Bubbling On Rim

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

I noticed some bubbling on both the passenger side front & rear rims. Anyone else have this problem? My old Toyota mechanic told me to claim warranty on them & have them replaced. Wonder why it's even happening.. I think i'll take some pictures & post 'em up

[smooth1]

Is it bubbling near where the rim is bent? If so, then no, I wouldn't think it's a warrentee issue, as the bend in the rim is the cause, and not a factory finish issue.

I'm thinking you just need to get another set of rims. I see used sets for sale all the time. Have you thought about that? or maybe get a nice after market set?

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

My driver's side front is the rim that's slightly bent, the 2 that are bubbling are not. Completely unrelated. I'll take some pics after work & post 'em. Wonder what's causing this

[NoMorePinkPanther]

My driver's side front is the rim that's slightly bent, the 2 that are bubbling are not. Completely unrelated. I'll take some pics after work & post 'em. Wonder what's causing this

I have noticed this on my rims also. I have an '06 IS. I never thought that it would be covered on the warranty. The bubbling is on the inside portions of the spokes on the wheels. I'm not sure the technical terminology, sorry. It certainly would be nice to replace them. Thanks for any insight.

Joe

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

So I brought up the issue at the Lex dealer this morning. At first the service advisor notified that they would change both the rear rims but advised they would not change the front rims because there was a considerable amount of scratches along the outer edge of the rims from the previous owner hitting curbs. Which they claim caused the bubbling ?? I pushed them to replace all 4 so the service manager took some pictures and are waiting to hear back from Lex Canada as to whether or not they will replace all 4 rims. Thank G*d I bought this car with some bumper to bumper warranty left on it B)

[MikeDio]

So I brought up the issue at the Lex dealer this morning. At first the service advisor notified that they would change both the rear rims but advised they would not change the front rims because there was a considerable amount of scratches along the outer edge of the rims from the previous owner hitting curbs. Which they claim caused the bubbling ?? I pushed them to replace all 4 so the service manager took some pictures and are waiting to hear back from Lex Canada as to whether or not they will replace all 4 rims. Thank G*d I bought this car with some bumper to bumper warranty left on it B)

My IS250 has approximately 60k on it, is just over three years old, and I am also seeing this same bubbling on all of my rims. It started small, and has progressed rapidly through the winter. I live in Indiana, so we did have snow, ice, etc. but would not expect to see this happening.

Look forward to hearing what Lexus Canada has to say. If you need some additional info, or Lexus would like to contact me, please let me know.

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

1 dealer I went to blamed the excessive scratches on the outer portion of the rim (from the previous owner hitting to many curbs) causing the inner bubbling. The 2nd Lex dealer I went to blamed the salt on the roads during the winter causing the bubbling. I think the salt caused the bubbling.

The 1st dealer offered to replace my 2 rear rims with brand new ones. When I pushed them to cover all 4 they advised Lexus Canada will not replace all 4 rims with brand news ones, rather they will provide refurbished rims. I'm gonna go with getting all 4 replaced. I'm just worried the same thing is gonna happen to the rims come next winter <_<

By the way they are well aware this is a problem with these rims, they had a set of 6 refurbished rims on hand! I just need to find the time to go in & get 'em swapped.

[LexRexBlue]

Interesting. I never heard of refurbished rims! What year is your IS? Do we all have to worry about faulty rims?

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

I've got an '06. I was skeptical about getting refurb rims so I asked the service manager if I could see the rims spinning before the tech mounts the tires, just to make sure none of the rims are bent, he said no prob. Most likely going in next week to have all my rims swapped out. It'll look alot nicer too, couldn't tell the diff. between the refurb rims & the new ones & mine are pretty badly scratched on the outer edges.

[seohenning]

I also have the same thing happening with mine. I had planned on asking about it during my next service, 80k. I am glad I am not the only one! If they replace them I will provide an update.

