So I took my car to Autoplace Infiniti in Buffalo, NY to have my oil changed. I dropped the car off and when i came back to pick it up later that day I saw that they had washed my car. I got a little nervous because I've read on a few threads that when the dealer washes customer cars, the rims get damaged. So i went to the desk and god my keys and went straight to my car to look at my rims. Well i look and see purple, green and blue discoloring on my Volk lips and some scratches! I went to the service manager and told him about my rims. I also mentioned to him similar situations people had on g35driver.com. Well he looked at my rims and saw the discolorization, licked his finger, wiped the lip of my rim with his finger, and said "see it came off". I was like "clearly it didn't come off because it's still there" and he responded my saying that it should come off when I wash it again. I obviously knew this wasn't going to help but my dad told me to go home and try to wash it so I did. My dad said that we would come back in a week and talk about what to do because they had to put new brake pads on and I wanted to put my chamber and toe kit on and get the car aligned. The service manager said that was fine. So I took my car back yesterday and they had to keep it overnight for some reason. Well I told my dad to go to the dealership to talk about the situation because they would take him more serious then an 18 year old. Well I go to my dad's house after school today and I ask him about the rims. He was p*ssed because they refuse to fix anything. My dad said the service manager said that it wasn't their fault and they refuse to fix anything.

My question is what can I do to have this fixed. I'm extremely mad right now because I worked forever to get the money to buy my Volk's and now they're ruined. Also what should happen, shouldn't the dealer fix the rims if they ruined them? Thanks for the help in advance and sorry if somethings wrong....its my first thread

There are some pictures of the rims below...if they don't show up ill try to put them up again

 

I would be incredibly upset if I were you. Sorry to hear your nice rims got messed up. I would approach the dealership again and try to reason with them, and if nothing pans out I would hire a lawyer. Of course you have to think about whether or not it's worth it to pursue legal action over ~$3000 when you could potentially spend a lot more on legal fees.

Sorry to hear about your bad luck, hope everything gets sorted out.

 

Sorry to hear what happened, but the dealer will deny it was their fault 99.9% of the time so they won't have to pay for it. I have experienced this myself and nothing good has come out of it. That is why I now switch out my Volks and put the stocks on every single time I bring it to the dealers. It's a hassle yes, but I would rather spend the extra time switching out my tires/rims than to have the dealers scratch them up.

 

sucks to see that man. the dealerships use harsh acidic sprays on rims and volk lips can not handle that. the lips are anodized clear coated and this is what happens when they are sprayed with such chemicals. only thing u can do is try to have them own up to it and repay you. maybe have them spray what they sprayed on another section and show them the results of the clearcoat changing liek that. i dont know sorry.

 

Sucks bro. This is exactly the reason why I do a walk around with the service guy anytime a drop my vehicle off at the dealer for any reason. That way it is documented ahead of time that there is no damage on my wheels or anywhere else on my vehicle (well except for very minor damage to my front passenger side bumper). I also ask them to please not wash my vehicle. I'm not really sure what you can do unless you can prove that there was no prior damage to your wheels before the dealer damaged them. Sometimes you have to be persistent and sometimes the threat of legal action will get the dealer to cut their losses and just have the wheels fixed. Good luck bro.

 

ground and pound

 

We are not talking about the hottie in your avi brudah. Cuz I'd ground and pound her! I don't think he would wanna do that to the dealer.

 

Man that sucks. I would keep on them to make it right. Send a letter to the BBB and talk to as many people as you can.

The dealer scratched one of my wheels when they took it off but I didn't do a walk-around with the service rep so I could not prove it was them. Ever since I always go over it before I leave now. Sorry you have to go through this.

 

^LOL^

Thanks for the imput guys, I hope everything goes fine. My family has been customers of Autoplace Infiniti/ Nissan for over 15 years and my uncle knows the owner well and was going to try to get me a job detailing at the dealership (how ironic). Hopefully if my dad can't workout something then my uncle will talk to the owner... it's frustraiting to think i was going to put the car away for winter but decided to get the oil changed so i could drive it around a little more

I thought i would put some pics of my car, they're not the best but i thought i might put them up to see what you guys think

 

This happened to my GTC's as well. The only way to get rid of that dis-coloring is to have the wheels taken apart and buffed out. They will strip off your clear coat in the process which = lots of maintenace on your part to keep them looking nice. I feel for ya man.

 

I would hire a lawyer. Its not jsut about the money but the principal. Thye mesed up your rims and they are liable. If you let them off, they wil continue to screw other people until they get a kick in the nuts. Whats messed up about it they should know not to use that kind of crap when they clean your car. If it was me, I would go down there, make a very "loud and visible" scene on the floor in front of all their customers, and if that doesnt work, then it would be time to take them to court. You will have t pay for some of the atornies fees yes, but you will get sme of your money back and they will end up setling out because its going to cost them a hell of a lot more than you.
And forfuture refernce, make sure you point out the wheels before you leave your car wih them. Give them clear instructions before they jack with it next time that way there isnt any question as to what they can and cant use on your car.

 

True. Or you could also have the lips chromed which I know a lot of people do. This makes cleaning so much easier and less prone to damage from chemicals. I am thinking about having the lips of my Works chromed.

 

How much did it cost to do this and could they apply a new clearcoat to the lip seeing as the old one would be removed? Thanks for the suggestion

 

This is a pretty cool idea too. How much does this usually cost and how does it look. I'll try to look up pictures of rims that have had this done... by any chance do you have any pictures of rims that have had this done cause that would make it a little easier...Thanks!

 

I had the same thing happen to my Volks when a detailer sprayed harsh chemicals on the lips of the rear wheels and left it on too long. ggong is correct that the lips are anodized and clear-coated. It is not repairable regardless of what the dealer tries to tell you. I've talked to multiple Rays dealers as well as Mackin and Tru Wheel (best wheel repair facility in the industry). They all said that the best thing they could do is disassemble the wheels (voids Rays warranty) and polish the lips. You'd have to do that to all the wheels. They would looks shinier and would require frequent maintenance to keep up the appearance. I lucked out that the detailer was one of the most honest people I have ever met and took responsibility for the mishap and cut me a check a week later for a new pair of Volks. I just sold the damaged ones after months of advertising on the forums to help recoup some of his out-of-pocket cost. Good luck.