# Surface damage to eco's aluminum wheels



## Cruzin' (Jul 2, 2011)

So I took my eco in for service at the dealership last week to get the oil changed and tires rotated, and now I have this weird surface damage to the front wheels that looks like an acidic chemical was sprayed on them. I know for a fact that the wheels were fine before taking my car in for service since I had washed my car that morning before heading over. I've talked to the manager at the service department about it, and he promises that no chemicals are sprayed on any customers' wheels. They supposedly did some research and contacted me today saying that the cause is brake dust. Since I wash my car on average twice a week, and also wax my wheels, I know that there is no way that this is the actual cause. They're going to go ahead and replace my wheels, but they say that it's a one-time deal since they believe the cause is from me failing to take care of my car and not cleaning the brake dust off the wheels, which obviously isn't true.

I tried taking some pics but my phone's camera is pretty bad and you can't make out the damage on them. Basically, it looks like a chemical was sprayed on the wheels. There is a lot of surface etching which is both spotted as well as in the shape of drip marks. I know that aluminum wheels can be damaged fairly easily by chemicals, so I'm convinced that they must have sprayed something on the wheels that they aren't admitting to.

Anyone had any similar experience with damage to the Eco's wheels, or know of anything that could cause this type of damage that I'm not thinking of?


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## evo77 (Sep 5, 2011)

I'd say that if their replacing your wheels, its an admitance of guilt so to speak. Who gives out free wheels even if they claim that its your fault? Doesn't make sense.

It is odd though that only the fronts have them? And since your car was clean and shiny when it rolled in, there shouldn't have been a need for a complimentary wash, which many dealers do.


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## Cruzin' (Jul 2, 2011)

They did wash it, but promise me that they don't use any wheel cleaners.
I'm thinking that by going the route of claiming it was damage from brake dust, that this might relieve them of responsibility and as a result GM might be taking care of the bill for the new wheels and not the dealership. This is just speculation though.
The other thing is, that if they properly rotated the wheels, then the wheels up front with the damage should have been the rear wheels before I brought in the car. Since the rear brakes are drums, I don't think there's much of a risk for brake dust buildup on the rear wheels.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

evo77 said:


> I'd say that if their replacing your wheels, its an admitance of guilt so to speak. Who gives out free wheels even if they claim that its your fault? Doesn't make sense.
> 
> It is odd though that only the fronts have them? And since your car was clean and shiny when it rolled in, there shouldn't have been a need for a complimentary wash, which many dealers do.


Precisely! Replacing them is an admittance of guilt. I make it a point to thoroughly inspect my car whenever I pick it up after being serviced at a dealer. I had one dealer drop a wheel hub on my Bonneville GXP's wheel and leave a few deep gashes in the finish. They refused to take responsibility for it. I should have looked before I took possession of the car again. I learned that lesson. 

I had the opposite happen to me; they promised me a car wash when I dropped the car off, and I picked it up still dirty. 

To my knowledge, the Cruze Eco wheels are polished aluminum, and as such, they will be sensitive to strong cleaning agents such as tire cleaners, which I know for a FACT many car wash places and dealerships use. This is very likely what happened to your car. 

My guess is they did the front wheels, realized what was happening, and tried to cover it up and not say anything, or they said something and the dealer was hoping you wouldn't notice.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Cruzin' said:


> They did wash it, but promise me that they don't use any wheel cleaners.
> I'm thinking that by going the route of claiming it was damage from brake dust, that this might relieve them of responsibility and as a result GM might be taking care of the bill for the new wheels and not the dealership. This is just speculation though.
> The other thing is, that if they properly rotated the wheels, then the wheels up front with the damage should have been the rear wheels before I brought in the car. Since the rear brakes are drums, I don't think there's much of a risk for brake dust buildup on the rear wheels.


Good point. Looks like you caught them red-handed there. I'd call up GM and explain the situation to them if you're concerned about this happening to someone else. Did you ask them about the wheel cleaner, or did they tell you themselves?


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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

I recommend you use a different dealer if they straight up told you its your fault for not taking care of it.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Mick said:


> I recommend you use a different dealer if they straight up told you its your fault for not taking care of it.


And that they told you that the brake dust caused it. 

Last I checked, brake dust was not corrosive, or every car on the road would have its rims completely trashed by now. If I my dealer told me that, alarm bells would be ringing in my head and I'd be calling up GM from that dealer's lot.


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## Cruzin' (Jul 2, 2011)

I asked them about the wheel cleaner when I brought my car back to have them look at the wheel damage. 
I've already sent an email to the general manager at the dealership, and am waiting for him to reply back. If he fails to reply or won't accept responsibility then I will be contacting GM/Chevrolet.


