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Alloy wheels looking rubbish

Jackwj

New member
Location
Hampshire
Hi,

I have a 66 plate GTD and the alloys look like they have a plastic layer coming off from them.

Any ideas?
Thanks




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Chogokin

Autocross Champion
Location
So Cal
Car(s)
GTI Sport | Audi A3
Looks like the clear coat is peeling off. The wheel will probably need to be refinished/painted.
 

Finglonga

Drag Racing Champion
Would that be a warranty job for such a new car?


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Should be ....... but the dealer will say it was started with a stone chip and try to refuse the claim. I have had 3 of my 4 wheels replaced under warranty and they are still starting to go again. Wish there were steel wheels that fit the GTI PP as I would have them on.
 

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
Location
UK
Hi,

I have a 66 plate GTD and the alloys look like they have a plastic layer coming off from them.

Any ideas?
Thanks
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s white worm corrosion on the diamond cut parts of the wheel, where water has got under the lacquered surface. Lacquer is also lifting off the black powder coated sections between the spokes.

Not unusual to see the start of white worm corrosion on diamond cut wheels at around 24-30 months from new. But if your car is a 66 plate, it’s not even two years old yet (it’ll be 15-21 months old) and the white worm corrosion looks to be in quite an advanced state and has ‘crept’ over a significant part of the diamond cut surface - much worse than you’d expect to see on such s new car. What products do you use to clean your wheels? Harsh cleaning products will degrade and break down the lacquer, and if used in conjunction with a pressure washer for rinsing, could lift the lacquer off the wheel’s surface. One of your tyre valve caps looks to be faded (presumably it started off as a black plastic cap) which is a sign that unsuitable products may have been used and have attacked the wheel’s lacquered finish and degraded the tyre valve cap too. Are your plastic wheel bolt covers also faded?

Looking at your pictures, if you’d not said your car was a 66 plate (so 15-21 months old), I’d have guessed the wheels were from a car that’s 4-5 years old, based on their condition.

Certainly worth going back to the dealer to claim for new wheels under warranty. However, i suspect they may put the cause of the deterioration down to the products used to clean them.

I dislike diamond cut wheels with a passion. I’ve taken mine off my car and replaced them with a set of powder coated alloys - the powder coated finish is considerably more durable than a lacquered diamond cut finish, and no risk of white worm corrosion either!

Let us know how you get on with the dealer.
 
Last edited:

Pretzel1

Ready to race!
Location
Bedfordshire
I dislike diamond cut wheels with a passion. I’ve taken mine off my car and replaced them with a set of powder coated alloys - the powder coated finish is considerably more durable than a lacquered diamond cut finish, and no risk of white worm corrosion either!

Let us know how you get on with the dealer.

Thinking of doing the same, do you know what wheels you went for or any pictures?
 

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
Location
UK
Thinking of doing the same, do you know what wheels you went for or any pictures?

I like the OEM look with wheels so they’re from the VW accessories range. The wheels on my current car are VW Motorsport alloys in anthracite colour. I currently have a Polo GTI; the wheels are 17” and the bolt pattern (PCD) is 5x100, so specific to the Polo. VW also do an 18” and 19” version of the Motorsport alloys with a PCD of 5x112. Not certain what the spec of the 18” and 19” versions are though. I had a set of anthracite coloured VW Rotary alloys on my mk6 GTD - I’ve got a thing about anthracite coloured alloys! :).

As I said in my earlier post in this thread, a powder coated finish is much more durable than diamond cut, so no risk of white worm, and in my opinion, they look better than diamond cut / machined alloys too. Pictures;

Current car with the Motorsport alloys;



Previous car with the Rotary alloys;

 

Pretzel1

Ready to race!
Location
Bedfordshire
I like the OEM look with wheels so they’re from the VW accessories range. The wheels on my current car are VW Motorsport alloys in anthracite colour. I currently have a Polo GTI; the wheels are 17” and the bolt pattern (PCD) is 5x100, so specific to the Polo. VW also do an 18” and 19” version of the Motorsport alloys with a PCD of 5x112. Not certain what the spec of the 18” and 19” versions are though. I had a set of anthracite coloured VW Rotary alloys on my mk6 GTD - I’ve got a thing about anthracite coloured alloys! :).

As I said in my earlier post in this thread, a powder coated finish is much more durable than diamond cut, so no risk of white worm, and in my opinion, they look better than diamond cut / machined alloys too. Pictures;

Current car with the Motorsport alloys;



Previous car with the Rotary alloys;


Thanks
 

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
Location
UK
Hi,

I have a 66 plate GTD and the alloys look like they have a plastic layer coming off from them.

Any ideas?
Thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@Jackwj; any update on this? Did you take your car back to the dealer and we’re you successful in getting your wheels replaced under warranty?
 

PaulJoseph22

Ready to race!
The overall quality on the Golf 7 and 7.5 is awful. Compared to previous generations.
I’ve had numerous issues, exterior handle coming off the door, paint issues, issues with coating coming off wheels. I will never buy another golf.
 
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