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Hey guys, I had my car detailed for the first time ever and the shop somehow damaged my rims. I'd like some help understanding what they may have done and what I need to do moving forward for protection. In their process they managed to strip the wheels wherever there was any nicks in them. I know that over time the rims had nicks in a bunch of places from rocks, but it was subtle and you could see there's some kind of coating on them, but whatever they did, wherever there was any slight nick anywhere in the rim was stripped all the way down. I've power washed the wheels for years and nothing I have every used has stripped them. Also (in the last pic) one of the rims looked to have some kind of dried soap on it, which I pointed out to him and watched him buff it out, but you can see it's still cloudy and haze and nothing I have at home will remove it.
I'm hoping you guys can help me understand the following:
1. What kind of process did they do to my rims to cause this?
2. Did they strip the clear coat off as well and now ruin my rims?
3. What should I do moving forward to protect them?
4. What's up with the cloudy or hazy rim?
thanks,
Last edited by Thomas Guide; 05-13-2018 at 04:51 AM.
Reason: adding info
All dealers, body shops and volume detail shops use acid wheel cleaners. Works amazing if quickly used, however, with some clears or if left for too long they’ll permanently stain. I’ve seen shops say they use a “safe” acid cleaner to me... after one expensive WORK wheel was stained like yours. Not so safe I replied, and had them order me a new wheel.
The guy who started P21S had a problem just like this. His Porche rims were destroyed by acid cleaners. He made his own cleaner. A buddy of mine works closely with P21S and has a nice detailing business. He swears by the stuff. Although more than the usual Wal Mart bill of goods, it works well.
Thanks for the advice everyone along the way...They agreed to refund me the full detail amount and I'm working with a shop to have the rims refurbished. I've researched the shop and they do the whole wheel, acid strip, paint, machine it, clear coat it, and not just the surface area but the all of it (if that makes sense). They also road force balance the tires which is what I have now, $150 / tire, so I think it's probably worth it (I'm an OEM junkie).
However I still can't figure out what they did in those first two pics, is that clear coat stripped off with aluminum? Any one got idears?
The guy who started P21S had a problem just like this. His Porche rims were destroyed by acid cleaners. He made his own cleaner. A buddy of mine works closely with P21S and has a nice detailing business. He swears by the stuff. Although more than the usual Wal Mart bill of goods, it works well.
05-13-2018, 04:48 AM
Rims damaged by detail shop, can't figure out how
