Alloy Wheel Insurance

I have purchased a 2014 BMW 320i xdrive touring which is running on 19" diamond cut alloys. I will hopefully collect it at the end of the week.

As usual, the dealer has tried to sell me all sorts of extras / insurance etc.

The one that I am considering is the alloy wheel insurance. I know that, no matter how careful I am, I will kerb an alloy at some point...probably several times. I am conscious that the cost of repairing a diamond cut alloy is more than a standard alloy.

The policy I have been offered is £450 for 3 years and I think it allows 4 repairs a year and also contributes (I think £250) to a new wheel if it cannot be repaired.

Can anyone advise whether this is a good deal or a good idea? There does appear to be a lot of other alternative and cheaper policies online but most don't contribute if the wheel needs to be replaced.

Thank you

Sounds expensive - I'd expect wheel replacement (at least one) if not repairable at that price...

M.

Currently driving an Audi A5 with 19" wheels and have the alloy wheel insurance too (my Audi came fitted with the optional "park-inability" feature). Mine was £450 for 10 repairs and £150 towards a new wheel if replacements were needed. Despite my best efforts I can't seem to stop kerbing the passenger side wheels when parking and have used 4/10 already (some wag on here suggested the money would've been better spent on parking lessons :la:).

I suspect it's a lot like warranties, they'll be available from alternate sources for less money.

Got these fitted to SWMBO car a MB with black alloys and so far so good the dealer fits them to their loaners.

https://www.alloygator.com/

We took out Alloy wheel insurance on my wife's Mini Roadster, worth every penny imho, on claim 4 of 18 allowed in 4 years.

If you have diamond cut alloys I would think it will prove invaluable, they are notoriously easy to damage and difficult (expensive) to repair.

Try to think of it as part of the whole cost of the car, doesn't sound so expensive then.

Enjoy the car

Given that diamond cut have no protection to the elements and will corrode with salt if not cleaned regularly one could argue insurance is worth having as you could intentionally kerb the wheels once corrosion begins 😉😳

its funny, I had never heard of this until last week when a BMW dealer tried to flog me some, I said no, Recently I had all four wheels on an MX5 painted, stripped, powder coated and black Chrome effect for £55 each + vat. this goes with Gap insurance it is the next high margin high commission sales add on,

Check to make sure that the cover isnt just for a mobile repair (most are) and if thats the case you can forget having a diamond cut refurb, they need to be machined in a workshop (£100-£200/wheel depending on who does it). I spent a while looking into suitable diamond cut insurance and eventually gave up due to limitations on the many policies that I looked at.
keith

Thank you all. To be honest I wouldn't have chosen these wheels but that's part of the joy of buying used.
I am slightly tempted to go without the insurance and be as careful as I can with them. When the inevitable happens (and it will) I have read that one option is just to have the wheels powder coated. Then they should be easier to repair in future.
Thanks for the tip about mobile repair - I will look into the terms of the policy.

If it is not stating the obvious.....it is definitely worth negotiating with them on the price.

I have tried a few of these type (wheel, body work/chip repair) products from BMW over the years and there is usually wiggle room.

I seem to recall they simply adjust the "final" price on the car and still charge the full whack for the policy but it amounts to the same thing.

Good luck.

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Originally Posted by jamesnw

If it is not stating the obvious.....it is definitely worth negotiating with them on the price.

I have tried a few of these type (wheel, body work/chip repair) products from BMW over the years and there is usually wiggle room.

I seem to recall they simply adjust the "final" price on the car and still charge the full whack for the policy but it amounts to the same thing.

Good luck.

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Thanks. The salesman quoted me £450, then I pointed out to him that the small print said that there was an additional £100 charge for diamond cut. He said he would honour the £450 price...still sounds a lot to me.

He wouldn't budge at all on the price of the car...maybe I am just rubbish at negotiating.

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Originally Posted by adrianw

its funny, I had never heard of this until last week when a BMW dealer tried to flog me some, I said no, Recently I had all four wheels on an MX5 painted, stripped, powder coated and black Chrome effect for £55 each + vat. this goes with Gap insurance it is the next high margin high commission sales add on,

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Much more expensive and labour intensive with diamond turned wheels though in fairness.

Can you not just be a little more careful when driving/parking?

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Originally Posted by sarky

Can you not just be a little more careful when driving/parking?

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Absolutely - and I have no intention of scuffing them but given the state of the roads (pot holes etc) and the inability of some people to drive on their side of the road (I drive on a lot of country roads and am often pushed towards the kerb to avoid being hit) I do consider damage at some point inevitable.

I've got a copy of the policy from the dealer and it does indeed only cover mobile repairs. Sounds like it isn't really worth it. Thank you all for your help.

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Originally Posted by sazzle

Thanks. The salesman quoted me £450, then I pointed out to him that the small print said that there was an additional £100 charge for diamond cut. He said he would honour the £450 price...still sounds a lot to me.

He wouldn't budge at all on the price of the car...maybe I am just rubbish at negotiating.

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Might help to get some 3rd party prices on a similar product, or simply say you are prepared to pay say £300 and that's it.

Worst they can say is no.

I was recently quoted £270 for 18 repairs over a 3 year term on new Mercedes C63s but in the end I managed to get it thrown in for free.

Lepsons costs 120 a wheel to refinish/paint and that would be plus tyre removal & carriage - not sure of the standard of repair vs Lepsons but that is less than a wheel a year so I would say worth it unless the car has very high profile tyres making it hard to kerb.

