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Old 08-28-2016, 10:38 AM   #4
jakeru
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Join Date: May 2015
Location: Greater Seattle, WA
Posts: 534
Wow - it's too bad your detailing guy didn't use a safe wheel cleaner. There are paint-safe wheel cleaning options available now (they typically change color to dark red) that are nearly as effective as the acidic type.

That looks like pitted raw aluminum to me, so it will need to have all the oxides removed, primered, and then resprayed to restore. Honestly, there are professional wheel refinishing outfits out there that do this all day. I'd ask them for a quote to do it.

I think the best result would be from disassembling the multi-parts, to clean and restore primered finish in between the crevices, but a reputable professional wheel refinisher would know whether they can get away with somehow skipping that. (My concern if skipping that would be that the corrosion spreads laterally and bubbles or peels away the newly applied finish.)

I also really hope the detailer who applied the acidic wheel cleaner did so with the wheels removed from the car, or else you may find that the the amodized finish on your brake calipers, and zinc finish on your brake rotors and hubs may have also been similarly degraded.

If the detailing guy is still in business, maybe restoring the finish to undo the damage he caused should be his responsibility?

This thread is a useful cautionary tale for the rest of seeking to maintain our Boxsters - so thanks so much for sharing!
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Last edited by jakeru; 08-28-2016 at 10:41 AM.
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