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A few months ago I was cleaning up my car and I noticed the clear coat was starting to peel on one of my wheels so I call HRE. The wheels were still under warranty so they tell me to send it back and they will repair it. I get a message from HRE stating the wheel suffered an impact causing the damage,even though there was absolutely no damage to the rim surface,$440 out of my pocket. Well,yesterday I'm cleaning up the car and I see on both rear wheels that the clear is starting to do the same thing. The wheels done even have 1000 miles on them and the car sits in the garage and never sits in the sun or the weather. I'm just curious to know if anybody else has had any issues like this. You spend the money on the very best only to get a substandard product. Now the wheels are 1 month out of warranty,will HRE give me a line of crap and will I have a set of wheels I will no longer want on my car? We will see.
The first picture is of the first wheel I paid for,I had no explanation for the chip so I paid the bill but after finding the same thing in 2 other wheels I think HRE owes me some money. The second picture the peeling is very small but will only get worse.
How long have you owned your wheels? Have you contacted HRE about your concerns with their wheel coating quality?
I got the wheels 2 years ago in April. When I first got in touch with HRE about the first wheel back in Feb,after they inspected the wheel they determined that I was at fault for the damage. But now that 2 more wheels are starting to peel what's going to be the excuse now? HREs warranty is 2 years and that was up last month but I will contact them this week. To be fair the finish on the first wheel was defective,sent back in Feb and these 2 are doing the same thing so if they want to do the right thing they will either refinish the 3 remaining wheel hoops or if they can't guarantee these won't fail again then strip the clear from all 4 wheels and leave the surface bare polished,I have no problem polishing these once in a while. The car never sees rain or dirt for that matter so the wheels wouldn't be hard to keep up. These wheels have been nothing but grief. I didn't even get them one the car and one had to go back for a bad Schrader valve,one wheel went back in March now this. I will not spend a dime to get this fixed and I want a refund for the initial $440 I was out to fix the first wheel. I know the his may be asking a lot but these wheels were brutally expensive. While they are at it they can fix the first wheel center they chipped. At one point HRE wheels were the very best there was,not sure anymore.
Very surprised to hear this. Ive ran a few sets of HRE now and always had great luck with the wheels and the company. HRE even helped me with a wheel that was out of warrant and purchased 2nd hand.
Plenty can happen in 1000 miles, even chips from impact damage due to road debris, rocks, curbing a wheel, etc. Just because there's limited mileage on the wheel set itself doesn't mean that they're not subject to road debris, come on now. That's like saying, I drove my brand new 2017 C7 for 1000 miles and I already have rock chips on the bumper, it's Chevy's fault!! I know it sucks, I've been in your shoes too where I'm wondering, 'Why me!?,' but we've certainly tried our best to answer your questions and be fair. We even mentioned to you that if you sent in your wheels for inspection and we were able to verify impact damage again, that we would discount the repair costs 50%. We certainly didn't have to offer you a 50% discount if it comes to that, but at the end of the day we want to help out and hopefully resolve things in a positive manner.
If there's an issue going on with your wheels, we need to see them in person in order to make a determination of what has happened. Photos aren't good at all to judge whether a wheel was damaged due to a defect or due to an impact or otherwise. If at the end of the day it's a defect by us, we'll own up to it and warranty the wheels and get them back your way, pretty simple. In the event that it is determined the damage on your wheels is not covered under warranty due to impact damage again, we will still extend the 50% off refinishing discount that Jon had offered to you a while back.
If you'd like to proceed then reply back to Jon's email that he sent to you about an hour ago and we'll get the ball rolling. If we can't see the wheels here in person though, the process cannot start, nor can we make a determination on the damage. Only way we'll know for sure if it's a defect or if it's an impact is if it's here.
Very surprised to hear this. Ive ran a few sets of HRE now and always had great luck with the wheels and the company. HRE even helped me with a wheel that was out of warrant and purchased 2nd hand.
Hope all works out for you.
Yep! See we're not mean people at all! We try to help out every way we can, but we simply can't start the process unless the wheels are here for inspection. Judging a warranty claim by a photo isn't ideal. Hopefully we can get those in here for inspection and we can see what's going on.
Hre - do you powder coat wheels or paint?
Op- when I look at your picture #2 that looks like a gouge to me not delamination.
Delamination is the lifting between two dissimilar materials.
Op- did you buy the wheels and tires as set from hre or who mounted the tires?
