Alloy wheels - new or refurb?

[pubrunner]

Hi All,

My missus has an ageing Mazda 2 Black Edition, which we intend to pass on to our son who is currently learning to drive; it has 16" alloy wheels.

Every week, we have to 'top up' the tyre pressures - probably due to a combination of a bad seal and ageing, scuffed and corroded rims.

I've found that the wheels can be refurbished for about £130 - £140 per wheel, but I've also found that for a very similar amount, I can get a set of brand new alloys.

The Black Edition of the Mazda 2 has a design of diamond cut alloy wheels that is specific to the car, whereas, new wheels would be a generic design and probably not be diamond cut, which might be an advantage in terms of maintenance and keeping in order.

• Regardless of the option that I choose, I intend to have a set of new tyres fitted, so it might be the case, that I can get a deal on a set of new alloys with new tyres.

Should I buy a new set of alloys, or is there a compelling reason to get the existing wheels refurbished to 'as new' (allegedly) ?

Thank you for your opinions.

Edited by pubrunner on Monday 24th April 11:10

[Scrump]

I would get the standard wheel refurbished. They are likely to be stronger than cheap aftermarket alloys and will avoid any insurance issues regarding a modified car (especially with a young driver).
Your refurb price seem high, my local Wheel Specialist charges £90 per wheel for that size alloy.

ETA, just read OP again and see it has been edited to add the diamond cut bit. You could get the wheels refurbed with all powder coat, diamond cut never seems to last long without corrosion getting in.

Edited by Scrump on Monday 24th April 11:13

[C5_Steve]

If that price includes diamond cutting, that's pretty decent. Diamond cutting lasts just fine as long as they're prepped and sealed correctly but you can only have it re-done a finite amount of times due to removing material each time, so keep that in mind.

Also, you said you're going to pass it on to a new driver soon. Let's be honest, they're going to kerb them We all did at some point and on diamond-cut wheels it shows up even worse.

I'd be tempted to get a used set of standard Mazda wheels for now and then refurb the Black edition ones at a later date if you still want to. Looks like you can get a set of eBay for around £150-£200. If you refurb the Black edition ones now properly you'll probably need them doing again at a later date.

[smokey mow]

Refurb for me but then I always prefer the look of the factory wheels.

If your son is going to be insuring the car, also think about how much having to declare a set of aftermarket alloys will add to to his insurance premium.

[pubrunner]

Scrump said:

I would get the standard wheel refurbished. They are likely to be stronger than cheap aftermarket alloys and will avoid any insurance issues regarding a modified car (especially with a young driver).

Edited by Scrump on Monday 24th April 11:13

I've just been reading up on cheap aftermarket alloys and it seems that the quality can be very variable. Thank you for this information, as I had assumed (wrongly) that any replacements would be as strong as the originals.

Scrump said:

ETA, just read OP again and see it has been edited to add the diamond cut bit. You could get the wheels refurbed with all powder coat, diamond cut never seems to last long without corrosion getting in.

Edited by Scrump on Monday 24th April 11:13

C5_Steve said:

If you refurb the Black edition ones now properly you'll probably need them doing again at a later date.

Thank you for your thoughts; I'm now beginning to wonder, if I should just get the existing wheels refurbed and re-painted - including having the diamond-cut sections painted - perhaps in a different colour to give a highlight (?) - any flaws with this idea ?

As has been already mentioned, keeping the existing wheels, should avoid any problems with insurance.

[C5_Steve]

C5_Steve said:

If you refurb the Black edition ones now properly you'll probably need them doing again at a later date.

Thank you for your thoughts; I'm now beginning to wonder, if I should just get the existing wheels refurbed and re-painted - including having the diamond-cut sections painted - perhaps in a different colour to give a highlight (?) - any flaws with this idea ?

As has been already mentioned, keeping the existing wheels, should avoid any problems with insurance.

In regards to getting rid of the diamond cut bit, no issues at all. Alloys will be stripped back and then sprayed/powder coated in whatever finish you want. The diamond cut effect is done after this where they shave a bit off the surface of the wheel with special machinery. So you'll skip this bit, which will in turn making it slightly cheaper to refurb them overall.

Rather than "aftermarket" wheels, just get a set of standard Mazda 2 alloy wheels (the ones that come as standard and not the Black Edition ones). That avoids any of the issues around insurance/quality etc and you can maintain the special edition ones for when you sell.

