Subaru BRZ Aozora Edition STI Wheels Chipping
 

Hey guys,

My 2015 Subaru BRZ Aozoroa Edition with STI wheels is scaring me, I have about 1800kms on it and the wheels are chipping powder coat, it's chipping around the lug nut holes and it's pissing me off, anyone else has/had this?

If you do/did please tell me if the dealer was good with you guys.

Any pics?

With all the salt and crap on the roads right now, it's not surprising. Your front bumper is probably a disaster too.

The car never saw winter, never saw rain. It was cleaned 2 time by water, other time was by windex/hand cleaning.

I do not have pics as it's in storage.

isn't windex bad for painted surfaces?

Wheel cleaner used?

Poor car, let it out and have fun. Rain won't harm your car anymore than water from your hose.

Touch it up or consider opticoating to prevent future wear.

Shows that even if you're anal about keeping it pristine, it'll still get wear. So just get over it and drive it.

I paint cars and I doubt Window will harm anything when it comes to clear coats. Gas will not even affect Clear coats, you would probably need Lacquer Thinner sprayed over clear coat for a minute to affect clear coat, OEM Clear Coat is tough.

Chemically I have a hard time believing this myth of Windex affecting Clear Coats.

Correction, car was bought end of September, Turbo was installed rather quickly, the car didn't see rain not on choice but on time available to drive it. I also own a Street Bike, which take up much of the riding during the last few weeks of ride-able season. No worries, it will see plenty of light this summer. I hate Canada for this simple reason, my babies are stored all Winter.

I've got a series.blue with around 8k miles on it. I've picked up a few tiny chips in the wheels, but nothing too serious. I've found you can drastically reduce their visibility if you just take a sharpie to the chips :thumbup:

could be the powder coat is failing. doesn't hurt to check with dealer for warranty claim.

who's taken the wheels off before? At my work we see a lot of cars come in with chips around/in the lug holes from other shops going bonkers on it when inserting/removing the lugs.

I would agree to this, but in my case, they were like that before I took them off to fully clean in and out before winter.

I don't think the chemicals are the issue, it is the abrasive nature of Windex that is not good for cleaning paint, clear plastics, etc. Not to mention it probably removes some wax if you have any on the car, where detailer would not.

Windex doesn't have abrasives. I believe it's the ammonia people are worried about. However, if the wheels ARE ACTUALLY POWDERCOATED, then this would not affect it. If it's painted, then maybe?

I've seen painted finished become compromised as a result of using harsh cleaning agents, but that shouldn't result in chips. Chips are likely from tool impact while installing the wheels.

Did some research, and it looks like you are correct. It looks like many people think it is abrasive(I did too until now). Probably from using regular paper towels with it along with the ammonia. I'd still go with detailer on any painted surface to avoid swirls.

^ Yeah, windex has no lubricants either, so any dirt just gets scraped along the surface. No big deal for glass, but paint is a lot softer.

Wheel wax! =D

I noticed the same thing on my Series.Blue STI wheels. Noticed it a month or two after I bought it. Must be some defect in the factory paint?

They're definitely NOT powdercoated...