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Originally Posted by sarky

Can you not just be a little more careful when driving/parking?

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Not always that simple unfortunately. The OSR wheel on my car has been damaged (diamond cut alloy) and the damage is to the middle of the spoke and the spokes are recessed from the rim of the tyre so it hasn't been caused my kerbing. My best guess is a stone chip on the motorway at some stage, and nothing can prevent that.

I had diamond cut wheels on a Boxster I used to have.

After a few kerbings I found someone who would strip and paint them black but with a bright silver rim where the diamond cut was.

The original diamond cut was in a matt finish look so these looked very, very close to what they originally looked like. I was very pleased with them, and of course they then needed far less maintenance.


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Originally Posted by sazzle

The policy I have been offered is £450 for 3 years and I think it allows 4 repairs a year and also contributes (I think £250) to a new wheel if it cannot be repaired.

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I was charged £100 a wheel for minor rim damage on the same (probably) wheels. Obviously the value for money depends how many repairs you need. I have been told that you can't re-cut more than twice so 4x 3 years there won't be much left of the wheel!

Thank you all.

I have decided to give the insurance a miss. I will be as careful as I can be and probably consider getting the wheels powder coated once I have bashed them a couple of times.

Thanks for your help

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Originally Posted by sazzle

I have purchased a 2014 BMW 320i xdrive touring which is running on 19" diamond cut alloys. I will hopefully collect it at the end of the week.

As usual, the dealer has tried to sell me all sorts of extras / insurance etc.

The one that I am considering is the alloy wheel insurance. I know that, no matter how careful I am, I will kerb an alloy at some point...probably several times. I am conscious that the cost of repairing a diamond cut alloy is more than a standard alloy.

The policy I have been offered is £450 for 3 years and I think it allows 4 repairs a year and also contributes (I think £250) to a new wheel if it cannot be repaired.

Can anyone advise whether this is a good deal or a good idea? There does appear to be a lot of other alternative and cheaper policies online but most don't contribute if the wheel needs to be replaced.

Thank you

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I took out the cosmetic insurance with my disco sport it covers 6 claims a year for paint for 3 years and same for wheels,its going in for paint at end of month due to someone in supermarket carpark putting a scratch and a ding in door so as far as im concerned its paid for itself already

Wheels that are so easily damaged and expensive to repair / replace are not really fit for purpose IMO. Like having silk baby clothes.

Don’t bother with it.

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Originally Posted by Jeremy67

Wheels that are so easily damaged and expensive to repair / replace are not really fit for purpose IMO. Like having silk baby clothes.

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Silk baby clothes would never work as wheels!

Was offered 18 repairs over 3 years on my wife's Audi for £300. Didn't take it and she curbed both the offside wheels within 2 days of ownership!!

I see that OP decided not to take out the insurance cover in the end but I assume the cover offered by the dealer was not the "official" BMW product and was in fact a product offered by that dealer group.

Just my assumption because I set up BMW alloy wheel insurance a few years back and it is only available for new vehicles and it didn't cover diamond cut alloys then and I don't think it does today either.


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Originally Posted by JoePattinson

I see that OP decided not to take out the insurance cover in the end but I assume the cover offered by the dealer was not the "official" BMW product and was in fact a product offered by that dealer group.

Just my assumption because I set up BMW alloy wheel insurance a few years back and it is only available for new vehicles and it didn't cover diamond cut alloys then and I don't think it does today either.


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I think that's right. When I tried to find the policy details on the BMW website, the BMW policy only applied to new cars and non diamond cut.

The policy I was offered was a dealership policy and did only cover mobile repairs.

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Originally Posted by Toddy

Was offered 18 repairs over 3 years on my wife's Audi for £300. Didn't take it and she curbed both the offside wheels within 2 days of ownership!!

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Yeah thats what about i paid for mine,glad i did

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JoePattinson

I see that OP decided not to take out the insurance cover in the end but I assume the cover offered by the dealer was not the "official" BMW product and was in fact a product offered by that dealer group.

Just my assumption because I set up BMW alloy wheel insurance a few years back and it is only available for new vehicles and it didn't cover diamond cut alloys then and I don't think it does today either.


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Not sure I would trust BMW dealers, recently I had the dealer in Bishops Stortford paint a wheel while they had the car, it had a stone scratch not a kerb ding. they painted it the wrong colour and forgot to put the M badge back.........and not one person noticed

Does £450 include tyres as well or just alloys? Expensive IMHO if just wheels. I paid £617 for my tyre and alloy policy from dealer after haggling but I think it was a good price in the end considering the wheels are 21" diamond cut and tyres are 275/45/21 so expensive to repair/replace. I was not able to find a policy privately that would cover diamond cut alloys of that size. I have already used 6 out of 10 claims allowed in 3 years and each would have cost me £95 if I didn't have the policy. Smart repairers can't do them. Important to read the wording to make sure that diamond cut are covered and the size limit is appropriate. Can't remember how many tyre claims are allowed (in addition to 10 alloy claims) as I haven't had to use the policy for tyres yet.

I work in the motor trade and sell these policies are great for the consumer, if I'm honest they aren't so good for us. the profit to dealer after tax would be around 30 pounds so not a lot. The grief we get with claims and then the wheels not being repaired properly and it all landing on our laps is just not worth it.

that price for diamond cut cover is very good and not a price I would do. take it and use it would be my advice as diamond cut wheels are a pig to refurb properly and need doing once damaged as they can corrode and discolor quite bad.