sparky4u

I recently had a low tire, so took it to a well-known and respected tire dealership near my home.

Tire/Automotive Place:
* chrome only on front side of wheel and on the backside of the wheel it has some bubbling and those bubbles flake off and cause the tire not to seed tightly on the wheel.
* because of bubbles, this is a warranty issue and take to dealership to have fixed. Get the bubbles smoothed out. my car has 7500 miles on it.
* there was no bad tire, no nails, not damaged

Lexus Dealership:
* found a small nail in tire, marked the place where the nail was and said it was not a chrome bubble issue.
* they won't fix the tire

I pick up my car and take it back to the Tire/Automotive Place:
* they remove the wheel
* tire is marked where supposed nail is, however, there is no damage and tire does not leak. it is a good tire.
* discovered the dealership coated the inside of the wheel with some sealer.
* discovered dealership didn't want to smooth out the bubbling of the chrome because of laziness? or lack of knowledge?
* bubbling will come back and will cause leak.
* tire place asked to me to contact Lexus Service Manager or take it to another Lexus dealership.

offroad200

Did you buy it new from the dealership or from a Lexus dealership at all? I ask because they don't come with chrome wheels from the factory. So it wouldn't be a Lexus quality issue. It would be an issue from the company that did the chroming. If you bought it from a dealership (Lexus or otherwise) I would take it to them to see if they'll make it right.

sweetboy02

i really want to buy chrome wheels. you hold me back

pismoj

No problem at all with my chrome wheels. They look great on the car. Lexus offers chrome alternatives to all the stock alloy wheels. My dealer has cars in the showroom with Lexus chrome wheels. They may not manufacturer the actual wheels, but it is a factory option.

MEP7557

My dealership takes the Lexus OEM rims and sends them out to a local plating company.
I bought the Tire and Rim Insurance just to be sure. So far I have had to have one tire replaced, road debris.

EMSLEXUSRX

Mep, I also purchased the rim insurance for the chrome wheels on my RX. I've gotten black scrapings on the edges of the rims on the back right wheel and the front right tire from accidentally hitting the curb of the down ramps in the 5-story garage at work that I park in. I'm getting ready to check my insurance papers to see if this would be covered.
What do you think??

MEP7557

They do not cover cosmetic damage, at least mine doesn't. The dealer told me to damage the rim so it needed replacing, that the insurance would cover. Go hit a parking curb. LOL

ecub

I had factory chrome on a 2004 PT Cruiser. The issue with chrome IS flaking, eventually, you will have issues of air leaking. I had issues of it flaking, where I had to put air in the tire every week. I dealt with it, but just filling with air. It got worse, where I had to put air in the tire every few days, to every day, to every few hours. Eventually, I replaced the rim, with steel ones. The rim can be cleaned out, but will still eventually flake again. I found out that it's best to use chrome during summer and change out to aluminum when winter comes.

the.wong.k

iTrader: (2)

do not buy chromes wheels in MA, chrome wheels hate salt! unless you dun drive in the winter...then you're all set

sweetboy02

Thanks, I'm not dreaming of the chrome wheels anymore. This is a big draw back

the.wong.k

iTrader: (2)

yeah the salt eats through the chrome and makes it peel and flake, along with brake dust and the rest of the stuff on the road. the draw back of lexus wheels are they are painted not powder coated, so if you don't take care of your regular non-chrome wheels you'll see it bubble and etc...

sparky4u

Yes, I bought the car directly from the dealership and at the time I wanted chrome wheels and gold detailing. They were able to provide all this (the chrome wheels added about $1,600 to the price) and I thought nothing of that. I took out all their maintenance agreements at the time, plus this is the 4th car I've purchased from them over the years.

The end result of my chrome wheel flaking situation was:

* I finally spoke to the Service Manager who took action:
- he gave me a new chrome wheel (we can thank the tire company for bringing this matter to everyone's attention as Lexas tried to get out of the repair)
- he then took the car to my local tire company and I got a new tire (I also had a tire maintenance policy with Goodyear).
- my fixed car was personally returned to me

If I had known about the chrome wheel history I would have never ever purchased them, but I learn these things.

I am pleased the dealership took action. I did tell them I started this discussion board so perhaps that got their attention too. I must say that I've never had problems with a Lexas and would buy another one in a heart beat. That this silly wheel thing came up was "one of those odd things".

It's hot today in Dallas (107). Enough to stress every car and car owner.

MEP7557

So far after one year of having the Chrome Rims I have had no problems what so ever. They still look brand new. Not sure what salty roads would do to them but 118 degrees didn't bother them.