AvMan911

Hey all...so I was driving my '06 TL MT Tuesday (from it's first oil change nonetheless) when I ran over something during a lane change at 70mph on the freeway...from what I saw in the rearview mirror (which is all I saw of it, as iit was hidden by the car I was following when I changed lanes) it looked like a 2x4 (piece of wood). It gave the car and me a good hit, but no flat tire and other than a little shimmy in the steering wheel...all was good. I took it back to the dealer to see what happened...not one bent wheel...BUT BOTH THE FRONT AND BACK LEFT WHEELS ARE BENT WITH A BUBBLE IN THE TIRES!! This equals $575 each per the dealership. $291/ea for the wheels...around $100/ea (or more) then the labor for balance and alignment!!
Needless to say I felt a little queasy when I heard the damage...worst part is it came seperately....it was just the front yesterday...they called me today to say it was worse than expected...it's both!
So...here are my question (only one fore now):

Does anybody have any experience with having a bent wheel repaired? I asked to keep the wheels...(thus far I am just having the front repaired until I can figure this whole thing out) so I can have them repaired or sell them as damaged (which for the record they have but 5000 miles on them...and the damage is subtle it sounds like.

Thanks all for your thoughts.

PS I am in the San Diego area if you know anything locally.

R.J.

psheu

I feel your pain buddy... try ebay to get wheel/tire set... they might be cheaper... if not, you can ask around for ppl who swapped out their wheels/tires and see if you can take them off their hand for a reasonable price... PM me if you need it, I have a set laying around

AvMan911

That's the avenue I am currently going down...see if someone is selling their ones they swapped out...or a junyard that had a vehicle in an accident without damage to one area of the car.

R.J.

P.S....you said you have a set...if so how much?

AvMan911

So here is the update...and visualizing the tires and wheels myself.
1) The front tire and wheel were replaced ($291.82 for the wheel, $187.06 for the tire, and they only charged me one hours labor, not for the alignment...even though they did it...was 92.99 all that plus tax....$610.73!!).
2) I had them show me the tire...no visible damage, but they told me there was a bubble on the side wall when inflated. Either way I agree with the service adviser who said it would be a good idea to replace anyway...since the impact had enough force to bend 2 wheels...probably should be on the safe side and replace the tires too!!
3) The wheel...fairly obvious bend on the inside aspect of the wheel bead, no crack or visible damage...just a scuff mark...it's on the inside anyway.
4) So the plan from here...save some money on the next one...I am bought a wheel from a take off up in Nor Cal for $125+$25 shipping...that'll at least save $150 bucks...wish I would have done that in the first place. The other tire will be replaced when I switch the other wheel out...the price the dealer has is the best price for the tire...he told me it would be...and he was right.
5) All said and done...this will be a #&*^ expensive 2x4!! But no one got hurt and it certainly could have been worse!!

Oh...so anyone want 2 bent wheels?? Any suggestions...

Porkipine

iTrader: (1)

Did you ever check if the tires are under warrenty such that you can have it replaced for free? Just a thought.

AvMan911

It's something I thought about...but I haven't really looked too hard into it since it was a roadhazard....and I didn't buy any extra insurance for that. I might look into it a little more, and let you know. Thanks for the thought.

R.J.

bmw73

is the damage on the face of the wheel or the back of the wheel or both

AvMan911

Just the back of the wheel, there is no damage to the face or visible portion of either wheel.

psheu

Wow, with the price you paid, add a few hundred, you can get the aspec rim. and the tires I swapped out are michellin on the stock 17"s. I'll prob. let it go ~$800 for all 4 (rims + tires, where tires are practically brand new)...

rksokol

AvMan911,

Earlier this year I had a similar problem. In late February, I would come out to my car upon leaving the office and the TPMS noted that the front passenger tire pressure was down to 22 psi. So I took a bike pump and jacked it up to about 30 psi, but the next morning it was down to 10 psi!

Luckily this was on a Friday morning, so I took my car to the dealer that afternoon. They were all set to replace the tire, but later showed me that the tire was fine. Instead, my rim was cracked!

Immediately I raced through my memory to think about what I could have run over that could have produced the crack. The only instance I could recall was three weeks earlier. I was driving in DC at about thirty mph, and was engulfed by a pot hole (front passenger side) that I totally did not see!

I forget how much the total cost was, ($400-$500) but basically I paid for a new rim, an alignment, and labor. It turns out that the bump in the pothole did jack up the alignment. The car rides much better now!

Bearcat94

WOW! Sorry to hear about your incident. Glad no one was hurt. Those kind of hazards can be dangerous.

Couple weeks ago a truck lost part of his load on I-85. What he lost was a Earthmover Tire. It was lying on it's side in the middle lane. It was 2 or 3 feet high and probably weighed over 500 pounds. When the car in front of me swerved around it, it surprised the hell outta me. I missed it, but that thing was positioned to kill somebody hitting it at 70+ MPH.

Sounds like you got a decent price on the tires. I just paid ~$220 each for two Michelin's for an 02.

AvMan911

So I picked up the car yesterday...after having just the LF tire and wheel replaced. Car still has a very slight vibration from the rear wheel. So I found a place that rebends the wheel into the manufacturers specs...for $135. Now I am a little skeptical about it...so I called the dealer nearest this place since they apparently recommend this...sure enough the service consultant at the Acura Dealership said, "We use this company a lot and they always do fantastic work, highly recommend them!" So I took the wheel to him, AND he was able to get a replacement tire for $140....will be done and mounted ($20 for mounting) on Monday...total $295 (much better than $610).
So once I get that one...just take the one off the back, and replace it with this one!

So psheu, I agree this would have been much cheaper to do it that way...if I knew that I had blown 2 tires and 2 wheels initially!! I found a BRAND NEW take off set of S-type wheels and Michellin tires in LA for $750!! That would have been a great upgrade!! But since they found them at different times (which I am not too thrilled about...but hey, nobody's perfect) means I didn't expect to have to replace 2 until after the first one was already installed, aligned and road tested!

So I'll update when I get the new one installed. PS the place was called The Velvet Touch...small little joint in Escondido, CA (just northeast of San Diego by 30 minutes). They do reapirs of bends as well as cosmetic ...and appear to have great results. He spoke highly of Acura's wheels (Enki brand...stamped on the inside in case anyone was curious...that's something I didn't know until this whole incident) he said they tend to be some of the best...and if they have to be replaced least expensive fortunately!

Thanks all for your thoughts.

AvMan911

Here is their website by the way...

http://www.repairmywheels.com/