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

My appointment to have all 4 rims replaced with refurbished ones is tomorrow morning @ 7am. Will let you know how it goes ;) Service Manager is letting me see the rims balanced/mounted to tires so I can check for any imperfections before installation

So do all of us with this same issue live in areas with alot of snow in the winter? Really trying to pin down whether it's is in fact the salted winter roads that is causing this bubbling

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

All 4 of my rims were replaced this past Friday. The refurbs look as good as new. Not a single imperfection noticable - in the ride & cosmetically. More than happy, love this dealership (Lexus on the Park, Toronto).

[SWheat]

What do you mean by bubbling? Is the chrome coming off?

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

Really should've taken a few pics of the old rims before I had 'em replaced. Looked something like this

[seohenning]

Just an update on this. The dealership offered to cover half of the cost to refurbish the rims. They blamed it on the salt. I am not happy, and I have never seen this happen on any other wheel I have owned. And by the way the wheels are not "covered" on the "corrosion" policy that was so generously pointed out to me as a selling point, conveniently only the body of the car is covered when there is a corrosion problem. I am sure when my body starts to rust the wheels will be the only thing covered.

[stash84]

I have an 07 is350 and the same thing started happening a couple months ago. I live in Miami, Fl so im pretty sure that salt didn't cause it. My dealer covered all the costs to repaint/refurbish the rims. I got my car back a couple weeks ago and they look great. It only took like 3 days. I hope they can do they same for you. You shouldn't have to pay half the costs. These rims seem to have that problem no matter where you live....good luck !!!

[LEXUS IS250 AWD]

Have some minor scratches on my refurb rims now from lightly hitting curbs while parking. No bubbling (yet anyways). But I remember the dealer blaming the bubbling I had before on the fact that my rims were all slightly scratched all around the edges from the previous owners driving.

Do all of you that have experienced this problem with bubbling also have scratches on the outer edges of your rims? Want to know if it is truly related

[bartkat]

I scuffed one stock 18" rim. I've never seen any bubbling. I sanded it a little and put some aluminum paint on the scuff to that may have protected it.

[Melnod]

All 4 of my rims were replaced this past Friday. The refurbs look as good as new. Not a single imperfection noticable - in the ride & cosmetically. More than happy, love this dealership (Lexus on the Park, Toronto).

I'm going bring my car into Erin Mills Lexus (in Toronto area too) and see what they say. This will give me an idea what the service is like. Otherwise I'mm off to Lexus on the Park in Toronto too.

[Melnod]

Just an update on this. The dealership offered to cover half of the cost to refurbish the rims. They blamed it on the salt. I am not happy, and I have never seen this happen on any other wheel I have owned. And by the way the wheels are not "covered" on the "corrosion" policy that was so generously pointed out to me as a selling point, conveniently only the body of the car is covered when there is a corrosion problem. I am sure when my body starts to rust the wheels will be the only thing covered.

An update on this.....I can't believe the variability in responses from dealer to dealer.

Dealer 1 - scuffs on the passenger side wheels caused the bubbling so they are not covered. However the two on the driver side is covered. I said that makes no sense. They're all bubbling

Dealer 2 - It's the salt in Canada. There was an issue where some of the wheels were not coated with a special protectant before painting the rims. These cars go to the south US where there is no snow. Somehow I got as set of those rims. He can refurbish and will charge me his "cost" price. $250 wheel. New rims are $1100 each so he says he's doing this for me because of goodwill.

Dealer 3 - These guys are awesome. "He can't comment on the special coating, news to him". Regardles the salt is making the wheels bubble. He asks me "If it's ok with me he would like to fix them for me. These wheels are under warrantee and this should not happen". I have an appointment for next week where he will remove my summer rims and put on my winter rims. He'll recondition the summers back as good as new, all under wantantee. He also says there are two other warrantee items he will fix for me that day too. Very politely, "If you're in agreement with this"?

Dealer 3 has my service for ever....

It's worth it to call around to get a quote from other dealers.

[Melnod]

All 4 of my rims were replaced this past Friday. The refurbs look as good as new. Not a single imperfection noticable - in the ride & cosmetically. More than happy, love this dealership (Lexus on the Park, Toronto).

You were bang on... Lexus on the Park has my service on-going. I don't care how out of the way he is.

