New Wheels

[tmile09]

Hi all. I'm collecting a set of 5 spoke Sport alloys for my car today. They are in good condition but I'm going to give them a refurb before I put them on anyway. Im looking for any advice on what colour I should do them? Exact colour names would be agreat help so I can get down to halfrauds and grab exactly what I need. I'm open to goldy/bronzy/charcoaly suggestions but I dont want to buy paint and get home and spray the wheels and they turn out orange. My cars the same colour as the one in the pic except it has black heads and fogs. Cheers :)

[fjcfarrar]

It would be fine to have the wheels stand out a bit - but only in a good way; so gold and bronze are out - they would only work if you had gold badge/lettering as a key for them to pick up on. Even that might not be a good look. Charcoal grey is a bit subtle and will look good as well as disguising brake dust. Sorry can't give you a paint name and the lids on Halfords cans no longer match the paint inside them and are just generic colours also not many branches have colour charts. Lexus may be able to help because charcoal wheels were fitted to late IS200's along with "smoked" headlights etc.

[tmile09]

Yea that was my thoughts on the gold/bronze too but was thinking like a charcoal with a very light gold hint but then again could look terrible.. what I was thinking about charcoal is that they might not stand out at all then and just look like cheap wheels with a s**t finish ye know??..cheers for the reply

[Lance]

Painting wheels looks cheap and nasty. That belongs to the boy racer with their £300 Peugeot's and Vaxuhall's and the like. Not on a prestige marque like a Lexus.

[Rory]

Slightly darker silver grey than original looks good on blue

[tmile09]

I was thinking charcoal like the Subaru charcoal grey is that the same kind of shade your talkin g about Rory?

[fjcfarrar]

Yea that was my thoughts on the gold/bronze too but was thinking like a charcoal with a very light gold hint but then again could look terrible.. what I was thinking about charcoal is that they might not stand out at all then and just look like cheap wheels with a s**t finish ye know??..cheers for the reply

True. To avoid a sh*t finish you could think about having the work done by a proper wheel refurbishers who could powder-coat them or similar to give a finish that is also durable and withstand the heat from the brakes which spray paint might not. Costs more but results guaranteed. I also think that if you go for something like the charcoal that Lexus themselves used on 2004/5 IS200s you could avoid being accused of bad taste as well as "matching" the smoked lights you already have. I suspect that light gold hints would probably look like mildew against your blue paint. In the end though, it is your choice and you are free to choose what others might think looks terrible.

[tmile09]

Painting wheels looks cheap and nasty. That belongs to the boy racer with their £300 Peugeot's and Vaxuhall's and the like. Not on a prestige marque like a Lexus.

And driving around with lacquer peeling and chipping off every wheel because the "prestige marque" that is Lexus used the worst wheel lacquer they could get their hands on looks a lot better does it?

[jasons]

My recently refurbed Aeros:

Smoke Silver, and on the car:

J

[jasons]

Painting wheels looks cheap and nasty. That belongs to the boy racer with their £300 Peugeot's and Vaxuhall's and the like. Not on a prestige marque like a Lexus.

Have you seen the price of early IS200's recently?

They are definately falling into chav/boy recer price bracket....

[Lance]

Painting wheels looks cheap and nasty. That belongs to the boy racer with their £300 Peugeot's and Vaxuhall's and the like. Not on a prestige marque like a Lexus.

And driving around with lacquer peeling and chipping off every wheel because the "prestige marque" that is Lexus used the worst wheel lacquer they could get their hands on looks a lot better does it?

I'm sure your Halfords spraycan job will be of a much higher standard. I can't wait to see the results and how it will look after a few harsh winters...

[The-Acre]

Painting wheels looks cheap and nasty. That belongs to the boy racer with their £300 Peugeot's and Vaxuhall's and the like. Not on a prestige marque like a Lexus.

And driving around with lacquer peeling and chipping off every wheel because the "prestige marque" that is Lexus used the worst wheel lacquer they could get their hands on looks a lot better does it?

I'm sure your Halfords spraycan job will be of a much higher standard. I can't wait to see the results and how it will look after a few harsh winters...

