Brand New Rims with Stain

[Ridgeline]

Hi, I just traded in my 2014 Honda Ridgeline (piece of junk) for a 2014.5 Toyota Camry SE. I ordered a bunch of products from AutoGeek to protect it. Unfortunately, one of the rims has a small stain in it. It looks brownish in color. I have silver painted rims. I've tried wheel cleaner, polish, and bug and tar remover. Nothing will get it out. I'm afraid it might be under the clear coat. It's only on one rim. None of the other rims has similar stains. I'm afraid to do anything too aggressive and I'm afraid to let the dealership have their way with it. Any ideas on what to do? Should I look into them replacing the rim under warranty? The dealership I bought it from is 200 miles away so I can't take it back to that dealership. I can post photos in a few days if I can get a good picture.

Thanks in advance!

[Docpeanut]

I'd take it to your closest Toyota dealer and see if they'll put in a warranty claim for you.

[builthatch]

a picture that gives an accurate impression of what it looks like would be awesome. i'm interested to see what it looks like.

and i agree about taking it to a dealer nearby.

if prep solvent doesn't budge it...and some light work with a cutting pad and compound doesn't change it...then just leave it alone and take it in.

i want to add that in late 2010 i bought a brand new Tacoma. unfortunately, it was a relatively rare combination and already in stock at a dealer that my broker uses so i bought it even though it had been dealer prepped. welp, i found out that this particular dealer uses an acid wash to decon their cars. apparently it's pretty common. as it turned out, it left some brown staining on the leading edges and sides of some of the flats (hood, roof). it took some pretty aggro work to get them out and get the finish presentable.

[Ridgeline]

29377

[Ridgeline]

Also noticed a defect in the paint. 29378

[builthatch]

yeah a lot of Toyota factory paint nowadays has trash in the paint. it's not perfect.

as far as that brown spot, that looks like exactly what i had on my Tacoma from the acid wash they did, but in many areas. i'm not sure if those wheels are gloss powder coated or clear powder coated...or base/clear, but if it were me, because it's hard to get some real movement going in such a weird area even with a 3" pad, i'd probably super duper lightly 2000 grit wet sand, 3000 grit then hit it with some Hyper compound by hand.

do that at your own risk though!

[Ridgeline]

I'll see if they can replace the rim under warranty first. I'll live with the small paint defect. Way better paint quality when compared to the Ridgeline. When detailing the Ridgeline, my towel would snag on debris in the paint. :/

[builthatch]

I'll see if they can replace the rim under warranty first. I'll live with the small paint defect. Way better paint quality when compared to the Ridgeline. When detailing the Ridgeline, my towel would snag on debris in the paint. :/

one thing to keep in mind with new cars is that port damage or pre-delivery repairs in general are common as heck. i have been through that more than once with absolutely fresh-off-the-truck brand new vehicles.

it's cheap insurance to buy a magnetic paint gauge and take it with you when going to buy a car, even when taking delivery of a brand new vehicle...even one where the protective materials are still on and being removed in front of your eyes. the gauge won't help you with alu, composite or plastic panels, but anything else should be checked. any repainted metal panels will show themselves...or any over-worked panels that saw sanding and polishing. if it's a door or fender, you just have to look for something inconsistent with that panel vs. its twin on other side of the vehicle or if it's a flat (roof/hood/trunk), an inconsistent area vs. others like it.

when i hear about what you are saying with the Ridgeline, it makes me wonder.

[Ridgeline]

one thing to keep in mind with new cars is that port damage or pre-delivery repairs in general are common as heck. i have been through that more than once with absolutely fresh-off-the-truck brand new vehicles.

it's cheap insurance to buy a magnetic paint gauge and take it with you when going to buy a car, even when taking delivery of a brand new vehicle...even one where the protective materials are still on and being removed in front of your eyes. the gauge won't help you with alu, composite or plastic panels, but anything else should be checked. any repainted metal panels will show themselves...or any over-worked panels that saw sanding and polishing. if it's a door or fender, you just have to look for something inconsistent with that panel vs. its twin on other side of the vehicle or if it's a flat (roof/hood/trunk), an inconsistent area vs. others like it.

when i hear about what you are saying with the Ridgeline, it makes me wonder.

It's unfortunate that you have to go through that much work when buying a brand new car. I can go on and on about how bad the Ridgeline was so I am just thankful the doors line up fairly well on the Camry. One door is about a 1/16" lower than it should be but I'm not going to raise a stink. At least the doors are flush with each other and the other fenders and they don't leak water. The Ridgeline had panel variations of up to 1/8" and I even took it to arbitration to have them replace the vehicle because they said they weren't going to fix it as it was within manufacturing tolerances. The response from the arbitrator was what I deemed to be manufacturing defects were actually characteristics for the vehicle. Worst vehicle purchase ever. I'm glad there are people like the people on this forum that still expect a quality product.