The importance of wheels

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ptaylor_9849

New member
This is not really a click and brag per se. I posted this because I pay very close attention to the wheels of a car and I feel that wheels can make or break a vehicle. Don't get me wrong, polish, trim dressing, clean glass etc, all play a part in a cars appearance. However, when my friend asked me if I wanted to buy his Toyota Rav4 for five grand, I took one look at it and thought...Hmmm, with a good polish and a new set of wheels, that Rav might actually re-sell really well. It was a 1999 with only 80k miles. Anyway, after a good clean up and $700 worth of tires and wheels, I sold it for eight grand the other day. That was a quick $2300 thank you. Please know that I'm not in the business of selling cars, just making them look really nice like the rest of us here at Autopia. Here are two before and afters. Enjoy







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Yep definitley looks a lot better after a new wheels and a good clean up. I would pass up on buying the before version but would seriously consider the after.
 
I really don't see why the Acura wheels are a cause of concern. Those wheels and tires are worth nearly two grand and they're certainly far better than the stock, rusted steel one's that came with the car. I don't care if they're Acura, Toyota, Subaru or whomever. The bottom line is they look really good on that SUV.
 
Yeah, I used to not care very much about my wheels. I would just wash them at the end of my session (with the same sponge I used on the rest of my car, no less), spray some No-Touch on my tires, and not even bother with the wheel wells.



Now I spend about twice as much time cleaning my wheels, tires, and wheel wells as I do the "main" body of my car.



I guess having dirty wheels is like wearing dirty shoes with otherwise nice clothes. It may not seem like much (being at the bottom and all), but it can make or break your appearance.
 
Johny, that is exactly my point. Clean wheels make a huge difference in the overall appearance of your car. In fact, there have been times when I don't have time to wash the whole car so I just do the wheels and the car will look substantially better.
 
my car looks significantly better with clean wheels.



the wheels themselves are gunmetal, but they have a polished lip. so when they are clean, the lips shine, and overall make the car look so much better.
 
Toyota centercaps would be at the top of my priorities were I to buy that RAV, but that said--let us not ignor how incredible the paint looks on it in the "after" pics.



The wheels are indeed a nice addition to the car. They make it look way more upmarket and don't look out of place since they're OEM (Acura OEM, but OEM nonetheless).



Nice work & enviable transaction.
 
They do look much better, but this reminds me of those acne infomercials. Ya know, the befores they DO have more acne, but they are also look like it's been 3 days since they've showered, they look angry or depressed, their hair is all f***ed up, etc etc. Then the after, their acne IS better, but they have these big cheesy grins and a suddenly wearing some sweet new trendy clothes and stuff. Lol.



But yeah, the wheels DO look much better to return to the original point..
 
johny said:
Yeah, I used to not care very much about my wheels. I would just wash them at the end of my session (with the same sponge I used on the rest of my car, no less), spray some No-Touch on my tires, and not even bother with the wheel wells.



Now I spend about twice as much time cleaning my wheels, tires, and wheel wells as I do the "main" body of my car.



I guess having dirty wheels is like wearing dirty shoes with otherwise nice clothes. It may not seem like much (being at the bottom and all), but it can make or break your appearance.
Click to expand...





Have to agree with you here. I am particularly critical of wheels, and I spend close to 20 minutes per wheel on my car. My neighbors think I'm crazy when I spend a good part of a Fri afternoon, on my wheels/tires/wheel wells, and do nothing to the body of the car. Then, I'll spend the better part of a Sat working on the car body.



When I bring my car in for service at the stealership (I get free service for 4yrs/50K), I'll hang around sometimes and watch the employees wash and detail customers' cars. Amazing how much they miss, especially on the wheels: no cleaning the inside of the rim (sure, no one really sees it, and it's usually black because of all the brake dust, but what a difference when it's done), no detailing around the lugs, and nothing done to the wheel wells. And they call it "detailed"??? :wall



Cintoman
 
my friend did the same thing...except had me do the detail work, and he just sold it...lol



flipped a car for double what he had into it, including what he paid for it...not a bad investment



I might start doing it a little bit here and there, but I guess you need your dealers license if you flip more than 6 cars in a year (or something like that)
 
I remember the first time I really tried to clean the inside of my wheels, and not just the spokes. The grime and brake dust started oozing out like black molasses. It was an epiphany about how important it is to clean your wheels regularly.
 
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