Wheel Fade... Replace or Powder Coat???
 

Hey Guys,

First post, but a long time lurker. I bought a 40th anniversary edition 6 months ago and one of the wheels is fading. You can only tell close up, but I still want it fixed. I am going to the dealership tomorrow, but wanted your opinions first. The guy over the phone made it sound like he really wanted to blame it on chemicals, but the car has been hand washed by me with nothing but car soap. So my questions are.

1) Does the wheel just look like it is fading from the picture, or does it look like chemicals (possibly while driving) may have came in contact with it at one time. The outsides look worst than the middle part of the wheel.

2) I am considering just trying to get some type of credit for that one wheel (doubt it will fly), and then just getting all 4 wheels power coated. So, what color do you think would look best. I uploaded a picture of my car with the tint (15%) to see what everyone thinks. I am open to any color, even sticking with the silver if it would be the best look (albeit subjective).

The powder coating business said to get a perfect match all 4 wheels need to be done by them, because they don't know the exact powder used by Mazda. So, it's basically all 4 wheels or none. All comments welcome.

u should just sell all 4 of them to me :naughty:

If I did, what color would you powder coat them? :lol2:

UPDATE:

I got back from the dealership and the service manager said all 4 wheels have been resprayed at one time. I bought the car with 3,000 miles and a clean carfax report, so I don't know why the previous owner/dealership would respray them. There is over spray on the inside of the wheel, but the majority of the inside is black. Does Mazda spray or dip their wheels? The service manager said all Mazda wheels are dipped. Is he correct? I just don't get it, there isn't a scratch, dint, or touch up paint on any portion of the car. Please advise, so I can either go back to argue or just go get them sandblasted/powder coated. Thanks.

Maybe the previous owner curbed a wheel and had it painted.

Well, all the wheels are perfectly smooth and have been painted the same way. So, if they resprayed one, they resprayed them all. Can anybody tell me whether the 40th anniversary wheels are sprayed or dipped at the factory to apply the color? They will fix the wheel under warranty if I can prove they haven't been resprayed. I have looked at pictures of these wheels all over the internet but can't determine from the pictures alone. Thanks

Hey, I used to work for a dealership, and the tire spray people use normally, will eat up tires/rims depending on whats in them. I forgot exactly whats the chemical that causes the problem, but all the show room cars we had had the problem because the tire shine was reapplied over and over without it actually all wearing off by example driving/washing. Maybe that's the chemical wear his talking about, but good luck trying to get it replaced, hope they can do something about it.