As some of you may know I just got a WDP navi 5at TL last week. Well, tonight I was talking to my friend about the navi and trying to turn off the voice when I realized I was running into a guard rail. I corrected quickly and much to my suprise there is "only" some paint scratching on the wheel wells and the very edge of each wheel on that side is all scuffed up. What do I do? Take it to acura dealer or to a local bodyshop? I don't want to spend a lot but I do want it to look new again.

Are wheels redeemable or am I looking at 2 new rims? How about the paint damage? It's like 3-4" marks which seem to be showing primer on each well.

 

Body shop is my best guess. Go to a few reputable shops and ask for estimates. You can possibly have the wheels refinished - if not they are not overly expensive on ebay.

 

Well ebay does have the Aspecs for 1k a set shipped. Acura said they charge 400 a rim for the stocks, so not including new tires its not a horrible deal. You realized you were running into a guardrail? You were in the proccess of sliding up against it, or it was a quick bump. I really hope you two werent both in there playing with the navi while in the mean time you were in the proccess of cutting the car in half Good luck getting it fixed, you are lucky its white.

 

Yeah pretty much we were both fascinated with Navi when all of a sudden "yo, dude!" and then BUMP quickly corrected by me back onto the road but not before rims and paint got scuffed :[

 

Hope it all works out for ya - definitely a lesson learned the hard way, but could have been worse. We've all been there at one time or another in our driving history.....

I have to warn ya - be prepared for all the "perfect drivers" on the forum to give you a rash of sh!t..
--Chime in immediately and say your Navi didn't give you the "don't play with while driving" disclaimer and insist on suing Acura for your misfortune... That will throw-em for a serious loop - soiled shorts will be every where...!!!

Duck now!

 

update: I used some mother's detailer spray and clay bar and got most of the dark scuffs out. All that is really visible left over is a 1" down to the primer scratch/scuff. Can I use touch up paint to fill this and then polish it after it dries?

 

My rims are "chewed up" around the very edges as I said... brighter aluminum is exposed in sharp patterns but never very deep gauges... how is the best way to go about fixing this myself or at least making it look smoother? I would guess I should sand the chewed edges evenly but I assume that would make it a very bright alum color and not match with the satin finish of the stock rims... not sure what to do.

 

You could have them powder coated black, that would look awsome an a WDP, just gotta get tint to go with it. Craftsman has a new home poweder coating kit, although I would still recomend shelling out a few hundred for it to be done by a pro.

 

I would also have the scratches fixed by a professional. Hopefully they can be fixed (filled) without a re-paint.

Looks like very minor damage considering the situation. Glade nobody was hurt. and good luck with the repairs!

 

update: i was able to clean the scuffs a bit more and i used some touch up paint i found which is actually for honda called "frost white" which seems to be okay... not a perfect match but ok until I can get it fixed professionally... just want something to stop rust and so that people dont see a big dark gray mark.

Wheels are still chewed to sh*t. Not sure what to do there... either live with it or ask a body shop I guess although wheel repair can't be that popular of a trade...

 

Where do you live? I ask this because you could keep the old rims and stick some winter tires on, and then get the Aspecs with some nice summer tires.

 

the wheels can be repaired rather easily I think, no need in buying new rims unless you can get it for under $100. As for the body work, be sure to have some vasoline with you.

Body shops (Acura included) will charge an arm and a leg for even minor damage unless you can get the hook up.

 

ahhh quite the contrary, I got two of my rims repaired for only $100 total. AWR (alloy Wheel repair) did an amazing job and I can't even tell that they were damaged to begin with. If your wheels are real bad, expect to pay $125 per rim. I had minor damage so he gave me a break and did both for $100 (or $50 each).

 

Update: thanks for all your advice.... I used this frost white honda touch up paint (couldnt find acura paints) It's a little bit too white though... I guess I will have to use a very small sandpaper eraser and get it off and then put real WDP touch up on there... I still have some "scuffs" around it though... how do I remove those? Clay bar cleaned them nicely but the "shine" is off.