Joshua Adam

So, today it finally happened. I rubbed a curb with those beautiful 20" Audi wheels. I'm trying to look at the bright side here, but it's difficult. Has anyone else had this issue? Which direction did you go afterward? I feel like I could do one of four things:

1. Leave it as is.
2. Get some gray matte / steel colored reflective paint and paint the tiny grooves that the curb made.
3. Buy a new wheel from Audi. (BLAH)
4. Look for a 'refurbished' wheel on ebay, etc.

Thoughts? Appreciate the feedback.

Mike_L

Just have them fixed. Its like $99-$119 for filling the damage and painting the whole wheel. There are guys who will come to you to do it even (at least here there are).

Omeletpants

Word. This is a simple and fast procedure. You wont know you had work done on them when they leave

Joshua Adam

From what I read, the places near me can only repair 'alloy' rims. Aren't our rims 'machined'? Maybe that means the same thing. Man, I sound like such a noob.

DeerHunter

'Alloy' generally refers to any aluminum wheel, whether cast or forged (although some exotic materials, like magnesium, are alloys too). They can be repaired by any competent shop.

u2jrmw

My boss had his X5 M wheels done by a mobile unit. It took seemingly forever, but they were perfect when done.

jdong

The bright side is that you suffered $100-200 worth of cosmetic damage to your car. You could've had a tree fall on it, had an uninsured driver hit you, ran over a pothole and ended up with $1000 of tire damage, etc etc etc

Yeah, it sucks, and you feel a bit silly about it, but it happens.

IMO, I'd start with option 1. Every time I nick a wheel on a brand new car, I want to get it fixed. But letting it cool off for a month, I see it in a different light and just find it as acceptable wear and tear to the car.

The car is there for you to enjoy as a daily commuter, and I see the battle scars as a good thing. If I wanted to see a pristine unused Audi, I go to a showroom.

in2dwww

I'd leave it. Consider it a character flaw or something and move on. When you get tired of looking at it, or perhaps pay it off or want to consider keeping it - then get all the wheels replaced.

I had curb rash on a Jetta TDI and I went in for service. The right rear tire had a gouge in the inner sidewall, and I was due to drive across the country the next day. I elected to replace all 4 tires. The dealer couldn't source tires in time, so they took wheels and tires off a new Jetta, put mine on a used one (sans the bad tire), and placed upgraded wheels on the untitled car and called it a day. They also didn't have to deal with the valve stem and TPMS issues I created when I curbed. It sure was nice of the dealer to do that.

Mike_L

Really? They fixed my M's wheels in about 2 hours for 2 wheels. The Caddys wheels took an eternity. They color wasn't standard, so they had to mix custom paint, and it didn't match the first time.... or the second. On the third time they elected to just paint all 4. Took like 8 hours and $400........ and then I curbed them again.

Aatish11

Leave it. Think of it as a battle scar