Any quick fixes for oxidized aluminum wheels?
 

The factory aluminum wheels on my '00 Jeep TJ are oxidized around the hubs. Even though I keep it fairly clean for a Wrangler the winter road salt has done a pretty good job on the wheels. The clearcoat has lifted around the hubs and are now a hazy grey instead of polished aluminum.

Can I just peel off the lifted clearcoat and lightly sand the bare aluminum back to original finish and spray on some new clearcoat or is there more to it? I'm getting it ready to sell and would really like to get it looking good.

I'm not sure you can do much on a budget (re: selling said vehicle), other than steel wool sanding and stages with a polishing buffer.

I bought a car in Colorado with "winterized" alloys, and ended up taking it to a professional metal polishing shop. The wheels looked better than new when done, but absent of the factory clearcoat, the wheels required regular mag wheel polish application.

I don't think the condition of the wheels will hurt the overall sale value of you vehicle...

the wheels on my dads SL600 oxidized a bit, and I took my boffer with polishing compound and polished them.

Swamp - alloy wheel refurb and refinishing is becoming a fast-growing niche business. Places around here will completely refinish and re-paint alloys for about $100/wheel, or less depending on how bad it is. They'll straighten bent ones for about $125.

I recently had one of my rims replaced (it was leaking due to porosity in the original aluminum casting) with a refurbed one. You can't tell the difference.

With so many cars now having alloys, and with so many hungry potholes out there and deviously high curbs, shops like these are kept busy. Could be worth it if you need all 4 done, can probably strike a deal.

Good luck!

Quick fix? Yeah, replace them. Everything else will take either quite a bit of time or money. And replacing them is only quick, it still takes money.

MV