Last edited by 1968swbbigblock; 05-30-2017 at 07:52 PM.
Hre - do you powder coat wheels or paint?
Op- when I look at your picture #2 that looks like a gouge to me not delamination.
Delamination is the lifting between two dissimilar materials.
Op- did you buy the wheels and tires as set from hre or who mounted the tires?
Yep! See we're not mean people at all! We try to help out every way we can, but we simply can't start the process unless the wheels are here for inspection. Judging a warranty claim by a photo isn't ideal. Hopefully we can get those in here for inspection and we can see what's going on.
The 50% offer WAS NEVER OFFERED,an email sent today was the first time I've seen this,it would have been nice had HRE made this offer months ago when I paid the $440. The email sent by Jon today was the first mention of it and that was only offered to fix the chipped wheel that HRE did in the first wheel months ago and then a follow up email for the 50% offer for any work done on the wheels after you posted this,should I post the emails and times? To be fair to HRE it just wasn't possible to ship the wheel back for inspection of the damage,HRE doesn't have a reputable dealer in the Bay Area that can look at a wheel? You guys want this BS to play out on the forums it's your call but don't even make me out to be the sniveling unsatisfied customer. As far as the chip HRE put in the wheel months ago,didn't HRE inspect the wheel upon receiving it and note ANY previous damage? Once again,you want OUR business to play out in front of the World,it's your call HRE.
Hre - do you powder coat wheels or paint?
Op- when I look at your picture #2 that looks like a gouge to me not delamination.
Delamination is the lifting between two dissimilar materials.
Op- did you buy the wheels and tires as set from hre or who mounted the tires?
I know the difference between a gouge and lifting paint,the aluminum underlying surface is perfect. Not to be rude here but if you want to inquire about business can you ask in your own thread?
I know the difference between a gouge and lifting paint,the aluminum underlying surface is perfect. Not to be rude here but if you want to inquire about business can you ask in your own thread?
Jeff - take a chill pill!
I have been around powder coat since the mid 1980's in one form or another! I did some of the first street rod powder coating on suspensions in the USA.
I thought I would try and offer some help to YOU but I had to understand the process hre uses first before I advise.
It is now clear that you have your own agenda and that does not involve
Listening to what others have to say.
Remember you posted on a public forum.
Jeff - take a chill pill!
I have been around powder coat since the mid 1980's in one form or another! I did some of the first street rod powder coating on suspensions in the USA.
I thought I would try and offer some help to YOU but I had to understand the process hre uses first before I advise.
It is now clear that you have your own agenda and that does not involve
Listening to what others have to say.
Remember you posted on a public forum.
My own agenda,like dealing with an issue that shouldn't be an issue? My apologies,no offence was intended. My intial post was to ask for anyone else having clear coat issues on these wheels.
I may not have the hands-on experience of "1968" above but I've been to wheel mfrs. all over the country, wheel remans, wheel coating places, etc. for many years.
On this forum and C4 as well, wheels can sustain damage as HRE rep has said: it may be unknown and unheard by the owner as they drive along. It can also be caused by chemicals, both in the air, and used by the owner in and around the wheels.
I've also seen practically brand new wheels with pitting and bumps on the surface. Believe it or not, it depends on so many factors that don't even involve the design of the car. In this case, it looks like the wheels are a deep-dish design (we have no idea about how airflow might be a cause), and it's not possible to determine the offset to be stock or otherwise.
Even some tire designs kick up more stuff than others.
And finally, my opinion is that the next-to-last photo showing a patch on the very edge of the rim looks more like a mounting/dismounting cause than a simple delam. It could have been caused at the time of mount/dismount, but not show up until later, too.
If it were me, I'd work with HRE to see what they can do, going forward. IMO, short of hitting the wheels w. a rattle can of clear coat, that is your best bet unless you have someone local who can/does that type of work.
Sounds to me like HRE is trying to be fair and you are the one with your panties in a wad. You started by posting this in a public forum and then bitch when the other party replies in a very professional manner in the same forum. Give them a chance to inspect the wheels as they request and determine what the issue may be or deal with the wheels in their current condition.
Certainly none of my business, but why not cut your losses (shipping, waiting, negotiating, etc.) and aggravation and have the wheel(s) repaired/refinished locally? Sounds like HRE has told you all they can/will without seeing the wheels in person.
05-28-2017, 03:55 PM
Not even happy with HRE,and you?
