[Akkiben]

Its been just a month since i took my New Optra Magnum(Diesel). On the way back from Goa the left side rear wheel hit a bad spot on the road. The car was seating 5 people at that time. Upon observation it was seen that the rear left side alloy wheel had developed a crack on the inner lip.
My question, may i claim for replacement of the wheel from Chevrolet as its a new car or would insurance pay for the alloy wheel replacement.
Please advise.

[khoj]

Ideally this should be replaced by Chevrolet under warranty. Alloy wheels do not crack that easily and that is the reason they are put there in the first place instead of steel wheels to provide additional safety. Clearly this particular wheel must have had some manufacturing defect like a microscopic crack which has resulted in failure.

[ghodlur]

@akkiben,

Could you post the pciture of the crack on the alloy please if you dont mind. Also did you drive with the cracked alloy, any difference in the feel. Just curious to know.

[triedeverything]

I doubt Chevy is going to replace this free of cost. It's not their fault that your car went into a pot hole! Besides, they sell cars, not tanks

Anyway, if the damage is not too bad, it can be repaired and used as a spare. One of the alloys on my previous car had a dent and this was rectified in a tyre shop near Lal Bagh, Bangalore. I've seen some wheels being restored in spite of a portion being chipped off! I wouldn't know about the safety of using such wheels, all I'm saying is that I've seen this being done.

I forget the name of the shop, but I could give you directions. You need to come up double road towards Lal bagh and then take a left. Go along the Lal bagh boundary till you come to a signal. Take the right on the road that leads to the Ashoka piller. As soon as you take the right, Immediately to the left, you will find a Tyre shop. Inquire there. Remember to bargain!

[amit1234singla]

The best option will be to get it replaced from Chevy. But that will require some effort to convince them to do so. One argument can be that since nothing else on the suspension went bad, the pothole was not that bad, but still the alloy broke which means something wrong with the alloy.

This can be claimed under insurance as well, but then you will lose NCB. @20%, the loss of NCB is going to be more or less equal to the price of a new alloy.

Lastly, if you don't want to pay from your pocket, I would recommend to use the spare alloy as regular and buy a steel rim to use as spare (Optra has all 5 alloys). That's only if this broken alloy can not be repaired or if you are told that it won't be safe to use after repairs. Tubeless tyres get punctured very rarely (at least in my case) and hence using steel as spare won't be a big deal.

I hoping that you are not over inflating the tyre pressure? The reason I am asking is that it is very rare for alloys to break and Optra alloys seems to be very solid (at least visually). Excessive tyre pressure will not let tyres to flex much resulting in all the force created by bumps going alloys. Just trying to help buddy, drive safe!

[satya180]

@akkiben: i would advise you to never use a repaired alloy wheel. Manufacturing of an alloy wheel is a strict quality controlled process for which high end machinery/ tooling/ process is required. Manufactured wheels are rejected at QC level even if presence of a slight blowhole/ porosity/ discontinuity is detected. Such things magnify at high stress/ temperature. It is related to my business, so i am giving you such advice.
I would recommend you to not put your life at risk running a repaired wheel, you do not want your wheel to give way at anything over 40kmph, let alone the speeds your car is capable of doing.
Just my two cents!

[.anshuman]

For your and other road users safety, I do not recommend using a repaired Rim/Tyre(Not even in stepney). Please do not forget tires are Car's only link to the road.

[satya180]

there might be 'experts' who will offer to repair your alloy wheel by using paste/ filling in weld etc. If this was the case, the factory people would have many such people working with them, and alloy wheel manufacturing would be a highly profitable business (lesser rejection).
also heat treatment of a cast(defect free) wheel is a critical process which gives the wheel its required strength. Hence please do not risk your and everyone elses life by taking such a big risk.
PS: alloy wheels need a REALLY GOOD beating before they crack/ fail. If your bump wasnt a really serious one, you might want to take it up with your dealer.

[Akkiben]

Originally Posted by khoj

Ideally this should be replaced by Chevrolet under warranty. Alloy wheels do not crack that easily and that is the reason they are put there in the first place instead of steel wheels to provide additional safety. Clearly this particular wheel must have had some manufacturing defect like a microscopic crack which has resulted in failure.

Exactly my thoughts. I was not speeding at a very high speed either, i was probably just over 60kmph.
I will take this up with the Dealer Ship. I appreciate your views.

Originally Posted by amit1234singla

The best option will be to get it replaced from Chevy. But that will require some effort to convince them to do so. One argument can be that since nothing else on the suspension went bad, the pothole was not that bad, but still the alloy broke which means something wrong with the alloy.

This can be claimed under insurance as well, but then you will lose NCB. @20%, the loss of NCB is going to be more or less equal to the price of a new alloy.

Lastly, if you don't want to pay from your pocket, I would recommend to use the spare alloy as regular and buy a steel rim to use as spare (Optra has all 5 alloys). That's only if this broken alloy can not be repaired or if you are told that it won't be safe to use after repairs. Tubeless tyres get punctured very rarely (at least in my case) and hence using steel as spare won't be a big deal.

I hoping that you are not over inflating the tyre pressure? The reason I am asking is that it is very rare for alloys to break and Optra alloys seems to be very solid (at least visually). Excessive tyre pressure will not let tyres to flex much resulting in all the force created by bumps going alloys. Just trying to help buddy, drive safe!

