Stoney

<b>The good: </b>

* They are very competent at repairing bends, cracks, gouges, curb scrapes... even when it means adding new metal or fixing a tear.

* For painted wheels (like S-line and most stock and aftermarket wheels), they are very good at finishing them to look stock. In terms of these first two points, they are the best I could find.

* If there is a fingerprint or flaw, they often redo it without you having to ask.

* Tom is very good at mounting tires without scratching wheels. (For just tire mounting, he also recomments Wheel and Tire down the street, and Streetwise in Fremont. He says Custom Alignment has been known to scratch a wheel, but everybody has a bad day.)

* They will mount tires for you, as long as you aren't using the SmarTire system or similar pressure measurement system. He has little confidence in them anyway.

* Tom can help pick tires... he hears lots of stories and sees lots of worn tires. However, he's not as articulate about subtleties as people here, so have reasonable expectations.

<b>The not-so-good: </b>

* They send out wheels (at least bare alloys) for clear coating ("powder coat"), and in the process, wheels often get scratched or get fingerprints under the clearcoat. I had one wheel clear coated four times, taking 5 weeks! On the plus side, they caught it each time, so I never had to complain.

* They are very busy, and have a somewhat haphazard customer service. It is a small family business that is overloaded with customers. So, be patient and have modest expectations. Call to confirm that your wheel is done before you go down, and ask them to look at it for quality while you're on the phone. When you arrive, look at it yourself before they remount the tire. Don't bother getting indignant with them... it won't get you anywhere. They're the best (they feel) and don't feel the need need to improve their customer service.

* Their paperwork exempts them from responsibility for scratches while mounting tires (Tom says it does happen), from damage to rivets (definitely has happened!), and from giving refunds (even if they can't fix the wheel... store credit only).

* They cannot match the stock satin finish of bare alloy wheels like the 4.2 Sport wheels. The wheel ends up more polished, and with polish marks that are not concentric (the stock wheel has fine, concentric marks, like very fine brushed finish, satiny). I'd recommend having all 4 or at least 2 wheels on one side of the car polished to match the repair. (I put two repaired wheels on the right side of the car.) But, this could get pricey. Better still is to always buy painted wheels, or not hit curbs in the first place!

* Price can be high, up to $240. Mounting can be extra.

* You need an appointment just to drop off a wheel if you want them to swap it with the spare for you. Otherwise, just drop in. I'm not sure if you can just drop in for an estimate... probably if they're not too busy. I've seen it take a while though.

* Response to email from their website is, at best, many weeks late. Call instead.

Wheel Techniques
1(877) WheelTec
Phone: 408 / 866-5859
Fax: 408 / 866-2507
<A HREF="http://www.wheeltechniques.com/">Wheel Techniques Incorporated</A>
Location:
2885 South Winchester Blvd. Campbell, California 95008
Hours of Operation
Mon - Fri 8:30 am - 5:00 pm (sometimes earlier like 4pm)


<b>PS: April...</b> I saw your Alfa wheel. It looks good, but they still don't have the rivets. Paul said he has several people looking for rivets. But, with your connections, I'd suspect you could find them faster than they can.

mach schnell

Been sliding off the road lately? Perhaps at the track?

Stoney

I've had two encounters with curbs at low speed or parking. Getting better at it, though.

LessCode MoreBeer

good write-up, thanks!