Dealership damaged two of my wheels
 

Took my car in today for its 15K mile service. Part of the service included re balancing the tires. Somehow during the re balancing the technician managed to place a number of dings, scratches and scuffs into my two back wheels. Needless to say I wasn't a happy camper. I know the blemishes weren't there prior to taking it to the dealer as I just hand washed the car the day before. I also am pretty meticulous about it and am very careful around curbs. I spoke to the service manager and he said he would talk to the general manager when he comes back on Tuesday and try to get it resolved. Do you think it would be unreasonable to expect two new wheels out of this?

They will probably just fix the current wheels.

That is why everytime I take to the dealer I tell the Service Rep. to check the car and put especially emphasis to the rims, dent or scratches. Telling him it doesnt have any so I don't want to see any!

This happened to me too and they had some shop come by in a van and fix them. They look good but Im pretty sure they just put some stuff on them and then resprayed them. They are not as smooth as the original ones but still cant tell where the scratches and chips were. Looks like they let the wheel fall over just like they did mine and they chipped.

On that note how are the original wheels done?

I think the original wheels are just painted.

The service manager mentioned fixing them but I have a problem with that approach for two reasons.

1) Its kind of a half a**ed fix.
2) It leaves me without a car for a few days while the repair is being done.

I would much rather have a new set of wheels ordered and waiting at the dealership that way I could bring the car in, swap them out and be done with it. Am I asking too much?

it only took a couple of hours to fix my two back tires. But I kinda agree that its half assed. I let my service mgr try cuz he has been really good in dealing with me when I come in and I want to keep a good relationship so he will continue to work on the car under warranty even tho he knows I have a few mods.

Well, if they are fixing their mistake, they should have no problem putting you into a loaner vehicle. Seems like a no brainer.

they will repair but i doubt they will give you a new set of wheels.

I'm sure they'll fix them but depending on your relationship with the dealer and how much hell you raise they may replace them.

On my motorcycle two separate occasions two different places jacked up my rims. I had them replace the rim with a new one the first time since they scratched it so bad. The second time they took paint off using a cleaner that was to abrasive after I told them I would clean it. Second time it was sent to a shop Were I knew the owner. So my feeling is nothing will ever be perfect after a change. But if it's a careless **** up you paid good money for your car. You deserve what is right, and you pushing for a new rim will make them more self conscious next time. I repair computers and each and everyone I treat as my own. I expect others to do the same and if not do what is right...

If you can't get them to replace them and you aren't happy with their "fix" then you should call Nissan Corporate. They might be able to provide enough push to get the dealer to replace the rims.

Painting the dings is not a half a** fix at all. The wheels are painted from the factory in the first place. If they can paint them and you can't tell where the damage used to be then it's a job well done.

Thats why I was willing to let the service mgr try. He said if it didnt come out good he would buy new ones then but they came out pretty good. So for OP let them try and see how it goes.

A few years back I took my 350Z to get serviced by the dealer. They hired some kid to drive the cars around. When I got it back I noticed my car got curbed leaving a 7" gash on the lip of my Volk wheels and badly scrapped up my GReddy side skirt. The kid didn't admit fault, but it was clear from the look of his face that he did it.

If this was merely paint damage I would tend to agree with you. There are some places on the rim where actual material was removed (albeit a very small amount). Filling these gaps to me would be the equivalent of using bondo on a damaged fender. You may never notice it is there but that doesn't mean it is the proper way to go about repairing a car.

Do you how they went about doing the repair? Did they remove the wheels from the car? Dismount the tires? A friend of mine works at a local dealership and has told me horror stories about cars coming back with over-spray on the rotors, calipers, lugs and even the paint due to the repair outfit doing the repair with the wheel still attached to the car. This is mainly what I am trying to avoid.

they took the wheels off but didnt have to take the tires off, they just covered them while they worked. They look good but I would ask them to paint all four so they match perfect. Mine are a tad off so I will go back and ask them to paint the front too.

Two of my RAYS wheels were damaged when I took delivery of my Z. I agreed to let the dealer try to fix the car. After the repair was first accomplished, I was pleased with the repair -- it was hard to see where the original damage was. However, as I looked at the repair more closely, it became more and more obvious that the paint used in the repair didn't match the original paint (in color or shine) at all. I complained and the wheels were replaced.

That being said, your damage is pretty minor. As long as the dealer repaints the entire wheel you should be good to go.

Just for some more background -- I visited a local wheel repair shop out of curiosity while I was waiting for my wheel replacement. The shop told me that the Z wheels use something called "ghost chrome" that's basically a black base coat with a metal-flake layer on top. They said there was no way to get the paint to look right without scuff-sanding and repainting the entire wheel. The good news was that the quote to refinish the whole wheel was only $120.

My dealership does this with EVERY car that comes thru service.

thats why I suggested to him to get all 4 repainted. Like you said I can slightly tell a diff in color and will be taking mine back to have the fronts painted too.