A tad harsh I feel. I did my wheels with spray cans and like anything else its all down to how much prep you put into it.

[fjcfarrar]

Painting wheels looks cheap and nasty. That belongs to the boy racer with their £300 Peugeot's and Vaxuhall's and the like. Not on a prestige marque like a Lexus.

And driving around with lacquer peeling and chipping off every wheel because the "prestige marque" that is Lexus used the worst wheel lacquer they could get their hands on looks a lot better does it?

Please note: Lexus do not make or finish the alloy wheels they fit but use manufacturers that supply wheels to a large number of car manufacturers. Yes, they do deteriorate, but so do nearly all alloy wheels in our climate - particularly designs with sharp edges rather than rounded contours.

[tmile09]

@lance : it wouldnt be hard to be a better quality finish than the standard Lexus wheels. And I've a mate who's a sprayer for BMW so I'll be getting some BMW wheel lacquer so will last until I'm getting rid of the car.

@jasons: I agree they are falling in price but so is everything.. and why would a boy racer want an is200? there too big, too heavy and too slow.. Dont get me wrong I love mine but there not for trashing and certainly nowhere near a boy racer car.

@fjcfarrar: Then Lexus should change supplier. For a company that prides itself on luxury etc the least they could do is have quality manufacturers for every part of there car, especially something as obvious as wheels. Its not about the climate I see 80's BMW's everyday and wheels are still perfect from new. Even early 90's Citroen AX's around my area with original wheels so it's not the climate it's cheap lacquer..

[fjcfarrar]

@lance : it wouldnt be hard to be a better quality finish than the standard Lexus wheels. And I've a mate who's a sprayer for BMW so I'll be getting some BMW wheel lacquer so will last until I'm getting rid of the car.

@jasons: I agree they are falling in price but so is everything.. and why would a boy racer want an is200? there too big, too heavy and too slow.. Dont get me wrong I love mine but there not for trashing and certainly nowhere near a boy racer car.

@fjcfarrar: Then Lexus should change supplier. For a company that prides itself on luxury etc the least they could do is have quality manufacturers for every part of there car, especially something as obvious as wheels. Its not about the climate I see 80's BMW's everyday and wheels are still perfect from new. Even early 90's Citroen AX's around my area with original wheels so it's not the climate it's cheap lacquer..

Lexus use 5 different manufacturers for their alloys, Far East suppliers, European and American - so I don't know what the problem can be. I regularly see my old 2003 IS200LE and the wheels have no corrosion. No problem on my 2008 ISF. My Neighbour's late 2006 BMW has just had his wheels refurbished for the second time. My other neighbour's 2009 Ford Focus Titanium wheels were refurbished earlier this year, but his daughter's oldish Toyota Yaris is fine. Maybe it isn't just our climate, but perhaps stone-chip damage before the lacquer toughens-up with age? If they survive intact for the first year or two, alloys do seem to keep OK indefinitely.

[andy m w]

got some 18 factory lexus rims today for my 300 sportX ,usual shabby lacquer so refurbing before they go on ,

car is met green & seriously thinking of going for a met grey wheel finish , ,bodyshop job off a mate "paintspraypete"

yes ? no ?

[tmile09]

I think met grey will look well on the green myself. The colour of jasons wheels look good to me and would suit any dark colour I reckon. Yea I don;t know what it is but it's a serious pain I know that much and from any experience I've had with Lexus wheels they all go like that. My dad had an LS400 and 430, GS300 and now an LS460 and all the wheels went the same way and had to be redone. and any wheels i've looked at second hand for my 200 are all the same. I know it's a bit off subject but does anyone know anything about wobble bolts and are they safe etc because my cousin has a nice set of wheels off his S3 knocking about they're 5x112 and wouldn't mind sticking them on the 200 if it's possible :)

[andy m w]

would agree most lexus wheels don,t last long before lifting lacquer & scabbing , gave up trying to buy used after so many were described as good condition but actually only a refurb would suffice

ps/ anyone got sportcross on 18,s pics ?

these are ones i got today , paid £160 without tyres ? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/300615833116?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_5542wt_1135