[pubrunner]

C5_Steve said:

Rather than "aftermarket" wheels, just get a set of standard Mazda 2 alloy wheels (the ones that come as standard and not the Black Edition ones). That avoids any of the issues around insurance/quality etc and you can maintain the special edition ones for when you sell.

Ha - if I were to get standard Mazda 2 alloys and keep the special editions ones, the missus would kick off . . . as the (double) garage has too much of my hoarded stuff - can only get one car in at the moment.

Currently, I think I'll go for a refurb - without the diamond cutting.

Which is the best paint option ? - Powder coating or something else ?

Finally, can anyone recommend a company between Chester and Shrewsbury which could do this work (I live near Oswestry, in Shropshire.

• * Update ***

C5_Steve said:

Rather than "aftermarket" wheels, just get a set of standard Mazda 2 alloy wheels (the ones that come as standard and not the Black Edition ones).

I've just found I can get brand new OEM Mazda 2 alloys for £150 (inc delivery)

Decisions. decisions.

Edited by pubrunner on Monday 24th April 12:17

[Smint]

Standard powder coating is a relatively dull finish, you might be disappointed how the wheels look after a standard refurb, i've seen several sets of Landcruiser diamond cut wheels done like this and they look frankly awful.

I had several sets of wheels refurbed some years ago at LapTab Birmingham (don't think they still exist), they offered a slightly pricier coating which they called 'special silver', even on Merc diamond cut Ronal alloys it proved a bright decent alternative to the original finish.

Some of the posters on the Merc forum mentioned they'd seen diamond cut alloys that had been coated with new chrome finish paints, comments along the lines they looked as good as the original finsh but obviously far more durable.
Where you would go to get these finishes i don't know, but might be food for thought and worth asking.

[E-bmw]

As above, I would just go plain refurb & ignore the diamond cut.

1. Cheaper.

2. Any learner is likely to curb them many times.

3. Each time diamond cut wheels are refurbed they machine a small amount of metal off, so it can only be done so many times.

Edited by E-bmw on Monday 24th April 15:42

[MustangGT]

E-bmw said:

As above, I would just go plain refurb & ignore the diamond cut.

1. Cheaper.

2. Any learner is likely to curb them many times.

3. Each time diamond cut wheels are refurbed they machine a small amount of metal off, so it can only be done so many times.

Edited by E-bmw on Monday 24th April 15:42

This.

My local place charges £70-80 per wheel dependent on size

[Error_404_Username_not_found]

MustangGT said:

E-bmw said:

As above, I would just go plain refurb & ignore the diamond cut.

1. Cheaper.

2. Any learner is likely to curb them many times.

3. Each time diamond cut wheels are refurbed they machine a small amount of metal off, so it can only be done so many times.

Edited by E-bmw on Monday 24th April 15:42

This.

My local place charges £70-80 per wheel dependent on size

X2.
That's about the price I was quoted for Volvo alloys.
Also: a cautionary note.
Some years ago I had a temporary job repairing alloy wheels. I just did the welding though, I had nothing to do with the refinishing. We routinely crack-tested the wheels (dye-penetrant if you're interested).
Aftermarket (cheap) alloys nearly always had cracks. Admittedly mostly very small and non-critical but good quality OE wheels were much better.
Minilites were an exception, even the modern repro ones by JBW(??) I think they're called. They're good, but that's irrelevant to your question.
Basically I would personally avoid low-cost aftermarket alloys.
On the slow pressure loss issue I'd try having the tyres removed and the bead seats thoroughly cleaned up and the tyres remounted with a good application of bead seal. Worked great on my S80.

[trevalvole]

trevalvole said:

Less sporty-spec Mazda2s had 185 55 tyres on 15" wheels, so if you wanted cheaper tyres and more sidewall, then that might be an option, though I presume your insurance company would need to be told.

I think I may have got the wrong generation of Mazda2, so post deleted.

[E-bmw]

trevalvole said:

trevalvole said:

Less sporty-spec Mazda2s had 185 55 tyres on 15" wheels, so if you wanted cheaper tyres and more sidewall, then that might be an option, though I presume your insurance company would need to be told.

I think I may have got the wrong generation of Mazda2, so post deleted.

The newer version is just a face-lift car so the wheels will still fit 4 x 100 IIRC.