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.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

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...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

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

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

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!

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

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