Rim ding removal.

July 23, 2006 11:12 AM

I want my car to look nice before I sell it - how can I get dings and scrapes out of the rims?

The majority of the damage is of course on the front right, so it's not really worth buying a new set (approx $1000 on ebay). How do dealerships do it when they're selling used cars?

posted by forallmankind to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

My car has a full size spare with matching rim (that looks brand new). Any chance of just swapping the tires?
posted by SeizeTheDay at 11:19 AM on July 23, 2006

no - I've just got one of those crappy temporary wheels
posted by forallmankind at 11:26 AM on July 23, 2006

Can you find one new rim on ebay?
posted by mathowie at 1:00 PM on July 23, 2006

Rims can be reconditioned is my understanding. Google for your local company
posted by A189Nut at 3:35 PM on July 23, 2006

You can fix it up yourself, but it will probably be more trouble than it's worth.

When I found myself in a similar predicament, I took some sandpaper to the wheels and sanded the rough parts down, then switched to finer and finer paper until it was chrome-shiny. The problem is that you lose any protective gel coat on the rims, but it was a small price to pay. In hindsight, I could have saved myself a boatload of time if I'd bought a dremel. The other problem is that if you do one, you'll have to do them all. That's a shitload of sanding. How much is your time worth to you?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:14 PM on July 23, 2006

Is there a junkyard in the area? They'll often sell singles, if they have one to match.
posted by Meep! Eek! at 8:16 PM on July 23, 2006

A rim repair place will be able to take care of that for you for significantly less than a new set would be. If it's alloy, it'd probably be less than $200, and possibly much less depending on the extent of the damage.

If it's chrome and you wanted it rechromed to be like new, you'd be in for a longer wait and a more limited selection of shops; but, at least you do have chromers down there (unlike Washington state, which has none).

I'd highly recommend you stop by a local place and have them tell you your options.
posted by Edge100x at 9:03 PM on July 23, 2006