Prelude: I unintentionally screwed up my wheels (R98 webspokes) by not cleaning off the brake dust caused by my not-street pads. It screwed up the finish and when I tried to take it off I rubbed some more off. No big whoop as they have 50k miles on them in a little over 5 years and are showing their age anyway. Scuffs, clear coat peeling, dings, etc. But over all they held up surprisingly well for Los Angeles roads. So I figured I would get them refinished in black. The story: So I go the the tire shop that I have been dealing with for years. Ron's Tire & Wheel in North Hollywood, CA. I originally found them through Tire Rack as a recommended installer. In the past five years they have done all my mounting and balancing, wheel repair when I ding them or when others curb rash them and I have bought a couple of set of rims when the damage was too much to fix. Having kept up with the forums and asking around it seems that the going rate is about $100/rim to get them refinished and painted a color of your choice. I figured ad another $20-25/rim to unmount, mount and rebalance. So I get there, tell the kid who I have never seen before what I would like done. He says he needs to talk to his guy, so I go inside to look around. I come out 3 minutes later, the guy looks at me and comely says: "$250 a rim". Now, normally I keep a straight face and if I don't like the quote I just walk away. Sadly I never embraced the haggling part of my Jewish heritage. This time my jaw dropped and "Are you frigging kidding me" escaped from my mouth. But wait, it gets better. The kid then looks at my car with its rims just like they are in the bellow picture: He looks at the tire, kicks it authoritatively and advises me that: "By the way, you are going to need new shocks, too". At this point I just started laughing hysterically, got back in my car and left. I was fuming so bad that I actually had the wife call and complain to the manager. Needless to say the five year relationship is now over, nor will I ever recommend them again.
:cornut: But as a good soldier, you're going to drive on and tell us all about the new place that you're going to find and be happy by telling us about this new wheel and tire place that we should use when ever we're in LA County. Because that's the kind of guy that you are. Jasonopcorn:opcorn:
Well $250 to refinish your wheels seems pretty good to me. ut: I'm very glad you laughed in the clowns face. PS: I can see in that picture that you are seriously under wheel gapped.
If by under you mean there is too much of it, then I have no choice. Any lower and I don't clear the driveway. Had to raise it almost 3/4 inch when I moved into my place 3 years ago.
...I'm surprised they didn't suggest that you have the oil changed in your wheel wells Shocks, alignment and air filters...the recommended standard :mad2:
Was he planning on disassembling the 2 piece wheel to refinish? This would be the proper way to refinish a split wheel so that the clearcoat wouldn't be sprayed on the wheel while assembled. This could be part of the reason for the increased rate over the 100/wheel price tag you usually find for refinishing one piece wheels. Disassembling a two-piece wheel adds a good bit of "labor time" to the project and the price may have reflected it. Either that or he planned on replacing the bolts upon re-assembly since those bolts are designed for one-time use and are often stretched.
You mean you didn't check the driveway before you bought the house? You might have gotten the seller to come down in price, since the driveway was clearly too high. Jim
//hangs the head down in profound shame No, I did not check. Car clearance will be a major consideration in the next purchase. @Rally: At the quoted price I did not bother asking about the procedure. Checking online I found my rims from Wheels America for less then what I was quoted to refinish them. Already refinished. Same guys Nathan used to take appart, paint and reassemble a set of his 3 piece rims for less then half the $250. Also, I still have a set of rims I bought from them 4 years ago. Only paid $150/rim.
Did you check on powder coating them? I can get wheels powder coated for around $75 each here. That is two coats of color and a clear coat.
From that picture I can tell your left rear turn signal bulb is about to blow, better get that done with the shocks:crazy: Mark
Would need a find a local guy to do the work. Sounds more plausible then the schock diagnosis. Specially since everyone knows that along with boots and bonnets our cars come with dampers and not shocks. :cryin:
And that wheel well darkening, indicates a need for new springs and struts, don' cha know? Not to mention a full fluid flush and replacement of the frame lube joints
Wow... a tire kick told him you would need new shocks? The extra $150/wheel was to pay for his x-ray vision inspection of your suspension.
Yah, there's no way I'd pay 250/wheel I just thought that might offer a little reasoning to his crazy quote :lol:
We are right there with you. Want to lower the car a bit, but don't know if it will work with the driveway :frown2: I'm surprised you made it out of there without going off.