Any experience with reconditioned OEM wheels?

[jim1274]

Anybody have experience with reconditioned OEM wheels for the SHO? I need a single 19" silver wheel for my 2012 and found several sources that sell reconditioned wheels or like new used for well less than half the list price of new ones. Bad idea? Good idea?

If I just take it to the dealer, they are going to charge me the $735.27 list price (http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/P...&search=true&year=2012&make=Ford&model=Taurus)

I found several suppliers of reconditioned or like new used priced between $230 and $310.

Any suggestions on a solid reliable supplier, or is this a bad idea in general given my car only has 500 miles and thus need a real primo condition wheel?

 

[blaine109]

I actually have a wheel and tire store where I not only sell custom wheels but OEM wheels as well. Reconditioned wheels are way more common than you might think. In terms of crash parts (typical body shop replacement items such as bumpers, mirrors, head lights, etc.), wheels are in the top 5 and the vast majority are reconditioned.

There are a couple of big time wheel restoration companies out there (none of which sell direct to consumers) that a lot of companies buy from (myself included) and they all typically have a limited lifetime finish warranty. In all my years of selling thousands of reconditioned wheels I have only had 4 or 5 wheels total ever come back for finish warranty. And when they did come back they were refinished at no charge at all to the customer.

PM me for some more info.

 

[jim1274]

Blaine was unable to find the wheel from his suppliers, so I ordered from the cheapest of the 3 online ones I did find--the 3820 from this supplier:

http://www.originalwheels.com/ford-wheels/taurus2011rims.php

I will post my comments when it arrives. If anyone is interested, I can post the links for the other 2 suppliers that had them, both of which seemed to be responsive to my inquiries.

 

[jim1274]

I got the wheel today and it was immaculate and looked like brand new. Given my net total cost after core credit was $235, I am very satisfied.

The purchase experience was very good with originalwheels.com--would buy again.

I only drove the car the few miles home so far, but it seems perfect.

 

[CV_SHO]

Jim,

They web site shows them for $335, did they give you a $100 core credit?

How do we tell if ours are the Silver Sparkle or Luster Nickel?

I got the wheel today and it was immaculate and looked like brand new. Given my net total cost after core credit was $235, I am very satisfied.

The purchase experience was very good with originalwheels.com--would buy again.

I only drove the car the few miles home so far, but it seems perfect.

 

[jim1274]

Jim,

They web site shows them for $335, did they give you a $100 core credit?

How do we tell if ours are the Silver Sparkle or Luster Nickel?

Interesting that price went up 100 bucks--the core credit was only $25 but they did pay return postage.

The luster nickel connfused me too--the 3820 number is what was critical--the color match was correct for what I would have called a silver wheel.

Did you pull a wheel and check model number? That will let you reference the compatible aftermarket designation--ford uses several model numbers that are same wheel as the 3820.

There were a couple other wheel outfits that had my 3820 wheel--all were priced at a little over 300. Maybe original wheels just had the one I bought mispriced?