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Crazy I'm reading this post because just YESTERDAY I decided to so something about MY 18" rims, which are also chipped and flaking TERRIBLY! I made a call to Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists.
Years ago I received an estimate from a local highly reputable automotive rim & tire painting/chroming company in Delaware, but they couldn't give me a price for under $1,200 to have all 4 rims repainted/powdercoated to the OEM hypersilver color scheme. So silly! Might as well buy BRAND NEW rims for $300/each!!!!!
Frequently, when driving, I'll see a large service van type of vehicle that is decaled ALLOY WHEEL REPAIR SPECIALISTS. I looked them up, and literally called them yesterday.
They gave me a price of $125 for each rim, to be powedercoated to the original hypersilver color scheme. They also volunteered to show other colors, once the representative shows up to your doorstep! These guys will pickup at your doorstep, and dropoff to your doorstep, with an extremely quick turnaround time of 2-3 days, for $125/each!
I thought that was an amazing price, and knowing I have another complete set of 18" in my gf's basement just collecting dust (and her complaining about the boxes, lol), and knowing THOSE rims are in terrible peeling shape also, I asked the rep if he could give me an even BETTER price than $125/each? HE DID. He quoted me $100/each for the OEM hypersilver color scheme (I would be having 8 rims redone)!!! He also suggested perhaps I have one set of 4 in the OEM color scheme, and when the rep picks up my rims, perhaps choose another color scheme for my 2nd set? Brilliant idea!
I also thought about the rim exchanges online and on ebay, etc, but as my northern neighbor from PA Johnhav430 has said, YOU KNOW THE RIMS YOU'RE GETTING BACK ARE YOURS!!!
So....while this company does not have color samples online or any fancy website that can superimpose your rims with different color schemes on a particular car online, etc, THEY DO GIVE A LIFETIME WARRANTY AGAINST FUTURE FLAKING AND PEELING! They also inspect for cracks, out of round, etc, and will repair if possible.
My car is in very nice condition for a 2005 but all my friends flame me for the condition of the rims. It's really the WORST thing about my LS. The flaking and peeling is TERRIBLE. I'm going to give Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists my business for a measly $800. Heck, I'll have $$$ left over from the stimulus to buy some Olive Garden to go for a week!
I'll post some before and after pictures of my rims. I don't know if these guys are nationwide or just an east coast thing, but their website is here... Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists
Especially with most businesses slowing down due to the Wu-Flu, I'm sure you can get a better than normal deal, regardless where you go! For $100/each (for 8 rims) and receiving YOUR RIMS back, I think it's a steal. I asked about options for chroming rims, but they don't have the capability to chrome.
I almost wonder if they would look worse? Kind of like when one has the best intentions of touching something up, and makes a gouge worse or the correction larger than intended (I've learned over the years--watched a pro do it who spent about an hour fixing 5 chips mixing the paint--I appreciated it but I thought da** I coulda just got the factory tubes and done it in 5 min lol). The wheels are not uniformly bad or anything, just paint flaking off all over the place (still not sure why but these cars are consistently made it's like come one come all).
If you take your time with the prep they come out great. I did my previous audi and the ls, totally worth it. There are a lot if videos on youtube to help but the basic process is clean, scuff, prime, paint, clearcoat (optional).
if you really screw up just scuff them up again and do another coat. And if you use colors from the autonstore if you ever curb them in the future you can color match easily.
it is a bit of labor though so paying someone is easier as long as you dont mind the cost
Thank you everyone for all the tips.I decided to try out Discount tire ,since my rims were very bad and one had a bad dent from a pothole I hit , Im pretty satisfied with the new ones and the price was great!! The car even rides better then before I also replaced the front tires with new continental pro contacts .Here are some pics
