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OKAY -- NEW MORE IMPORTANT PROBLEM HAS SPRUNG UP: SCRATCHED CHROMED TRDs...

3K views 30 replies 10 participants last post by  centennialman 
#1 ·
Oh shit fellas and playas....I'm hurtin...

My baby, as you all well know already, in Blue Ribbon Metallic, has only 660 something miles on her...today I was waiting for the lady to get out of the grocery store and I was turning through the parking lot and I didn't judge the sidewalk next to me and BAM! Right through the chromed TRD rim...

Now, looking at it, I only seemed to scratch the OUTER LIP a little bit -- just some road rash of sorts, with not lots of chrome missing...

My question is this: please someone tell me that I can bring the vehicle back to my dealer, who had these rims shipped to California I believe to be chrome dipped, to have this fixed somehow? Can they polish or buff the area and apply some more chrome or something? It's just the lip, as I said, but it's breaking my heart as I'm trying to keep her as new as possible...

Thanks in advance, fellas...from a fellow SE enthusiast... :sosad::sosad:
 
#5 ·
Thank You Cor...

Is it as easy as going into a shop and they fix the scratched chrome? How is it done, do you know by any chance? Do they buff the damage and then "fill in" the missing chrome area?
 
#4 ·
Actually, I don't remember seeing your car...

Thank you for getting back to me, Forcer...

Is this above statement supposed to be as a jab because I haven't supplied a picture of the ride yet? That's how I took it; if so, I am so sorry for this -- I actually have no experience uploading pics to a website...it would be my first time...how can I go about doing this without a scanner and with just a camera phone?

But you can take your car to any wheel shop

Really? If so, this would be relieving; I can go into any wheel shop and they can fix the rubbed off piece of the outer rim of my chrome wheel?

Thanks again for your assistance and response...this nick on the rim is killing me!
 
#28 ·
Actually, I don't remember seeing your car...

Thank you for getting back to me, Forcer...

Is this above statement supposed to be as a jab because I haven't supplied a picture of the ride yet? That's how I took it; if so, I am so sorry for this -- I actually have no experience uploading pics to a website...it would be my first time...how can I go about doing this without a scanner and with just a camera phone?

But you can take your car to any wheel shop

Really? If so, this would be relieving; I can go into any wheel shop and they can fix the rubbed off piece of the outer rim of my chrome wheel?

Thanks again for your assistance and response...this nick on the rim is killing me!
Send a picture message to your email, upload it to a site, then post it up here
 
#6 ·
The wheel will have to be repaired and rechromed completely.
 
#8 ·
THIS is what I was worried about....

Can anyone else confirm if the rim is going to need to be taken off and completely re chromed?

If so, I'm going to go through my dealer who had the rims sent out to be done...
 
#7 ·
Don't worry about it. There should be a number of rim shops that can repolish/fix the rim for you. Most of these shops can also fix bends.

Most shops in my area charge between 50-150 dollars per rim repair depending on the extent of damage.
 
#9 ·
Don't worry about it. There should be a number of rim shops that can repolish/fix the rim for you. Most of these shops can also fix bends.

Most shops in my area charge between 50-150 dollars per rim repair depending on the extent of damage.
Thanks Trojan...

They repolish and fix the scratched chrome without it needing to be rechromed completely as the poster above claimed?

I have a special wheel and tire coverage warranty I took through my Toyota dealer where I purchased the vehicle, and they said something about them covering damages like this but I would need to tell them that "something hit the rim" and not that I did it; so, I may be able to go that way...but 150 bucks is reasonable.
 
#10 ·
#12 ·
Oh boy....okay...while I thank you for the link, this is not good news...I really didn't want to have to send this rim out to be rechromed completely; I mean, after all, we're talking about an 18 inch wheel here -- not those 20"+ custom dubs that are on the Camrys in that Indonesia thread...is it really worth all that time and money to have these completely rechromed from scratch?
 
#15 ·
if you have polish lip then it will be possible to fix it quickly and at a reasonable cost, but as far as i know, for chrome wheels you have to fill up the chipped area (if any), smooth it out and have it professionally re-chromed. but i suggest you to just pick up the phone and call a few wheel shops and ask what'd be the best way to fix it
 
#17 ·
Thanks for your suggestions; I don't have a polished lip -- these are the TRD 18s that are available in the U.S. for the SE Camry, and I just had the dealer chrome them.....
 
#22 ·
What is your problem, dude? First in the other thread you attack me, now here with my TRDs...they actually look AWESOME chromed, and many who remember my first intro thread welcoming me to the family here all said they expected my rims to look awesome chromed...and they do. I get comments on them everywhere I go. I didn't ruin them at all by chroming them; I just prefer the chrome look...are your TRDs the gunmetal gray ones? To me, those are just sleep inducing and boring. :rolleyes:
 
#23 ·
Thanks for the insight :rolleyes:...I know they will do this and I know I needed to watch for them; it was just a judgement error and mistake on my part...

The fact of the matter is I need to fix these things and fast.
 
