Questions and Answers

Toyota Wheel Damage

Q. I recently had my black 1999 Toyota 4 Runner Limited waxed. The following week the same company washed it. It has come to my notice that the rims on my car are now etched. This has been confirmed by Toyota, apparently there is a clear protective coat on the wheel trims, they believed that some type of chemical was applied thus leaving the etching and streaks. Toyota advised that the only way to fix this problem was to have the clear coat removed, the rims buffed and then the clear coat re-applied. The company that did the services (?) does not believe that they did this to my car. Today they tried to fix this problem only to make it worse, they tried to hand buff the marks. They used a buffer on it.

Can you help me, I'm trying to find information about a product called Red Hot by Auto Magic, has there been complaints about this product. Could it have been incorrectly used by the company? Whom can I contact in regards to complaints against this company. What can I do?

Thank you for any help that you may be able to offer me.

Yours sincerely
Sue

A. I don't know how much I can help you Sue. I have never heard of the product Red Hot by Auto Magic. If this is what they used to clean the wheels, I would get some, either buy a can or bottle of it or get a sample of it. Since the finish on the wheels are ruined anyway, take some and apply it on a small area of the wheel. If it starts to blister then you know for sure that was the cause of the damage. If not, then it is probably a defect in the wheels finish, although it's hard to believe all four wheels would have the same defect.

The care and cleaning of any mag or alloy wheels should be done very carefully. Chemicals like carb or brake cleaner and brake fluid will eat the clear coat off of them. The general rule of thumb is, if it's safe to use on the cars paint, it is safe to use on the wheels.

At this point, buffing will not repair the wheels, your only recourse is to have them stripped, buffed and refinished.

Additional Information provided courtesy of AllDATA