Kia Sorento Alloy wheel problems?

[Mikey1]

New to this posting thing,People who own Kia Sorento's there (seems to be a few of them ) can you help?

My dad has a diesel 1 about a year old now and from new noticed the alloy wheels were difficult to clean , after a while they were very pitted and he complained to the dealer who said they had a problem and replaced all of them , now the new set are going the same way , the dealer said he will replace them again , but they will be the same , as the wheels are not laquered surely they cant continue replacing them.

Has anyone else suffered these problems?

 

[paul_5082190]

Kia Sorento wheels the replacement set that your dealer fitted are made of a diffrent material as the origional set were degraded by the brake dust on the first set the alloy would be attacked forming what looked like an alloy rust scab when cleaning your wheels use only soap and water not any type of chemical as this degrades the finish

 

[rob_jax]

Mike,

The alloys should have a laquer clear coat, otherwise they will corrode straight away - they would go a dull colour pretty quickly - and corrode like heck once they see a bit of salt.

Without seeing them, I'd guess they do / did have a clear coat, but maybe not well enough applied or just the wrong clear coat was used.

One thing you can do to help is to clean the wheels until they are perfect, and then give them a good coat of wax. A high wax content is best, there are some special waxes for car wheels but something like Turtle Wax paste in a tub should be OK.

Robert

 

[JimC]

Hi Mike

I have a March 2004 Sorento which suffered the same problem you describe.The wheels are coated but are not very smooth.This allows the brake dust to build up like small hard scabs as Paul said.

I use Auto Glym Aluminium wheel cleaner, followed by an application of Halfords Alloy wheel protecter. This cleans the dust off and protects it for longer intervals.I clean mine at least once a month and they look good.

I have noticed the wheels on the latest models are of a much smoother laquered alloy.

Regards Jim

 

[clivea]

I have a March 2004 Sorento and have had no problems with the wheels. Howver she is claened weekly with a good shampoo and I use turtle wax wheel protector on a monthly basis.

 

[Tony A.]

I have the same problem, my sorento is Nov 03, I have just spoken to the dealer who told me to phone Kia customer care 08456017521, I did this and have been refered back to the dealer, who has to assess the problem and then apply to Kia warranty dept for an answer.

I`ll keep you posted as to the outcome.

Tony A.