Dropped off the LS at the dealership today to have the 17" wheels refinished, however the wheel guy stated that there was to much corrosion that they would more than likely re-bubble after a while. I can purchase matching refurbished 17" wheels or should I jump up to the 04' 18" Wheels? Would i be sacrificing any ride comfort going to the 18"s?

Any recommendations here where to purchase refurbished Lexus wheels?

 

the 18s are going to have a slightly more harsh ride, but most of that depends on your tires

 

I would stick with the 17's to maintain best ride quality over sharp impacts.

 

What? That’s what refinishing is for. You strip it, etch it, fill it, prep it properly and paint it. Done right, it’s actually better than new, as Toyota/Lexus wheel finishing of that period is known to be sub-par. Bodywork would “fall off” of cars if what he said were true - there’d be no autobody business at all. It sounds like he either doesn’t know how to refinish wheels, or simply doesn’t want to bother with them for some reason.

Talk to a tire/wheel shop and see who they use. Or google the subject for your area. There are online-places that will swap wheels directly - send you refinished ones right away in exchange for yours as a core, if you are in a hurry and don’t mind paying shipping. There are professional options, but the don’t start at a dealership.

 

Yeah, the good wheel refinishers strip the wheel back to bare ally and then bake them for a few hours to get all the gases and water out of the ally.
Then they primer-powdercoat the wheel whilst still hot to seal it and keep adding coats of primer until smooth.
Only then do they add the final powdercoat.

If the corrosion has etched deep pits into the wheels then it can be difficult to get a smooth finish, but a competent ally welder can fill the big holes and the primer fills in the smaller ones.

 

I got these 17's at autorimshop.com

 

I got a gouge on my wheel about 20mm long, 8mm wide, and 1mm deep from a fender bender. I had the wheel repaired as part of an insurance claim. This required stripping the chrome, resurfacing the gouge area, and re-chroming. It looks great, we'll see about longevity. The body shop had to send it out to a specialist for this work. Maybe the Lexus dealer isn't thinking about outsourcing as an option?

 

They do out source their wheel repairs. The wheel company's opinion was that it would flake or peel again because of the corrosion. I just bought 4 refurbished wheels that are coming tomorrow.

 

Far and away the best looking wheel on an LS430 are the non-chrome 18" 5-spoke wheels. They will ride a little more harshly than the 17s, but the car will handle a bit better.

 

dont know how much you are spending but on ebay now a set of chrome 17 inch for $999 plus $250 shipping sounds like a deal
I got 2 17 inch chrome wheels for $250 bid when nobody else bid on them. steal