Signs of white worm on my 3 month old S3
- Thread starter Jason1987
- Start date
I had an Chrysler that the alloy wheels started corroding. As alot of the owners had the same problem the wheels were changed . You can only ask for this to be done then depending on their answer take it from there.
Will have to have a look at mine to see if there are any signs.
Good luck
Maybe not related, but been told that certain wheel cleaners may contribute to this. I had a Volvo V40 with 'diamond' cut 'curbed and fixed' only used one carwash that uses the correct wheel cleaner. 2 years later it was fine, still shiney and very metallic.
I’ve only used auto finesse cleaners which I think is meant to be safe on all wheels. Just don’t think this should be happening on a 3 month old car should it? Also, is this part of the 3 yr at warranty? So if it gets worse say in a years time, I’m still covered? Obviously if it doesn’t look like I’ve curbed it and it’s my fault..
The wheel doesn't need to be curbed to cause this it can be as simple as a tiny stone braking the lacquer and water will get in .
I've had the on many new cars over the years . I don't think Audi will be putting it rite for you to be honest .
So will it get worse and spread and wreck the whole finish? Or will it just stay bad where it was chipped? It’s bad to be in this state after 3 months though as cars are driving and all wheels are subject to chips etc surely
It should stay to the area it is . I had my wheels refurbished around a year ago and they all have white worm all ready from small stone chips .
I totally get where your coming from as its very annoying but unfortunately its what comes with diamond cut wheels .
Seems a bit of a crap design then if they get white worm just from normal driving where they are bound to get little chips on. I’m surpised they still use this design if it’s so easily damaged?
Out of curiosity are the plastic bolt covers still in perfect colour/condition on the wheels? I noted that on some previous cars of mine (non diamond cut rims) these plastic things started disintegrating into a whiteworm like state.
To be fair on my V40 only the edges of the rim and 5 thin spokes were diamond cut, the rest of the rim was regular alloy coat or whatever its called. The A3/S3 19inch ones, the entire face of the rim is diamond cut material!
To be fair on my V40 only the edges of the rim and 5 thin spokes were diamond cut, the rest of the rim was regular alloy coat or whatever its called. The A3/S3 19inch ones, the entire face of the rim is diamond cut material!
Although I don't remember where I read it (or if i read it at all), or it could be the wheel place I went to sort a curb on diamond cut rims told me, but perhaps if after cleaning them properly, you need to apply something like Poorboys wheel sealants to 'protect' them.
It’s annoying as it’s smooth damage so looks like it would polish off but o assume it’s under the laquer which is the whole issue. Now I know why the 8v s3 I looked at which is meant to have the black wheels with the polished lip had been refurbed to all black and was only 2 years old.
Go to the dealers. Some are OK and some will fob you off because they have an inexperienced warranty claims manager who fears not getting reimbursed for replacement (Lookers at Newcastle and Silverlink are terrible for this). Hopefully your local dealership are OK. In my experience of 8 performance VWs bought new with diamond cut alloys, they all tend to go at around 2.5 years old (without scrapes) unless you give them disproportionately high care with frequent sealant applications. In your case, the marks look tiny - they might tell you to come back when they're worse.
If you keep the car a long time, be prepared to get the wheels painted or powder coated.
If you keep the car a long time, be prepared to get the wheels painted or powder coated.
Thanks, I don’t want to go to dealers just yet as it’s small bits so far and I don’t want to leave my new car with the dealers for a week, am I technically covered for 3 years like everything else? So I’d then suddenly go terrible in a years time I’m still covered in theory?
As long as you don't scrape those wheels or get a stone chip on the lacquer in the meantime you should be fine.
I assumed I already had small stone chips in the laquer which had caused the marks so far?
Give the wheel a good clean and look for any lacquer breaches. I have had whiteworm with no breaches before, on VW MK5 wheels.
It felt smooth last time I checked. What did you do when you had it with no breaches? Got it fixed?
Give the wheel a good clean and look for any lacquer breaches. I have had whitewood with no breaches before, on VW MK5 wheels.
It was replaced under warranty (some dealers are better than others for this). Probably not worth VWs time to get refurbished. The issue is purely cosmetic, a whitening of the magnesium in the alloy due to surface oxidation, its not like steel rust that will rot through. My dad has a 2013 Golf GTD with wheels covered in white worm and they're structurally sound.
I’ll just leave it unless it gets a lot worse I guess. If they all start going bad and it looks bad I’ll go to dealer. Still bad that it’s doing it after 3 months. Bad design
So will this mark definitely not polish off like a scuff on paintwork? Is it definitely white worm? It feels smooth and I can’t see any splits etc from stones. I’m wondering if it would polish out? Or is that not how wheel laquer works? I can see it from a difference and it looks like a curb mark but it’s not, annoying.