#24 ·
UPDATE:

Called my dealership today and they gave me the runaround with fixing the rim; first my salesman told me to deal with the delivery chick who takes care of all this stuff (and who dealt with sending these TRDs off for chroming) and when I called her, she advised me to go with a local shop they deal with for bent and scratched rims. But this place, "Hubcap Annie," I had dealt with before when my '99 Accord rims were scratched, and they didn't want to deal with fixing them because of cost to me and told me that "nobody's gonna see those damages anyway when you're going 70 down the highway..."

So now, I can go back to this place and see if they'll fix the scratched lip in my rim, or I don't know what else...

Does anyone know if there are mobile guys who come out to the house to do these rim fixes??
 
#26 ·
Before you go and attack me as well, this is not meant to be a bash on you, this is meant to help you understand the hostility coming your way.

Oh, okay...so this was planned hostility -- confirmed by your description of "coming your way" as if this was all justified...okay.

I think the problem here is that first you posted your title in all capital letters as if this is the most important topic that needs to be answered in the entire forum

Absolutely untrue and was not my intention. Only did that because it was a desperate measure for me, personally, period. Please don't assume that's what was intended when I'm the one who wrote it originally and know that it's not what was intended. At all.

and then when people go ahead and tell you what needs to happen, you don't want to believe them, so instead you ask for confirmation on what you want to believe

What are you talking about? Where did I indicate that I don't want to believe anyone?? Are we in the same forum here?? Are we reading the same English language?? The problem is this: some people say "no problem...any wheel shop can fix that right up for you..." while some say it's completely a waste of time because it needs to be rechromed...can't you see the polarizing dilemmas I face then with all the confusion? I'll get to the rest of your post now...

Nobody is on here to try and scam you.

I never said anyone was trying to scam me -- calm down. I merely replied to a rude, aggressive, obnoxious comment about "ruining" my TRD wheels by chroming them -- which no one had anything to say about that "flaming" -- and in another thread, commented about the same member's aggressive tendencies by attacking me in the discussion about yellow TRD badges...and his comments came completely out of nowhere if you read back...I never had any hostility with this "Sexy Asian" until his comments to me from completely out of nowhere...I'm sorry, but his attack on me was uncalled for.

You asked a question about how to repair your chromed wheel, and we are telling you that you are SOL and the rim will have to be removed to be polished and rechromed. Sorry that this is not what you want to hear, but when you continue to argue like a petulant child with everyone that is trying to be helpful, you are then going to get some backlash like this.

A CHILD??? Are you for real?? You think that's how I'm acting? That is absolutely ridiculous, man. I never said nor typed that's not what I want to hear -- AGAIN: I AM MERELY TRYING TO FIND OUT WHICH IS THE CORRECT ANALYSIS OF THIS DILEMMA...WHETHER THOSE WHO SAY "DON'T WORRY, A RIM SHOP CAN FIX THAT UP FOR YOU" ARE RIGHT, OR WHETHER THE RIM HAS TO BE RECHROMED.

But back to the topic, if the scuff is not too bad, then hopefully the shop can just sandblast and rechrome. But if it's a deeper gouge, then make sure you get a quote on the polishing/repair, because metal work could be some significant labor cost. I hope you find a repair shop that is satisfactory to your needs. When you own nice stuff, then you need to be prepared to pony up the bucks when it's time to get the nice stuff fixed.

THIS is more the tone you should be taking with honest, polite, kindhearted human beings like myself (if you knew me, of course) who are trying to get some answers to a heartbreaking situation; I'm not saying that I am not prepared to pony up the bucks for the rim -- the issue is whether or not this could be fixed by a shop without having to send the wheel out because I waited months for this chroming to get done as it was and couldn't pick up the vehicle until they were ready...

In terms of the damage, the gouge is not so severe that I think it needs a labor quote or anything like that; the outer lip was skimmed and chipped a bit, that's all. I called my dealer again and dealt with the department that sold me my extended wheel/tire coverage plan, and they recommended going down to the service department and telling them I hit a pothole which caused the scrape, and see if they will repair or replace the TRD rim, which the woman in this department claimed they need to under these circumstances. I'm going to try and get in tomorrow.

So -- are you saying that a scraped lip MAY -- just MAY -- be able to be sanded down a bit without having the rim rechromed? Is there an outside slim chance?
 
#27 ·
So -- are you saying that a scraped lip MAY -- just MAY -- be able to be sanded down a bit without having the rim rechromed? Is there an outside slim chance?

I'm tired of answering the same question over and over again.

You just don't understand plating despite the answers and web site references.

It's all moot also until you find out something from your dealer............
 
#30 ·
njerald, agree with you 100%. He says that he isn't arguing us and then he writes another diatribe in his reply to me, so he just proves my point. I give up trying to help this guy.
 
#29 ·
IF your chrome is scracthed and peeled at all, you will need the whole rim rechromed, they will take the old chrome off the wheel and rechrome, there is no such thing as rechroming a certain part of a wheel, this is not like painting a fender and blending it in and what not....
 
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