Thanks for the tip.

[seohenning]

Final Update - I might post a few pictures if I can in the future.

After the dealership offered 50% of the bill, I called someone at the corporate customer relations. They actually backed up the dealers decision to only offer 50% of the cost to refurbish the wheels. They said it was due to the fact that I have so many miles on my car (80k) and that any good-will is better than nothing. I told them that a 2 year old wheels shouldn't have the problem no matter how many miles are on them and that they are producing an inferior product. Honestly, I told them that this is ridiculous, I am not sure why they would hold their ground on an $800 fix that is obviously happening all over the country. I also pointed out that I am a 27 year old customer who has many years of future car buying ahead and that I will no longer be purchasing Lexus, they didn't seem to care. I also went on a tirade a bit about how I drop my pants and spend $115 / hr for labor and service at their dealership and how much money they would be loosing if I took my services else ware. Apparently that didn't matter to them, so I'll be taking my "services" to another dealership and likely another brand, and yes all over $800, which is the sad part.

Here is the initial e-mail response I received

(I had also complained about the TPMS issue and how hard/expensive it is to obtain and program them):

Good Afternoon,

With all due respect I made my decision to offer over 400.00 worth of “good Will” on your 80,000 mile Lexus because you are a valued customer to me, My offer was truly that “Good Will” , and the fact that you’re not happy with my decision leads me to believe that I made a mistake.

Regarding your tire sensor concern, I have in the past for customers who purchased TPMS sensors here at my facility programmed them at no charge on a case by case basis under good will. I could not and would not make it a matter of policy to give my guys free reign to install, program or perform any work at no charge unless the parts were purchased here and I was made aware of the request ahead of time. …Like my decision above (regarding good will) it has to make good business sense to me.

Having said that, I have no further accommodations to offer you at this time…..Please feel free to contact Lexus directly if you wish to seek further assistance. The toll free number is 1-800-255-3987.

I’m sorry I was not able to help you this time.

Have a great evening.

John Sanders

Service Manager

New Country Lexus Of Latham

Out Of Area Call

Toll Free-1-888-NCLEXUS

Local # 518-786-1000

Fax # 518-690-0237

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[clay1]

I have found complaining to LEXUS Corporate is a total waste of time and energy, and any energy used in saying that you have a long future left in buying cars will fall on deaf ears. The best way to get what you need is to build a relationship with the Service Manager and Reps at a reliable Lexus Dealer. I have done that and way too many times they have foot the bill on Good Will stuff for me. Like, replaced rubber matts 3 times, replace with new rim because of bubbled rim, replaced all tires with new at the same cost as getting them at tirerack.com and not charging for mount, balance and alignment... just to name a few things.

I am honestly at a crossroads shortly. I give the car a 'B" and service and "A+". So much so that I may have to buy another Lexus because I can't deal with crappy service with other dealers/makes.

Oh the best yet. My wife's brand new MDX (4,000 miles) had a tire sensor go off (by the way on Acura the sensor tells which tire is a problem and what the pressure is) I called Acura and they totally blew me off - can't fit you in they said..., I drove the Acura to my LEXUS dealer, they were busy as all heck and said "no problem". They found a screw in the tire, fixed it, washed it and then wouldn't take any money for the fix!

Now that's taking care of a valued customer!

[SW03ES]

What kind of relationship do you have with the people at your dealer?

On a car with 80k miles I think splitting the cost was a fair offer.

[seohenning]

Relationship is pretty good, I was in there about every other month for service and for the most part they have been very good in getting me in. The past few times however the service has been very slow. I really don't complain about anything, I guess if I owned an LS or an ISF I might be treated better. Anyway, the problem was the bubbling started at 40k, but it wasn't too bad so I didn't say anything as I don't want to become that "annoying customer". Now that it has gotten real bad I had brought it up and they blamed it on the mileage. The overall point is, it shouldn't happen at all and they should back up their product. I was also told when I bought my car that any corrosion would be covered for the life of the vehcile because they "sprayed" on some extra stuff etc... Apparently that only applies to the body of the car. Funny how that works out.