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## Cruzin' (Jul 2, 2011)

Mick said:


> I recommend you use a different dealer if they straight up told you its your fault for not taking care of it.


I was so pissed when the service manager told me that the damage was from leaving brake dust built up on the wheels. ****, when I brought my car in it looked 10 times better than any car they were selling on the lot. I take excellent care of my car, and even wax the wheels. He didn't use those exact words saying that it's my fault for not taking care of my car, but saying that it was caused by letting brake dust remain built up on the wheels is obviously implying that I wasn't cleaning the wheels.


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## evo77 (Sep 5, 2011)

I'm still boggled that u let them wash ur car even though u claimed to have already done it that morning!


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## Cruzin' (Jul 2, 2011)

evo77 said:


> I'm still boggled that u let them wash ur car even though u claimed to have already done it that morning!


I didn't know that they were going to wash it. I was told it was washed after it had already been washed.


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## Cruzin' (Jul 2, 2011)

Thankfully the manager of the dealership has been extremely helpful and is looking into the issue further. He is even sending me a check to compensate for gas money since I live over an hour away, and driving to and from the dealership to get the wheels looked at and replaced isn't cheap. I'm glad I decided to email him instead of just going straight to GM about this. Hopefully he's able to figure out exactly what happened and prevent it from happening in the future to anyone else's wheels.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Cruzin' said:


> Thankfully the manager of the dealership has been extremely helpful and is looking into the issue further. He is even sending me a check to compensate for gas money since I live over an hour away, and driving to and from the dealership to get the wheels looked at and replaced isn't cheap. I'm glad I decided to email him instead of just going straight to GM about this. Hopefully he's able to figure out exactly what happened and prevent it from happening in the future to anyone else's wheels.


That's what I'm talking about. Next time you go into that dealership, I'd say you bring them a box of donuts for handling this issue so professionally.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Cruzin' said:


> Thankfully the manager of the dealership has been extremely helpful and is looking into the issue further. He is even sending me a check to compensate for gas money since I live over an hour away, and driving to and from the dealership to get the wheels looked at and replaced isn't cheap. I'm glad I decided to email him instead of just going straight to GM about this. Hopefully he's able to figure out exactly what happened and prevent it from happening in the future to anyone else's wheels.



Cruzin,
I am very happy to hear that your dealer has taken care of you to your satisfaction. Thank you for your feed back. If you have any additional questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## Cruzin' (Jul 2, 2011)

Update....

Well they replaced my wheels. However, the service guy dealing with me made it clear that the replacement was a "one-time deal" due to the most likely cause of damage being brake dust. He even showed me some pictures of damage to some other wheels from what was determined to be brake dust damage, and it didn't even look close to the same type of damage to my wheels. It sounds as though the service department had to do some research and find an example that fit what happened in order to process the paperwork or something, and this is the best thing they could come up with other than the more obvious "we sprayed wheel cleaner that wasn't safe for aluminum wheels on his wheels." I couldn't say enough good things about the sales department when I purchased my vehicle at this dealership, but this is by far the worst experience I have ever had with a service department. Even though I still have another free oil change/tire rotation I will never bring my car back there for service.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

After pulling a stunt like that, I would definitely call GM and have them deal with the dealership. They lied to your face and treated you like you were some idiot. Not cool.

Sent from my HTC Vision using AutoGuide.com App


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## silverram323 (Mar 16, 2012)

Pictures please.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Cruzin' said:


> Update....
> 
> Well they replaced my wheels. However, the service guy dealing with me made it clear that the replacement was a "one-time deal" due to the most likely cause of damage being brake dust. He even showed me some pictures of damage to some other wheels from what was determined to be brake dust damage, and it didn't even look close to the same type of damage to my wheels. It sounds as though the service department had to do some research and find an example that fit what happened in order to process the paperwork or something, and this is the best thing they could come up with other than the more obvious "we sprayed wheel cleaner that wasn't safe for aluminum wheels on his wheels." I couldn't say enough good things about the sales department when I purchased my vehicle at this dealership, but this is by far the worst experience I have ever had with a service department. Even though I still have another free oil change/tire rotation I will never bring my car back there for service.




Cruzin,
I understand your frustration with your service department. If you would like to file a formal complaint with the service department please send me a PM with your full name, address, phone number, VIN number, current mileage and the name of the dealership. I would be happy to assist you with this issue. Also if you would like I can locate you a different dealership for you to have your service done at. I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

What do you use to clean and polish the wheels?


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