McCulla

I didn't excercise due diligence. I bought these wheels:

FS: OEM 997 Carrera S Wheels. NEW Condition!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flawless Like NEW condition with only 5k miles when off the car. NO bends, cracks, curb rust or scratches. 99% new.

$900 with OEM center caps
$850 without center caps.

email or PM me. Pickup in Bay Area or pay for shipping.
ac011@yahoo.com

Fronts: 8Jx19 ET57
Rears: 11Jx19 ET67

I paid Pay Pal with an additional $175 shipping. My shop put them all on a Road Force balancer and all 4 are bent. The testing was done with and without tires mounted. No visible damage but still bent. I will not put my family at risk with these wheels. Of course I would like a refund but the seller wants me to take the wheels to a different shop to prove the lack of true in the rims. After some back and forth between the seller and I, it turns out that the reason that the wheels only have 5K miles is because they were track wheels. I should have asked that question before popping for them, but I didn't. Lesson (duh) is ask, ask, ask. I am stuck with a $975 set of paperweights. If you deal w/ Mr. Choi, get more information than I did before you send your money.

rodsky

That sux. Sorry to hear. What about small claims court? You have evidence - the ad and the report from your installer.

Smitten

I'm going to guess there is another side to this story.

Tcc1999

Assume I do not know anything about rims. Can someone give me a little insight how all four can be bent and, at the same time, show no visible damage? What type of stress (on the track) do you have to apply to cause this. I know you can misform metals without any apparent damage but this is typically the result of continued stress - that would be a lot of track time - and if that's the case how can they look brand new. No judgements, Just curious.

vjd3

If you paid with PayPal, open a claim as not described. This is assuming he did not ask you to send it the "friends and family" route, which removes both the fee to the recipient and the buyer protection to the sender. They will have you ship the rims back to him and refund your money plus shipping charges, as long as you document the fact that the rims are bent and that he said they were not.

However, I think it it not unreasonable for the seller to ask for a second opinion on them -- at his expense, of course.

McCulla

All good responses. If I knew the answer about how all 4 could be bent w/o visible damage, I'd be in better position. Makes no sense to me either. Imagine my surprise when I got the first text from my indy saying that the first one was bent, followed half an hour later with the news that all 4 were bent. I don't have the answer that tcc1999 is wondering about. The only thing I have to go on is the shop's Road Force machine testing and a 5 year history with the shop. I know them well and vice versa. They have no motive to be less than 100% truthful. They didn't offer to sell me some wheels.
Smitten. The other side of the story, from Mr. Choi is that he had them on his car for 4 years with no balance nor seal issues. He says that he had 2 tires replaced recently with no issues either. Then he told me they were track wheels...(curbs/offs/etc..?)
The unfortunate state of affairs is that Calif-Florida distance makes any remedy more difficult, of course.
I plan on contacting Pay Pal, vjd3.
This is an unfortunate happening but in the grand scheme it's a first world problem. I'm likely out about $1000, spent on a fluff commodity for my fluff commodity. Frustrating, maddening, painful, yes but I have a family, a home, food, a job, nice car, maybe he needs the $1000 more than I do. I'm sleeping well.

Ben Z

I had tire rack ship to my Benz indie and when they installed the rears they showed me on the balance machine that my rims were bent, but he said it wasn't severe, they don't leak and could balance perfectly, and not to worry about it. The car tracks straight, doesn't shimmy or vibrate, and the tires wear evenly.

So the next time I needed tires I had tire rack ship to a guy near my office who another P-car owning friend uses for tires (it's a German mechanic but they sevice mainly Rolls, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati and Lambo). He didn't mention about the bent rims, and when I asked him he said he sees tons of wheels on these cars that are technically a little out of true, but there's no reason to alarm the owner unless the wheel can't be balanced or it leaks or there's some actual evidence it has an effect.

So the question is how much bent are these rims that you're worried about the safety of your family? Did the mechanic tell you they're dangerous? Or is it just the principle that you feel you got cheated because they aren't perfectly in true?

G356

This is an easy one.

Get a letter from your Indy describing the wheels and condition. Then email a copy of the letter to the seller.

If he refuses to refund, File a claim with EBay. They almost always side with the buyer unless it was sold as damaged and as-is.

Smitten

I have no reason to doubt you McCulla, but generally the other side of the story is best told by the other party.

Have you talked to Choi first hand, i.e., not text or email, but voice? Is he open to helping resolve the issue? I only ask this because text/email leaves many details unanswered. A face-to-face, or at least voice discussion, can go a long way towards resolving a conflict.

iammulva

I had bent rims on my 540 and got it (them?) straightened through my mechanic (whose judgment I trust). I have these questions, based on little or no real experience with bent rims other than my one instance...

1. Can rims be straightened without ill effect?
2. Can rims be straightened and then used safely at high speeds?
3. Can these specific 4 rims be straightened?

Smitten

WRT 1 & 2, yes.
I've had at least a half-dozen alloy wheels straightened over the years (rally damage, plus I live way out in the weeds). I've also had cracked wheels welded and straightened. All perform just like new after a proper repair, and are safe. Note that a proper repair includes NDE so you know there's no hidden fracture lurking there.

BIG smoke

I have had brand new rims, not be perfectly true upon purchase. I have also had brand new rims and new tires not need any weights at all. I was standing right next to the machine when it happened. It can go either way. I'm sure you can trust your indy shop, but would they be dangerous? will they balance?
I know they are used rims, why were they sold. They may have been track wheels, but it sounds to me like they may have come off the track wheels. Thus deforming them, unseen to the naked eye.
Here is my question. Should you ask for a balancing report to accompany a used set of wheels? surely you can get a print out?
I bought some used winter wheels and tire. One rim has a bad scuff and dent. snows are in good shape. I have not had them balanced yet, they have been poorly repainted. I just need them to drive 10 minutes to work twice a day in the snow. BUT only when the snow is less than 2 inches, because that is the height of my lowered car. But I have $5oo in the wheels and tire. I knew I was/am taking a gamble. I examined before I purchased. I can understand your plight.
Often for example, UPS asks you to open the package before the driver leaves. Could you get wheels shipped to the installer and get them balanced up before taking receipt?

McCulla

Ben Z, I understand that everyone has their own boundaries for perceived risk, real or not, big or small. I'm going on the premise that I luckily have some information about this component, before it goes into use, that allows me to decide to accept the risk or not. This time I choose not to. My mechanic told me that he could balance the first one, as you alluded to, but at the point it took 3 ounces in one spot to begin to even out, I opted out. My call. Of course there is a principle here. "NEW condition...NO bends".
Smitten, as we exchanged earlier, always two sides. I'm looking into repair/restore options. With electronic evaluation of the integrity of the wheels.
BIG smoke, he told me they were track wheels.

McCulla

..he told me they were track wheels AFTER the bend issue came to light.

JohnnyBahamas

If I had been the seller I would have refunded your money and your shipping back to me. In fact, I've done something similar before when balancing issues came up. For me, my word and my reputation for honesty is far more valuable than money.

The buyer has options, though -

Having used PayPal to pay the buyer is safe. Contact PayPal and file a complaint. That will freeze the funds in the buyer's account, if they haven't cleared yet, and keep the buyer from having to jump through the seller's hoops. If the product description was false (even innocently), then buyer wins. Period.

But, contact PayPal first thing.