2013 ZL1 Wheels - anyone else have problems

[2012ZL1]

Originally Posted by 01pewterz28

I use soap and water only on mine others have posted that is all they use as well.

No. I didn't mean to imply YOU did it. Could have been dealership wash guys...When I worked at a dealership they had big pails of acid they put in spray bottles for cleaning wheels that they often mixed too strong, got on painted surfaces or didn't rinse off properly...

[OldScoolCamaro]

Off hand from my perspective based on the OP's pictures... to me it looks like a paint issue. The depth of the lug holes were not coated properly during the painting process. It's a rather straight forward issue, and appears rather obvious. BTW I have 10 spokes and I didn't inspect mine that close of yet.

[HDRDTD]

I wonder how the wheel would look if someone were to make some matching silver plastic snap-in caps to cover the lug nut recesses. The plastic could either be silver to hide the lug nuts, or clear to make them visible, but either way, it would cover the recess so you wouldn't have to worry about the accumulation of brake dust in those hard-to-reach places.

Just a thought.

[KidB]

Im new to forum ive been watchin this post.Just got my new Zl1 last weekend. It has the black wheels,upon getting home noticed all 4 wheels are extremely light on paint around lug nuts. My dealer told me chevy will not do anything about it that its normal.

[RobZL1580]

Originally Posted by KidB

Im new to forum ive been watchin this post.Just got my new Zl1 last weekend. It has the black wheels,upon getting home noticed all 4 wheels are extremely light on paint around lug nuts. My dealer told me chevy will not do anything about it that its normal.

Brandon, what do you think of that?

[alyssasdad]

Originally Posted by RobZL1580

Brandon, what do you think of that?

Brandon? Are you there? Must have the weekends off!!

[BlackinBlack]

Washed my car today. I must have been lucky as mine do not have this issue. I specifically checked after reading this thread. I did have some sticky goop on one rim that must have been from them installing the tire valve. It was a PITA to remove.

Hope your dealers take care of this for you. I would want the rims replaced if mine looked like that.

BTW These rims are a pain to clean compared to 2010-2012 SS/RS rims. Any recommendation on a very gentle cleaner. Soap and water with a microfiber rag is lots of work. Hoping for a easier solution that is 100% safe.

[RobZL1580]

Thursday last week Chevrolet asked me to take my car to the dealership and they were advised by Chevrolet to try an aluminum cleaner which did not work.

Friday, I was advised by Brandon from Chevrolet that someone higher up would be calling me with 48 hrs.

Today I received a phone call from Alex at Chevrolet and she advised they were aware of my problem and that this is a new issue without a solution yet. She said she would call me back no later than this Friday afternoon.

So stay tuned!

[alyssasdad]

Originally Posted by KidB

Im new to forum ive been watchin this post.Just got my new Zl1 last weekend. It has the black wheels,upon getting home noticed all 4 wheels are extremely light on paint around lug nuts. My dealer told me chevy will not do anything about it that its normal.

You need to find a new dealer/service department. I have been talking with my service manager for a while about this wheel problem and have been waiting for an answer from him before I posted again. On Tuesday I took my Z to him for a different issue and he was headed out to a managers meeting in the next town over.He said his GM rep would be at the meeting and he would ask him about my wheels(3 of mine have this problem).Later that day when I picked my car up he was back from the meeting. He said his GM rep was going to research the problem further and talk to some "higher ups" about the wheel and he would call me as soon as his rep let him know what to do. Well,my service manager called me today to make sure he knew which wheels were defective because he was about to order me 3 new ones!!!!. So.... back to my original sentence. You need to find a new dealer/service dep.. Thanks

[RobZL1580]

Ok I have some good news and some bad news. My dealer and also Alex from Chevrolet called me today. They both said the exact same thing:

Good news - Chevrolet is replacing all 4 wheels under warranty

Bad news - they both said that this is a one-time exception and that the engineers basically said I have to do a better job cleaning these wheels using a lug nut brush, etc.

I told both my dealer and Alex, that I will accept the four new wheels and hope that I do not have any other issues, however I will not accept that this is a one-time exception.

I told Alex from Chevrolet, who by the way was very nice and understanding, that the people who buy ZL1's are not your typical car buyer. We take great pride in how our vehicles look and run. We all wash, wax, and detail our vehicles frequently and many of us don't even drive them in the rain. I asked Alex to to relay to her engineers that this is insulting and unacceptable to tell me I will need to do a better job cleaning my wheels in the future and that I am on my own if this issue comes back.

My wheels are on order and should be in next week. I will keep you posted.

