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Watch Your Wheels Folks


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Hi Guys

Just had a nasty phone call from my local dealer. I have to buy four new wheels as everyone of mine are buckled!!! Not a happy bunny I've only had the car 4 months and it is a year and 4 months old, and I do not drive down pot holes. But I cant prove it so no help is forthcoming. Gutting, £750 is a lot of money to state the obvious. So be careful out there.

Adrian

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Unfortunately seems very common, had mine a month so far and getting worried as I drive a lot of country roads...

See here here here & here.

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Hi

Thanks for posting that up Ive printed it all off and I'm going to take it and show the dealer when I collect the car. Its ridiculous the amount of people are having the same issue. I rang ford and they say it is not a common problem but the dealer is saying there identifying the issue quite often, yet you don't get any help.

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My car is being serviced on the 27th, it pulled to the left from when I first had it so it's had the tracking checked and changed three times in all so hopefully my wheels are fine as they should have been checked. I fear pot holes are also going to be MUCH worst next year as the councils won't have any money to grit the roads or repair the holes!!!! May trade in for one of those new Range Rover Evoque.

It is a worry to read about this when you live in Dorset and the roads tend to have more pot holes then flat surfaces.

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Got the car back and have got ford to agree pay for two of them which is a bit of a result. Interesting thing is one of the wheels they changed is not original, because the car was registered in may 09 and the wheel was date stamped June 09. so Im now running on wheels 6,7,8 and 9. Really Worrying.

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I had two buckled points in one of my front wheels. Which I have had fixed for £75. The cheapest I could find a new one for was £140 inc vat.

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Cosmic.....

So car companies and their suppliers develop cars with engines that only need oil changes (no points, valve clearance to adjust etc). oil changes every 20-30,000 miles instead of 5-6,000 (well everyone except Ford and Peugeot who stick at 12,500), everlasting exhausts, batteries that survive 6+ years, bodies that last at least 10 years before the signs of any rust.

And at the same time re-create problems that were solved 100 years ago when steel wheels replaced wooden artillery style wheels.

I have a Titanium that apprently has plasticine wheels, somewhat spoils the driving experience worrying about potholes and speed bumps.

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i have done over 30,000 miles on the street pack 17"s and not 1 buckled and i live in a rural area

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It is a worry to read about this when you live in Dorset and the roads tend to have more pot holes then flat surfaces.

True. I visit my dad every other month & he lives 75-odd miles away in rural Dorset (Milton Abbas) and it is a nightmare driving to his house. Once I get through Wimborne - it's all pot-holed country lanes to his house - and the worst bit of all is that I have to come off a country lane & drive down a pothole-riddled dirt track for half-a-mile to his gate - in a forest - in the middle of Forestry Commission property!!! Luckily I have the optional 16" 7-spoke alloys which seem quite sturdy. . . but my low front spolier (I have the full dress-up kit) has scraped twice underneath as you go over an old cattle grid. Luckily the paint/scratch is on the underside of the spoiler - otherwise I'd be livid.

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True. I visit my dad every other month & he lives 75-odd miles away in rural Dorset (Milton Abbas) and it is a nightmare driving to his house. Once I get through Wimborne - it's all pot-holed country lanes to his house - and the worst bit of all is that I have to come off a country lane & drive down a pothole-riddled dirt track for half-a-mile to his gate - in a forest - in the middle of Forestry Commission property!!! Luckily I have the optional 16" 7-spoke alloys which seem quite sturdy. . . but my low front spolier (I have the full dress-up kit) has scraped twice underneath as you go over an old cattle grid. Luckily the paint/scratch is on the underside of the spoiler - otherwise I'd be livid.

I managed to scrape under the corners of the front spoiler, the corners of the bits pointing towards the black middle grill. I didn't realise the front was that low and the bricks at the back of the car parking space were that high!! :angry: :( I may get it repaired next year.

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Hello adrian

How did you get ford to pay for two of the four buckled wheels that you have.

Iam in france at the moment. Driving here was scary.

I have already had all four balanced.

The steering wheel was wobbling at (130kmh) 80mph

Jamie

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Hi Jamie

I have only owned my car for 4 months so I just argued my case that I'm a careful driver and that I don't see how I could have damaged 4 wheels in 4 months. The garage said they checked the wheels for roundness in the safety check before I bought it from them and I asked to see the documents to confirm this and they could not find it. The sales manager then said they would sort two out for me if I paid the other two. It was a very uncomfortable 15-20 minute conversation, the sort I don't like having but I felt so strongly about it that I stood my ground with a little help from my brother for support.

The bit I hated was that I had the sales manager the service manager and a receptionist telling me how much of a common fault it was as if that was going to subdue me. They should be making wheels that last its really disgusting I think. As I said in a previous wheels one of the wheels they replaced is itself a replacement.

