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I bought a set of 17" American racing wheels, Estrellas, about 6 months ago and they already have corrosion on them. I kept the wheels clean and barely drove the car during the winter, less than once a week. The front of the wheels have a machined finish with clearcoat, and that is whats corroding. The center caps look especially bad.
There is supposedly a 1 year finish warranty on them but I have lost the sales receipt. I bought the wheels through Belle Tire so the transaction is in their computer, but I guess that isn't sufficient.
I have tried washing and polishing the wheels and haven't used wheel cleaner since it is acidic. Is there anything else I can do?
I'm pretty frustrated here, since I didn't expect wheels from AR to corrode so easily. This was the reason I didn't get anything chrome. Is machined finish just as prone to corrosion as chrome?
Posted by: MERIJONS97LSC
When you say corrosion..is that a rust film? If you buff it out, does it come off? post some pictures.
Posted by: KD00LS
Yes pictures please, I hope the finish isn't lifting.
Posted by: RedHotMark96
I'll try to get some pictures up soon. There is a black pitting around the outside of the wheel, and a yellow-creamish colored corrosion around the center especially on the centercap and the wheel immediately surrounding it.
I went back to Belle Tire again, they had a copy of the receipt and spoke to American Racing. The best they would do is send new center caps. So now I have new caps but thats it.
The corrosion only affects the Machined face of the wheel, the painted silver areas are fine. For comparison sake my dad had 20" chrome wheels on his edge which he drove daily throughout the winter and only washed twice, and my wheels look way worse than his.
