Every spring and fall, I swap my tires out for summer or winter tires. This spring, I went to a new place to get them swapped and they messed up my Shinka wheels with their balancing machine, gouging big scratches on each spoke. The owner of the place was very apologetic and told me he get them fixed, that he worked with a wheel shop that could fix them as good as new. But, he said, he would need the car for three days.

We finally got it arranged and I dropped my car off. Later he called me on the phone and said the wheel repair shop told him that my wheels had "hyper-silver" paint on them, so it would take five days. I said, "Are you sure? I don't think my wheels are painted." But, thinking there might be some sort of paint on them, we rescheduled and I dropped my car off to him this Monday.

I talked to him again and asked him to check with the shop and make sure they weren't going to put the base model paint on my wheels. I told him this was the special edition from that year and I didn't want my wheels screwed up. He said not to worry, these guys know what they're doing, but he would check. He called me back on Tuesday and told me he had confirmed that they had it right.

Today he called and said my car is ready, the wheels are done. "I thought it would take five days," I said. He said he didn't know why they were done faster, but I could pick my car up. Well, I couldn't get there before they closed, but I had my wife pick up the keys. When I got home from work, we went over there to get my car.

I could tell right away when we pulled up that they painted them with the base paint. My Shinka wheels are totally screwed up and it's totally obvious! It's easy to tell because the center caps don't match, besides them being an obviously different color than they were. (Although it doesn't really matter, to make things worse, it's a shoddy paint job with runs and drips all over.)

Now, I can't talk to the owner until tomorrow morning, but I don't even know what to say at this point. I don't really know if they can be fixed. Do my wheels have to be replaced? Can they be fixed now that they've been painted? Also, I'm trying to figure out what name is of the color of the Shinka wheels (model year 2005), but I can't seem to find it in my searches. I think it was the same color in '06 and '07, but can anyone confirm that?

Sorry, I know it's a long post, but I wanted to tell the whole story.

Thanks for any info.

 

the OEM wheels are painted and cleared. even our shinka's wheels are painted, just slightly darker is all...

there has been talk on here before about color/paint codes for shinka wheels, i'll see if i can find it.

no need to replace the wheels, but make sure this guy/business fixes your wheels to your satisfaction... thing is, a good paint shop should've been able to match the color in the first place... but then a good shop wouldnt leave runs/drips....

my guess, he painted them himself/had a buddy do it

 

cant find anything on the color code... apparently it was never posted sorry...

 

Thanks. I'm glad to know they can be fixed. If anyone knows the color code for the Shinka wheels, that wound be helpful.

 

did they repaint all 4 of your wheels?? i'm thinking your best/only option would be to have a good paint shop color match them and repaint....

maybe you can get help on the color code from your dealer but i wouldnt count on it too much...

you said the center caps dont match up cause of the new paint, maybe a good shop can color match off that?

 

since you're in evanston, they probably took your rims to wheels america in des plaines--they have a 24hr turnaround.

good luck with your situation, all of my shinka rims got scratched up near the lugnuts from tire swaps at the dealership.

 

Yeah, all four because they were all scratched or gouged in their machine. The center caps might work. I'll find out over the next couple days, I guess.

 

Ha, I forgot my profile still said Evanston. The reason I went to the new place is because I moved, but not too far. I wonder if this guy in Glenview took them to Wheels America. I might try to get him to connect me directly with the wheel shop to figure this mess out.

 

isn't the color dark chrome? just find a dark chrome that looks like it.

 

Just to update, I talked to the guy today and he looked at the wheels. He agreed that they were obviously wrong. I also mentioned the paint drips/runs and he said he would make sure they were perfect when I get them back. He's having them fixed as we speak, so, with luck it will turn out OK.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

aren't the oem wheels powdercoated? from my experience, painted/cleared wheels with automotive paint will not last. powdercoating is the way to go

 

good luck, let us know how it turns out

 

not powdercoated, painted and cleared

 

^doesn't seem right to me...I'll look into it