Wheel damage by tyre fitters

[chazd]

Hi all,

I recently had a full set of tyres and tracking completed- when the tracking was undertaken a chunk was taken out of my rim (22” Forged GLE wheels).

I was not notified but thankfully did notice. I was offered a refurb which I was hesitant with but agreed on the premise I would then review. The garage had my car for four days and the wheel refurber couldn’t do the wheel so another company was asked to look at the wheel. They suggested they could, but the wheel looked like it had previously been repaired and so I have no faith in them!

The wheel is the factory AMG wheel as I bought the car from new and had it immediately detailed and ceramic coated including the wheels.

Whilst in their possession they have also scratched all the spokes.

Am I being unreasonable in asking that they now replace the wheel as it requires a full refurb which from review will never be as good as the factory finish. I have read horror stories of laquer peel, poor finish etc. I also have said they need to have it ceramic coated at their cost also.

This is before (before I literally drive down to the garage) the wheel was undamaged and unmarked just a bit dirty!



The chip from the tracking machine that they did not tell me about



And now the additional damage which looks like the wheel has been placed on its face

[BlimeyCharlie]

I'm afraid I don't know what to advise, but I feel your pain.

Partly why I now own an 'old banger' and enjoy it is because of these type of experiences.
I had an SLK55 and the tyre fitter was booting the tyre to get the wheel off the hub when I needed new tyres. This is with me standing there.
He miss-kicked and put a dent in the wheel - all four wheels had just been refurbed.

For me, having a basic car means I have a lot less stress. Not suggesting that helps you though. But nearly every time I took a nice car anywhere over 30 years there would often be some incident like you've had.

The M3 I had some years ago got taken for a drive when having rear bumper replaced for insurance after an accident, even when I'd had assurances in writing it wouldn't need to be driven and mileage was documented on paperwork. Half a tank of petrol gone as well...

Puncture as a screw found in tyre, black paint overspray on silver alloys, dirty footprints, water in the boot, wing mirrors not working, flat battery...no fuel left as readout said zero miles range....

There is/was a video on Youtube of a Mercedes Dealer taking a customer car for a spin to get some lunch...dashcam footage.
It is the same nearly everywhere...
Sorry!

[Benson11]

As a final word on refurbishing the wheels you can try and reach out to https://www.supremewheels.co.uk/ as they are used by MB for wheel refurbs for the used vehicle programme, they may even have an exchange wheel available for the car but given it is an AMG and special finish wheel there might be some special considerations on refurbishment. The only thing is I'm not sure they will deal directly with the public as they might be a B2B operation but it wont hurt to drop them a line.

Ultimately, the workshop cant make good on the damage, they need to replace the wheel but that is going to be very expensive for them!

[chazd]

Thanks that is handy to know.

I have agreed with the garage that they will replace the wheel at the cost of £1978 and they keep the old one..

[Raptor7000r]

chazd said:

Thanks that is handy to know.

I have agreed with the garage that they will replace the wheel at the cost of £1978 and they keep the old one..

Sounds like a great result especially at that cost! Too often garages damage customer cars and customers are left to bear the brunt.