spoogenet

So about 3 weeks ago I got myself a L-CPO '14 luxury package. I love the car and it is overall in condition.

Unfortunately I did find a few flaws after purchase. I had looked the car over pretty well before buying, and while I thought I had looked the wheels over well, I missed a few things.

Two of the wheels have some deep scratches (rough texture) near the lip -- probably from tire installation. I missed them because they're small and not that obvious depending on your angle of view. One of those two has a chunk out of the spoke area that looks like it goes down to the alloy.

Shame on me for not noticing these prior to finalizing the purchase. If the dealer were local, I'd probably drive over and talk to them, unfortunately they're 3hrs away (TX is a big state!).

I'm probably more upset I didn't notice it and use it to negotiate a better price, and while they're obvious to me now that I know where they are, they're not super obvious. As long as there's not additional deterioration risk (like being down to the alloy) I can probably live with it.

So, given all that, what do you kind folks recommend are my options? Please don't recommend buying new custom wheels, I need to preserve my marriage.

Questions that come to mind are:
Think I have a case with the dealer to do something remotely?
Is this something easy to fix (remember it's the "Superchrome" finish)?
Should I just suck it up & leave it as-is?
Should I apply something to protect the wheel?




Scratches at wheel lip 1




Chip down to the alloy




Scratches at wheel lip 2

Dallasguy1

Depending on what part of Texas you are in , I know some people in Dallas who can refinish the chrome wheels. Since you already have the car for sometime dealer can always say you did it yourself unless you know someone there.

spoogenet

I'm in the Austin area, got it from Sewell Ft Worth. I'm actually surprised they didn't do it. I do have 1 picture from them that you can see one of the lip scratches, the other two issues were not taken from a vantage point that they can be seen.

Any idea how much it usually costs to refinish? Do your contacts know anybody good in the ATX area?

Dallasguy1

I remember my brother destroyed his Mercedes Cls550 rim they redid the whole thing for 120$ ,I can check for Austin and let you know. Btw it'll be a heartache for me I have couple of curb rashes and I'm waiting for my tires to come will get it fixed at the same time.

spoogenet

Much thanks, I appreciate whatever you can find. I always prefer to go off a good recommendation if one exists.

My reading on the net implies that for a standard painted finish it's easier, but a chrome finish may require re-dipping the whole wheel.

I wouldn't be heartbroken to refinish them to something other than chrome, but I don't want to sink a bunch of money into what already cost me a pretty penny.

AJLex19

Congrats on the new ride! Your wheels actually look like they were chromed from an aftermarket process (either PVD or standard chromium).

Keep in mind that Lexus does not supply wheels from the factory with a shiny, mirror-like finish. On the GS, their superchrome finish is more of a reflective, dark-graphite finish that reflects light while keeping a more muted, understated appearance (I have the 18" superchome, non-Lux factory wheels).

You may need to seek out the help of the dealer about where they got this done and possibly a second opinion from a good wheel refinishing shop. If the price to refinish is high, you can always check eBay for a replacement wheel as well.

spoogenet

Thanks for the input & suggestions!

The photos look more reflective than they really are. I'm fairly confident they are the factory finish.