for a good price $200 for a OEM FORGED Ray's Engineering wheel.
 
SparkyJJO said:
It is a 12 year old car with over 200k on it, and it sounds like he's going to drive it until it won't drive anymore. I don't think market value is much of a factor here 😛
Click to expand...

Yup lol, this is my first car, I bought it used in 2006 with only 60 k km from some grandpa. I will drive it until it falls apart from rust, which might take a while as the underbody is still good 😛
 
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