Alloy wheel refurb - how much do/did you pay?

jaybee

jaybee

jaybee

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Down here on the border of Hants/Surrey/Berks I'm getting quotes of over £100 incl VAT a wheel for a basic refurb of a set of 18s. A quick google turns up massive price differences around the country, where some people claim to know someone that can fully acid dip, sand, powder coat and paint each wheel for £25 including replacing the tyre, valve, balance. What did you pay and where did you go? What did you get done? Powder coat vs paint? Did you send the wheels in off the car, or take the whole car and leave with them? Did this add to the cost?

Size: 18 inch
Service: Basic paint refurb in basic colour
Damage to existing wheels: Medium
Typical quote: £450 incl VAT for the set
Diamond cut: No

*STATE ALL PRICES INCLUDING VAT*
 
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I paid £340 for all 4 on my Elise earlier in the year, including tyre fitting and balancing etc afterwards. They were very corroded (though not curbed), so had the full works and repainted keeping the factory look.
 
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A lot will depend on the existing state i.e. whether significant curb damage, mostly just cosmetic, delaminating, etc. etc. and type i.e. diamond cut vs not.

I had a go at doing it myself with mixed results but mostly because I lack a decent place to do it and the weather was against me :s gonna have another go when I'm better setup for it.

(Someone charging £25 per to acid dip and powder coat is probably doing a half-arse job which moisture will likely penetrate and make them look nasty in a year or less)
 
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Diddums said:
Nobody's doing acid dipping and powder coating for £25, I can guarantee you that.
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Some of the prices people claim are admittedly old posts from 10 years ago on pistonheads forums or thereabouts. I don't know if people get off on the thought of obtaining things much cheaper than others to the point of lying, but yeah some people do claim they get sets done for a ton.
 
diamond cut or poweder coat?

i had my alloys refurbed (acid dipped and then filled) and then powder coated for £60/side (19 inch)
didn't want to do diamond cutting as this can only be done a couple of times before losing structural integrity

birmingham prices
 
jaybee said:
Some of the prices people claim are admittedly old posts from 10 years ago on pistonheads forums or thereabouts. I don't know if people get off on the thought of obtaining things much cheaper than others to the point of lying, but yeah some people do claim they get sets done for a ton.
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It's the "my mate Dave" nonsense, the Chris Wilson types who think that their pearls of wisdom gain respect from the pipe smoking duffers at their local flat roofed pub. It's all rubbish.
 
tamzzy said:
diamond cut or poweder coat?

i had my alloys refurbed (acid dipped and then filled) and then powder coated for £60/side (19 inch)
didn't want to do diamond cutting as this can only be done a couple of times before losing structural integrity

birmingham prices
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£60 a side meaning £60 a wheel?
Yeah diamond cut adds more. (Added to OP as an item).
 
I found an old quote from last year at a local place highly recommended but have since shut down:

£75 per wheel
£10 per wheel tyre removal and refitting
= £340 plus VAT at 20% £68
= £408

So the true per wheel cost is actually £102
 
Just had a set of 4 19" wheels done for £270. Full acid dipped, powdercoated. Best job I've had done on a set of wheels so far for sure.

Usually use another place that often varies it's prices, but usually in the £140 - £240 range. Depends on the guys mood at the time I guess. Usually a straight £200 though. Not quite as good a job as they don't mask off faces and bolt holes, which can be a pain. But usually a decent enough job otherwise.

My second last set was done by yet another place. Again a £200 job. Probably a similar quality job to the above mentioned one.

Diamond cut around here I was quoted £384 for a set of 4 19" wheels. I was tempted when they dropped the price to £340. But didn't want the hassle of having to deal with white worm again in a couple years.

All these prices are for loose supplied wheels, with a roughly 3 day turnaround. With or without tyre re-fitting.
 
Local(ish) to me (Basingstoke) charge the following:

2024 RETAIL PRICE LIST
prices are per wheel
Refurbishment:Without
Tyres		With
Tyres
Standard painted alloys Up to 18″from£75.40£84.76

Costs go up after 18", Diamond cut, non standard paint etc and if the wheels are on the car it may need to be left there in storage which they charge £18.50 for.
 
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Rroff said:
A lot will depend on the existing state i.e. whether significant curb damage, mostly just cosmetic, delaminating, etc. etc
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Really? Most places don't take this into account at all and simply charge on a per wheel basis unless the wheel is out of shape or cracked. I'd imagine the full process is much the same regardless of damage so I'm not sure why you think the price is so dependant on the condition of the wheel?

I've typically paid £90 or so a wheel whether it had one mark on it or many.

Diamond Cut obviously a different story.
 
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[TW]Fox said:
Really? Most places don't take this into account at all and simply charge on a per wheel basis unless the wheel is out of shape or cracked. I'd imagine the full process is much the same regardless of damage so I'm not sure why you think the price is so dependant on the condition of the wheel?
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Some places don't even do acid dipping or sand blasting, if you've got more extensive damage or delamination on certain types of alloys it will cost more to have it done properly - sure many of the run of the mill places will just charge you the same and do the same slap dash process as every other wheel :s
 
Any good wheel refurbishment place will do the job properly, in such a way that the damage is irrelevant. It doesn't matter how much delamination there is if the whole lot is being removed anyway does it.

sure many of the run of the mill places will just charge you the same and do the same slap dash process as every other wheel :s
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Look at any of the well regarded, leading places in the country and there will be a price per wheel regardless of damage (unless the wheel is cracked or something) with the cost only differing if you want a different finish or based on wheel size.

Things might be different at a cheap place that will try and do localised repairs or something but most people won't be using somewhere like that if they want a quality finish.
 
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