Hi Guys,

Just had my car detailed and when looking at the wheels, I wasn't thrilled how they came out. The detailer said that the laminate was coming off. I tried to rub the hazy area with my thumb and nothing changed. Just curious if anyone else experienced this. I'm wondering if it's something else. I was thinking of trying to polish them and see if it'd make a difference. Any recommendations on a wheel polish? Thanks in advance.


Right side of wheel is the haze

 

They may have accidentally used degreaser or similar.
It's not completely unheard of, but you can strip the finish off wheels.

You might have to get your wheels refinished. Not as bad as it sounds - I paid US$130 for one damaged wheel - they came to my house.

 

I have the same rims didn't like the machined finish. I had them powder coated black for around $500 for all of them. They repaired all the curb rash also.

 

Looks sharp but I think my wife would kill me if I did that to her car :-). She's thinks black wheels are too "manly"

 

You can polish these wheels with many products like "Metall"or "White Diamond" which I use on an aluminum airplane. Once you have done that though you need to seal the wheel with a clear coat spray.

 

Was hoping for an solution that's less effort. I did try taking car wax to the wheel and it didn't make much of a difference. We have snow tires on after market wheels that are in great shape (only used 1 season). I may try to convince the wife to swap and start using these for winter.

 

I ruined a wheel once, and it looked just like yours after spraying it with a caustic wheel cleaner, and letting it set too long. It looked very similar to yours, with the water-spotting look. I had to remove the clear coat, polish the aluminum, then reapply the clear coat. Patience and experience will bring that finish back like new. If you are not handy I would check with a local wheel shop to see if they can restore just the aluminum surfaces. Won't hurt to ask.

 

I'm wondering if the detail shop used the wrong product, but I have no way of proving it. I'm very detailed when it comes to my cars and I'm pretty sure it wasn't on there before... but I have no way to prove it. The black part looks good. I wonder how easy it'd be to polish/re-coat just the machined part.

 

Thought I'd give a quick update. I did bring it to Nissan to see if the wheels would be covered. They took photos and sent to corporate. I don't think they will be, but figured it couldn't hurt to try.

I also popped over to a reputable wheel repair shop. According to them, they can't just re-polish the aluminum parts with their equipment. They'd have to redo the entire wheel (including fixing the curb rash). That was 225 per wheel. They could paint over the brushed metal with a silver paint and clear coat it. That'd be $125/wheel. Or, they could repair and repaint the entire wheel in any color (similar to @cain112 ) for $175/wheel.

I'm going to shop around and get some other prices. It'd be cheaper just top pickup some brand new aftermarket wheels for $150/each but my wife is partial to the current wheels. Though she did say she'd do the painted wheels if we did purple... ehhh... no... lol

 

@zup28w Was it ever confirmed whether or not this was the detailers fault? I definitely would have noticed if my wheels were fine before having them cleaning the car and then not fine afterwards.

Someone mentioned that this could possibly have been a result of the cleaner they used. If so then shouldn't they pay to fix it?

 

I'm pretty sure they didn't have the issue before, but I don't have proof. I can give the detailer a call but at the moment I feel it will be my word vs his word.

 

In a low-margin, high-turnover business, they wouldn't care.
You've got to find the party with the most to lose (the dealer).
Nissan corporate won't give a sh-t.

Re: you options -- I had a dude come to my house and fix two wheels for $250 (total). One area of a rim (edge) looked "melted" after a day, so they came back.
This saved me over $550/wheel from BMW on a lease turn-in.

Finally... degreaser on my Acura windshield was awful. Looked like a kaleidoscope. Super dangerous. The dealer actually took the car back on a trade-in after 19 months...

 

Yeah it's unfortunate that it's been a few days since the incident occurred. Def something that would have needed to be brought up just after receiving the car back. Welp, sorry I don't have much advice to add on top of what the others have told you already

 

I did text the detailer 3 days after he detailed it. The day he brought the car back it poured and I didn't get a chance to take a good look until the following day. He replied that he "noticed that too" and that he "thinks the clear coat on the wheel was delaminating a bit". No acknowledgement that it wasn't there before.

@lindros2 I'll give the guy a call on Monday

 

Once I used an abrasive wheel cleaner in a different car and forgot to take it out in a small area and it looked exactly like the picture here....

 

Quick update... Detailer wouldn't admit or deny fault, but was was respectful listening to me and didn't get defensive. He said he'd be able to polish them down and re-clear coat them for me for a small fee. Several days later, I heard back from Nissan. Completely shocked... they are covering it. Nissan corporate reviewed the pics and felt it shouldn't have happened. The dealership ordered the new wheels and I had them installed on Friday.

 

Nice! Glad that worked out then

 

That's great news! Also hats off to the detailer person and Nissan for trying to accommodate you. As you know, just be careful with the wheel cleaners. You might want to do the ceramic coating to them for added durability.