Wheels Off Road

Can I do anything about my alloy wheels that look tarnished?

I have a VW Beetle (Classic style, 1998 from Mexico) and it has alloy wheels, but of what, I don't know. The alloy looks tarnished, but I tried a little vinegar and there was no change. I spoke to a car stall dealer in a market and he said that it was the surface that had worn away, not a coating that had formed (that I could have removed). I guess he's saying I can't do anything to make them look better. Is he correct?

Public Comments

1. think of the coat that he is talking about as a protective coat for the rim, you can try to put something on there but its only gonna protect the already tarnished rim. basically you would have to get a new set of rims to make it look good again but its a total waste of money unless ur rims are bent.
2. well i would try paint thinner on them and peroxide and if that doesnt work than he is right and you just have to replace tehm or live with it hope this helped
3. Go buy a steel wool pad to buff them. (NOT SOS) but a fine abrasive one from an auto store.
4. You can have your wheels powder coated and that would bring them back to about as new costs about £150 for a good job. You have to add on the cost of having tyres refitted and balanced. So buying new rims with tyres as a package may be more cost effective if your tyres are about shot.
5. Try wonder wheels, it's a chemical cleaner available from most motor factors. It's much cheaper in gallon cans from Costco but if you are unable to shop there then try e-bay. I use it and it does a great job. If that doesn't work then go on the net and find a company that can restore alloy wheels. It's about 50 quid a wheel and you will be amazed how good they will look afterwards.
6. well its just a pure guess but i think they will be made of alloy which means that they are made from a compound of several metals and as such are quite a bit softer than other materials the reason i would guess they look a bit tarnished is because they are pitted which means such things like brake dust road debris loose stones and traffic film have built up on the alloys and because they are so soft have begun to eat into the metal depending on how deep the pitting is one course of action would be to find your self a very higly skilled lathe or cnc operator who can skim them up and remove the pitting to bring them up like brand new if it is particularly deep pitting then it may not remove it all but most of it and a good polish might just cover up the rest the last piece of advice i will give you is when you have them looking brand new clean them more often keep the brake dust and road deposits off at least twice a week just a quick spray with a good wheel cleaner will keep thm looking brand new for years if regularly done good luck hope it works and this has helped
7. Take them to a specialist, try the VW magazines to find someone who can refurbish them.