[Russell James]

Originally Posted by RobZL1580

Ok I have some good news and some bad news. My dealer and also Alex from Chevrolet called me today. They both said the exact same thing:

Good news - Chevrolet is replacing all 4 wheels under warranty

Bad news - they both said that this is a one-time exception and that the engineers basically said I have to do a better job cleaning these wheels using a lug nut brush, etc.

I told both my dealer and Alex, that I will accept the four new wheels and hope that I do not have any other issues, however I will not accept that this is a one-time exception.

I told Alex from Chevrolet, who by the way was very nice and understanding, that the people who buy ZL1's are not your typical car buyer. We take great pride in how our vehicles look and run. We all wash, wax, and detail our vehicles frequently and many of us don't even drive them in the rain. I asked Alex to to relay to her engineers that this is insulting and unacceptable to tell me I will need to do a better job cleaning my wheels in the future and that I am on my own if this issue comes back.

My wheels are on order and should be in next week. I will keep you posted.

Tell them -- Bullshit.

Your warranty is good for 3 years/36K. If the paint on the wheels is screwed up again within warranty.... new wheels again.

Can't change the warranty terms after purchase. One time exception... give me a break.

Alex, get a ****ing clue.

[alyssasdad]

Originally Posted by RobZL1580

Ok I have some good news and some bad news. My dealer and also Alex from Chevrolet called me today. They both said the exact same thing:

Good news - Chevrolet is replacing all 4 wheels under warranty

Bad news - they both said that this is a one-time exception and that the engineers basically said I have to do a better job cleaning these wheels using a lug nut brush, etc.

I told both my dealer and Alex, that I will accept the four new wheels and hope that I do not have any other issues, however I will not accept that this is a one-time exception.

I told Alex from Chevrolet, who by the way was very nice and understanding, that the people who buy ZL1's are not your typical car buyer. We take great pride in how our vehicles look and run. We all wash, wax, and detail our vehicles frequently and many of us don't even drive them in the rain. I asked Alex to to relay to her engineers that this is insulting and unacceptable to tell me I will need to do a better job cleaning my wheels in the future and that I am on my own if this issue comes back.

My wheels are on order and should be in next week. I will keep you posted.

Rob,I think you responded to that load of crap perfectly. My service manager didnt say anything like that to me(thank God).Like I said in my last post,my wheels are also on order. I dont care what they or anybody else says, this is not a cleaning issue,it is a paint and/or clear coat issue. Until I got my OCD under control I was cleaning my wheels every time I drove my Z!! Even if I went less that 20 miles!! I think that all of us know how to clean our wheels(unless all of us that have the problem decided to use sandpaper to clean our wheels)!! Glad to hear you are getting yours replaced as well. Lets hope the rest of us that have this problem get theirs replaced without to much hassle as well!!

[Mrose]

I am getting the same around my lugs as well! I will take in and see whats up !

[HDRDTD]

Originally Posted by RobZL1580

Ok I have some good news and some bad news. My dealer and also Alex from Chevrolet called me today. They both said the exact same thing:

Good news - Chevrolet is replacing all 4 wheels under warranty

Bad news - they both said that this is a one-time exception and that the engineers basically said I have to do a better job cleaning these wheels using a lug nut brush, etc.

I told both my dealer and Alex, that I will accept the four new wheels and hope that I do not have any other issues, however I will not accept that this is a one-time exception.

I told Alex from Chevrolet, who by the way was very nice and understanding, that the people who buy ZL1's are not your typical car buyer. We take great pride in how our vehicles look and run. We all wash, wax, and detail our vehicles frequently and many of us don't even drive them in the rain. I asked Alex to to relay to her engineers that this is insulting and unacceptable to tell me I will need to do a better job cleaning my wheels in the future and that I am on my own if this issue comes back.

My wheels are on order and should be in next week. I will keep you posted.

I would assume that it all depends on what the actual problem is traced to.
In other words, If GM can take your wheels, analyze them back at the lab and positivly determine that is IS indeed an issue with paint quality, then there would be no question they would replace the wheels under warranty.

If on the other hand the lab can positivly determine that the discoloration is due to something other such as (I'm not iferring you did this) using the wrong type of wheel cleaner causing the issue due to a reaction with the coating on the wheel, then the issue is NOT caused by a defect in the wheel or the manyfacturing process, and thus would NOT qualify for a warranty replacement.

It sounds as if GM is not convinced that the discoloration (at least in your case) is due to a product defect, but has agreed that in the interest of customer good will, they will replace the wheels THIS TIME.

I do agree that at this point, IF you just used soap and water and did not use any of the popular wheel cleaning sprays on the market, that it might be a paint issue, but we can't prove it.

Just saying.......