Hope you get it sorted

Adrian

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I managed to scrape under the corners of the front spoiler, the corners of the bits pointing towards the black middle grill. I didn't realise the front was that low and the bricks at the back of the car parking space were that high!! :angry: :( I may get it repaired next year.

Snap. Catches you out how low it is to be honest. I've also noticed that some kerbs are particularly high when parking facing them & you have to be careful that the spoiler doesn't catch on the kerbstone. Luckily - as I say - it's not noticeable unless you stick your head up under the spoiler & see the 2 scuffs.

* Makes mental note to take extra care in future of my prized front, rear & side skirts!!! ;)

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Snap. Catches you out how low it is to be honest. I've also noticed that some kerbs are particularly high when parking facing them & you have to be careful that the spoiler doesn't catch on the kerbstone. Luckily - as I say - it's not noticeable unless you stick your head up under the spoiler & see the 2 scuffs.

* Makes mental note to take extra care in future of my prized front, rear & side skirts!!! ;)

haha, yeah, it's one of those things you have to look for to notice cause it's underneath, but it's worse cause you know it's there and it's even MORE worse because you know it was your own fault and you did it!!! Still it's gonna happen one day I guess :rolleyes::blink::unsure:

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Hi Guys

Just had a nasty phone call from my local dealer. I have to buy four new wheels as everyone of mine are buckled!!! Not a happy bunny I've only had the car 4 months and it is a year and 4 months old, and I do not drive down pot holes. But I cant prove it so no help is forthcoming. Gutting, £750 is a lot of money to state the obvious. So be careful out there.

Adrian

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I was thinking about this alloy wheel problem. What do you think about putting on a tyre with a bigger aspect ratio. I wasnt thinking crazy numbers but the standard tyre on a 17" wheel is a 205/40 so I was looking at 205/45. It would mean that you would get a 1cm deeper side wall. At 70mph you would be doing 72mph but I think the speedo under reads anyway. Just a thought, what you reckon

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All these alloy problems have worried me. I've just had to have one of my rear ones painfully repaired as I stupidly caught a kerb in a multi-story car park. Silly question - How can you tell if any of your alloys are buckled ? Does it show in driving behaviour ? You can hardly pick it up and spin it like on a bike ! I've got standard 17 inch on a Titanium.

I've also been caught out by the low front spoiler. My garage has a slightly (and I mean only slightly, maybe 4 inch) high ramp at the entrance and it scrapes the spoiler on exit. A loose length of only half inch thick wood solves it temporarily until I can think of a better idea. Curiously, I didn't have the problem with the previous Titanium 1.6TDCI Mk 7. The diesel can't have the same skirt at the front.

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Obviously not recommendeed for cities like Bristol, whose roads would challenge the Mars Rovers.

And one reason why I specifically asked my dealer to replace the awful aftermarket alloys that were on mine with bog standard steel wheels with easily and cheaply replaceble plastic wheel trims.

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Just a thought. I've had my car (my first Ford) for just over two weeks and it has the 17" alloys. I washed the car for the 1st time today.

With every other car I've owned, I've taken the wheels of just before winter / just after winter, and applied polish/wax to the inside of the alloys, just so it's easier to clean brake dust, tar and other crap that accumulates in the inside rims. When I cleaned the Fiesta today I was amazed that I could get my hand thru the alloys and clean the inside of the alloy wheel - ie there's no need to remove the wheel. The thought did occur to me are these alloys strong enough? And then I read this thread.

The spanner-like 5 spoke alloys certainly look much better, but perhaps Ford have put style over practicality in the design.

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Just a thought. I've had my car (my first Ford) for just over two weeks and it has the 17" alloys. I washed the car for the 1st time today.

With every other car I've owned, I've taken the wheels of just before winter / just after winter, and applied polish/wax to the inside of the alloys, just so it's easier to clean brake dust, tar and other crap that accumulates in the inside rims. When I cleaned the Fiesta today I was amazed that I could get my hand thru the alloys and clean the inside of the alloy wheel - ie there's no need to remove the wheel. The thought did occur to me are these alloys strong enough? And then I read this thread.

The spanner-like 5 spoke alloys certainly look much better, but perhaps Ford have put style over practicality in the design.

I've a feeling there is some truth in your last statement. Unfortunately, style seems to rule in the world of alloy wheels. Someone I know had the alloy wheel crack around the wheel nuts - dangerous ! (it wasn't a Ford) Don't really like alloys myself but it's hard to get away from them. Like the previous post, I too would have had them changed to steel when I ordered the car if I had thought of it. At least wheel trims can be easily removed for cleaning, easy and cheap to replace if damaged or lost and you're more likely to get a proper spare wheel supplied.

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well I'm seriously considering buying a set of the 16" alloys and getting rid of these 17s. I'm driving like a nun lately and all I ever think about when I'm on the road is where are the pot holes. So very soon there may well be a more or less brand new set of the 17" alloys up for sale

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