Buckled Ford Alloy Wheels

[drapley]

Hello All

I remember there being quite a few posts on people who had buckled there new alloys, and it seemed Ford were having the same problem BMW had with low quality alloys.

Did any one have any luck with Ford or even passed it to watchdog?

I ask this as I have a Titanium 1.6 Petrol with the 16" Standard alloys and had a vibration at speed, took over 3 weeks to get it booked in with for and you gussed it 2 front alloys buckled!!!! now I have been driving cars with alloys for almost 20 years and never managed to buckle one and suddenly I have 2 in one go, so I must have hit 2 different pot holes hard enough to bend them!

[benholden2008]

Same problem I've had, gone through 2 in 6 months. And it's not just the titanium ones because the 17" zetec s ones are just as soft apparently

[ChrisZetecS]

I have two buckled wheels, and I have the 17" Zetec S wheels :(

[drapley]

Its not a problem at the moment as the car is a leaseplan so they can pay for it, but I am looking to buy it off them when it comes to a end as I really do want this car with all the extras I shoved in it like the leather!!! hummm leather, lol

But really puts me off if ive got to buy new wheels after surrey county council refuse to fill in the pot holes....

[stevie j]

I recon the councils should be paying for peoples wheels the roads are terrible at the moment apparently you can claim on your insurance for this but would you want to ??

[drapley]

Just got it back, forgot to ask for the old alloys as I guess they would always have done for a emergency, as the tyres didnt go and were reused on the new rims.

[AndrewL]

It does seem a bit suspect, the amount of people who are experiencing this. I'm terrified mine are going to buckle/have buckled ... sounds like a pricey fix.

[drapley]

Well the first I knew was vibration when I hit 70 on a straight road (of course I wouldnt know if it got worse when going faster.. lol) but when a back road at 50 you could feel it. the vibration was like I was riding my classic bike!!!!

[2nd ford E+ B]

I've a buckled wheel to. They told me at my last service, it'll cost £150 just for the alloy from ford.

[drapley]

Ford did say it was going to be £113 per alloy proberly +VAT, the only good thing was that I told them to go talk to leaseplan... I know from experience if enough people contact watchdog on there web site

http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/gotastory/

then they would do a story and that would make Ford do something for us, surely would be better than £150 bill every year?

Is there a way to do a collection of names on this thing to send them?

[Gazjs]

Ford did say it was going to be £113 per alloy proberly +VAT, the only good thing was that I told them to go talk to leaseplan... I know from experience if enough people contact watchdog on there web site

http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog/gotastory/

then they would do a story and that would make Ford do something for us, surely would be better than £150 bill every year?

Is there a way to do a collection of names on this thing to send them?

If you got enough interest a topic could be pinned in which members could add there name to a list by quoting and adding there name to there post etc.

[S666LER]

Rear and front n/s alloys have flat spots on mine. I have the 17" zetec wheels

[susan b.]

I have had the same problem, two buckled alloy wheels on my fiesta titanium with 24k on the clock, no help from Ford, told warranty only for 12 months on wheels, my car is 23months old. Now facing a bill of £400 what is the point of a warranty, have contacted watchdog,who knows, this is my fourth new ford, but no more.

[Colleen]

On the 14 Nov 09 I bought a Ford Fiesta Titanium from new. On the 26 Jul 10 it had a service with a Ford dealer which highlighted the vehicle had 3 buckled alloy wheels (nearside front, offside front and rear). The alloys had no other evidence of damage i.e. dents, scratches. Also present was a knock on the steering wheel, the steering was investigated and no further problem was found.

I reported this issue to Dagenham Motors and Ford Customer Relations and on 12 Aug 10 I wrote to the Customer service Director as suggested by Trading Standards. I never received a formal reply and decided to pay to have the alloys replaced. This cost in excess of £700.

I felt that there was sufficient proof that the alloys (16” x 6.5 15 spoke 195/45) were not of satisfactory quality but the cause was always attributed to pot holes. After months of telephone calls and a couple of letters I was resigned to accept that nothing would be resolved.

On the 26 Nov 2011 the car was taken into a Ford dealer for a central locking issue. I also asked them to explore the steering as the knock seemed to be louder. That afternoon I received a telephone call stating that the front nearside and offside alloys were buckled and needed to be replaced. I did not have the work done and collected my car a week later.

Again I logged this with Ford Customer Relations who liaised with the ford dealer for a solution. I expressed my thanks for their efforts but they were unable to resolve the issue for me. I was offered a free service.

I am extremely concerned with the safety of and the quality of the vehicle. I do not think replacing 5 alloys in less than 2 years is acceptable. The car is primarily used on the motorways and is in excellent condition. It has full Ford service history and the car has never been involved in an incident. At present the buckled alloys remain on the vehicle.

[wealdman]

There have been numerous posts in this forum on the buckled wheels issue Colleen. I can't recall anyone reporting a satisfactory response either from Ford or a dealer, indeed the free service offer you obtained is about the best result yet. I became disenchanted with the 16" 15 spoke wheels after two were buckled and reading other members' experiences so I changed them to 15" as described in this thread. The original wheels and tyres fetched about £230 on eBay despite my owning up that they had been buckled and re-shaped.

[Don welder]

Hi. I had the same problem as you with the damaged wheels and no one would take the blame, but i was very lucky to find a company in northampton that repaired my buckled wheels for £30 each and the same day. They are are called Northampton Welding 07865890205 . I was so gratefull i got the wheels sorted after getting a quote for £500 for two new wheels.