Im driving back from class today and there is a stop sign before a tight right onto a connected neighborhood road. This is a particular area where cars coming from the opposite direction have a tight left onto the road I was on.

Anyway, Im stopped at the stop sign, and as Im turning right a woman in a silver aerostar comes barreling down the road (this is a zone you should be going about 15 mph in). She is coming right at me so I have to pull an evasive manuever or get hit head-on. I try to veer out of the way but I catch the curb at about 25 and accelerating and I go airborne for just a little. My two fronts were off the ground but I think I had atleast one tire on the ground. I was expecting the worse: lip gone, and atleast one bent rim. I was fortunate to come away with only a chunk taken out of one rim, you wont notice it unless you get close. It's only on the outside and there doesnt appear to be any structural damage done to the wheel, just surface damage.



Does anyone know if there is any easy way to maybe smooth this down? The rims are Borbet Type E if it matters, aluminum alloy. I just don't want the spot to rust.

Anyway, the lady in the aerostar kept going. I didnt get a tag number but I saw the colors of some bumper stickers and Im sure I could identify the car again but it's really pointless. It was her right of way but she was IN my lane and she was speeding. The cops around here would tend to believe her (lady in an Aerostar most likely picking up kids from school) over me (college student with modified Maxima), especially since the lady could just deny she saw anything anyway.

Oh well, Im mad about this, especially because it decreases the value of these rims if I decide to sell them at a later date but putting this in perspective, it's really nothing.

Just wanted to vent

 

Look online for Rim Repair type shops. They may be able to give you pointers or a price on how much it is to fix it. Like you said if only you notice it it might not hurt the resale value as much as you think.

SuDZ

 

If you want an honest opinion I would say to leave it as is for now. I've seen wheels with curb rash that looked worse than that and repairing rims isn't the cheapest thing to do. Later you may have more to fix on the rim, and whether you fix the rim for yourself or to sell it it'll still cost the same amount.
-hype

 

there is a place in Rockville that repairs rims. i called them about my old rims and they told me it would be about $100 a wheel. my rims were cheap as **** so it wasnt worth it to me but it might be worth it to you. i dont have the # but i think the place was called Wheel Worx.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. $100 per wheel has been about the average from some shops that Ive contacted. Some are cheaper but they require the wheel to be sent away to be "appraised" first. Also, tirerack is currently selling Borbet Type Es for $169 a piece.

 

Ye-ole wheel shop in Arbutus Maryland. they price depending on the size of your rim. I believe that 17's are 85

 

i would have let her hit me... then she pays for any damage that is done, and i know it would be a pain in the ***.. but what's worse, you having to damage your car where you pay for it or her damaging it and she pays for it all and you could come out on top with some new stuff...

 

that's exactly what i was thinking...i mean, hell...you get hit, it would be a hassle, but you would get a check from the insurance company, and you could do as you please with it...only downside of this would be the possibility of injury, which you can't really control

 

Last I checked, aluminum doesn't rust.

 

thats the shop i was talking about. my boss gave me their # and said the name of the shop was Ye-old Wheel Shop "or something" but when i called it wasnt called that. it was called Wheel Worx (or maybe i have the story reversed) or maybe they're 2 different shops.

 

You might want to check for suspension damages.. my brother paid 2500 in suspension damaes for a 10 mile per hour slide into a curb.. bent control arms and so on.

 

That and the risk of a higher premium on insurance.

 

Right, that and not to mention Ive gotten 2 speeding tickets in the past 3 months

 

Even if she was speeding, if she had the right of way you'd lose. My ex got hit last month when she pulled out of a blind intersection and a woman doing 45 in a 25 zone hit her. There were dozens of witnesses, a sympathetic cop who knew about the blind corner, but he said the woman would have had to be doing over SIXTY to void her right of way!