That's a good point you gave me there Amit, thank you. I will make that the basis for my argument- The suspension has not taken any beating, its the mag wheel that gave way!!! Its a faulty one- Replace it now!!! That's gonna be my statement :-)

If not, my last option- Make the insurance company pay.
Tyre pressure i set to 30, though recommended is 28, i did so cause the vehicle was fully loaded, i hope this is not the reason for the mag cracking:-(

Appreciate your views n advise here, thanks a ton!!! Yup, drive safe :-)

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@akkiben,

Could you post the pciture of the crack on the alloy please if you dont mind. Also did you drive with the cracked alloy, any difference in the feel. Just curious to know.

Hi, i will post a pic of the cracked wheel. The vehicle is right now at the service centre for the First SErvice.
I did not drive the vehicle with the crack. As soon as the vehicle hit the bad spot on the road i pulled over examined all the wheels to see the crack in the rear wheel. Immediately i replaced it with the spare wheel in the boot.

Note from the Team-BHP Support Team : Please use "Multi Quote" option for quoting Multiple posts, instead of creating another back-to-back post.

[coloneljasi]

Originally Posted by Akkiben

That's a good point you gave me there Amit, thank you. I will make that the basis for my argument- The suspension has not taken any beating, its the mag wheel that gave way!!! Its a faulty one- Replace it now!!! That's gonna be my statement :-)

If not, my last option- Make the insurance company pay.
Tyre pressure i set to 30, though recommended is 28, i did so cause the vehicle was fully loaded, i hope this is not the reason for the mag cracking:-(

Sorry to say this mate, but it's highly unlikely that Chevrolet, or any car manufacturer for that matter, will concede to a free alloy wheel replacement. Alloy wheels are indeed lighter and stronger than steel wheels but that does not mean that they'll take any sort of impact. Unfortunately, alloy wheel damages are very common in our country, quite simply because our road conditions are appalling.

Now the only option you're left with is to raise a claim with your insurer. The tricky thing is some insurers will not approve an alloy wheel claim if there is no other damage to the car. They will dig up some clause in their ever so small fine print and wave it in your face, to be honest. But there are those who will allow the odd wheel claim as a one-off case. Best ask your insurance service advisor about this.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by khoj

Ideally this should be replaced by Chevrolet under warranty. Alloy wheels do not crack that easily and that is the reason they are put there in the first place instead of steel wheels to provide additional safety. Clearly this particular wheel must have had some manufacturing defect like a microscopic crack which has resulted in failure.

khoj I don't quite think that this would be accepted/approved by Chevy or any dealer for that matter. Alloy wheels cracked due to negligent(no offense to the original post owner) driving cannot be replaced under warranty and no dealer would do so.

akkiben your option is to scout the local market and see if you can source a single alloy wheel. Use the current spare wheel on the car and the one you purchase from the market can be used as the spare one.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

khoj I don't quite think that this would be accepted/approved by Chevy or any dealer for that matter. Alloy wheels cracked due to negligent(no offense to the original post owner) driving cannot be replaced under warranty and no dealer would do so.

Whether they will or they will not, one can find out only once Akkiben takes it up with the dealership. At worst he will have to buy a new one but that does not mean he should not have a go at replacement from the OEM.

@Akkiben

In case you are denied a replacement, I would suggest you procure an OE steel wheel and use it as your spare. I base this suggestion on the assumption that your car came with 5 alloys. The steel wheel option is not only economical but buying from OE assures you of a good quality product. Ironical as it may be in this case.

[Akkiben]

Originally Posted by khoj

Whether they will or they will not, one can find out only once Akkiben takes it up with the dealership. At worst he will have to buy a new one but that does not mean he should not have a go at replacement from the OEM.

@Akkiben

In case you are denied a replacement, I would suggest you procure an OE steel wheel and use it as your spare. I base this suggestion on the assumption that your car came with 5 alloys. The steel wheel option is not only economical but buying from OE assures you of a good quality product. Ironical as it may be in this case.

I'm going to the dealership tomorrow, let me see what's in store for me. I'd hate to see a steel wheel in the boot now should i be denied the alloy replacement. I'd rather try the Insurance way or i'd pick a new OE alloy for the car :-( I really love those alloys. Beautiful design.

[GTO]

Akkiben,

Coincidentally, the left rear wheel of my Merc also got damaged on the way back from Goa. No one was able to pinpoint exactly what happened, but here's the shocker : Something blew through the wheel and created a 2cm dia hole in the wheel! The sound when it happened was like a gun shot.

Back to the point, just claim insurance as I did. The OEM replacement wheel cost 37.5K. If I remember correctly, the insurance company either covered all of it or a majority (3 years back so don't recollect exact details).

Chevy does not and wont offer you a warranty replacement. You have insurance coverage, use it.

[Akkiben]

Originally Posted by GTO

Akkiben,

Coincidentally, the left rear wheel of my Merc also got damaged on the way back from Goa. No one was able to pinpoint exactly what happened, but here's the shocker : Something blew through the wheel and created a 2cm dia hole in the wheel! The sound when it happened was like a gun shot.

Back to the point, just claim insurance as I did. The OEM replacement wheel cost 37.5K. If I remember correctly, the insurance company either covered all of it or a majority (3 years back so don't recollect exact details).

Chevy does not and wont offer you a warranty replacement. You have insurance coverage, use it.

Ok, will go with the insurance claim. Appreciate your advise GTO.