Anyone Else Had Wheels This Knackered?

[JasonTurbo]

Hey peeps,

Decided I really need to sort out me alloys after all this time. I've taken a picture of the worst offender but the other 3 are roughly the same condition...

Any advice on the best way to DIY these back to there former glory?

[andy m w]

in my short lexus ownership the wheels have been the biggest disapointment ,not mine ( i think they were a spare set fitted to sell the car) but the ones ive tried to buy

even ones from relatively new models which ive looked at aren't great , how come?

previous vw,s & mercs no similar issue ?

[m1pui]

In 2 words, hell yes. no kerbing scrapes as mine are from an RX so plenty of sidewall protection but bubbling, corrosion and peeling in abundance! I replaced them last week with some aftermarket wheels (Dezent RE so nothing flash) and gave them a clean with some fairly and a brush & sponge to see how bad they were and they were scabby as anything!

At least when they're on the car I could semi ignore them as the face of the wheel looked reasonable when they were clean, it was just inside the spokes and beyond that are a mess! They're stacked up in the utility room at the minute so I'll try get some pics in the morning!

[RayKhan]

Lexus wheels have always been a problem, I did have my last GS wheels refurbished but only because I managed to get a set of wheels to run the car on. I need to have the wheels done on the SC as they are pretty bad if you look closely, so if you find anywhere reasonably priced in Dorset let me know.

[rincewind]

Big known issue. Lexus would change them under 3 years old under warantee, but after that, tough.

However, they must feel guilty as they will part ex IS200 wheels for £65 including fitting. I replaced all mine earlier this year and TBH for that sort of money it totally transforms the car. See my car here:

My car

£260 for the lot and it's like new again. Keep them clean, give them a good protective coat of wheel polish and if you get a stone chip touch it up straight away with clear laquer.

[m1pui]

Big known issue. Lexus would change them under 3 years old under warantee, but after that, tough.

However, they must feel guilty as they will part ex IS200 wheels for £65 including fitting. I replaced all mine earlier this year and TBH for that sort of money it totally transforms the car. See my car here:

My car

£260 for the lot and it's like new again. Keep them clean, give them a good protective coat of wheel polish and if you get a stone chip touch it up straight away with clear laquer.

Also worth adding to be careful what you use to clean the wheels. Stuff like Wonder Wheels and Autoglym Clean wheels is awesome for shifting the hardest of dirt, but if you've got even minor damage, it'll eat into the finish and accelerate any damage that's going to occur.

Is the bolded bit common practice for the Lexus range? I never thought to approach them about something like that for my RX. The only issue I might have with it however is that the exchanged wheels will probably go the same way if they're new/factory items. From when I looked into refurbing mine, the guy who would be doing it said they give them a thicker coat of paint and/or lacquer so they don't rot as easily. Could've been salesman BS of course

I think the wheel issue is a big issue with a lot of Japanese cars. Possibly to do with their not using salt on the roads so they can get away with "cutting corners" as it were with the wheels. I had an RX8 a little while back and it was very very common with those wheels too. They offered a chrome finish option from the factory too... I don't think I need to expand on how they handled the british climes

Here's one of the front (worst) wheels from the RX300, the rears just have a lot of bubbling but there's not as much cracking/lifting of the paint on those two. The car itself is a 2001 with 95,000 miles on it. We've had it since 2006 and about 45,000 miles so they've at the very least never been replaced in out tenure.

[esp]

My wheels are not great only bought my is in September don't know if to get refurbed or changed for aftermarket ones

[is200 Newbie]

I have not long refurbed my own - i have put a walkthrough on the maintenence section under Aero alloys Refurb - very easy to do, just need a bit of good old elbow grease !!

[SpeedView]

I wouldn't bother DIYing them - city powder coaters in Birmingham will strip, shotblast, blend any minor kerbing, and powdercoat for 20 quid a wheel...

The finish isn't perfect by any means, but better than you can hope to DIY.

Buy a spare set, refurb 'em, swap your tyres over, then refurb yours and re-sell?

[SpeedView]

My winter wheels refurbed by them (on the right)

I posted the rims to them (35 pounds for four), then had them fit/balance the tyres (20 pounds for four), and collected when passing through Birmingham. Refurb was 80 pounds for the four and they're in the standard "sparkle silver" colour.

No flippin' air leaks past the rims now, a piece of cake to clean, and no effort.

http://www.citypowdercoating.co.uk/

[JCAK]

Thought I would add my words of wisdom on this subject. I have now had two GS300's from new getting my first Lexus in approx 2000. I have now had 5 full sets of wheels replaced! on average every 2.5 years! To date three of these have been replaced by Lexus (two sets on first car and 1 set on second car).

My latest assault on Lexus GB, they have refused to replace the wheels. I think its time for some serious pressure to get this problem publicised so that Lexus finally take note on what is a very small issue on an otherwise excellent car. After all its over 12 years since I raised the problem! May be its time for the technical bods to recognise there may be something wrong..........

[KentIS300]

The paint on the japanese cars wheels is so thin ... that the biggest majority suffers. Especially in UK's full of salt roads.

I got my old Saab wheels to a local refurb place ... as I wanted to paint them for my colour combination they quoted me to have them dipped and shotblasted £15 per wheel which I though it was a great price

Then I got them back and they were ready to be sprayed.

I would say DIY 100% .... as you can do colour combinations etc ...

Next will be my IS wheels that looks like they have been battered lol!

Here are some pics

Before pics

After being stripped and shotblasted they do look really nice ... like carved on butter lol

And during the spraying process and results

Finally after all the lacquer coats :) :)

[rashida]

Hi peeps

Don't refurb lex alloys not worth doin!

Why u may ask done 4 alloys 2years ago same thing started again corrosion and bubbling

No matter how often u clean them it will happen

Lex alloys are made from cheap metal mix

Of some what 10% raw metal and 90% aluminium

The best thing to do is buy after mrkt rims

Hope it helps