Alloy!

June 28, 2007

Hello everybody! After a long gap...

I recently had a little bout with the curb which destroyed (it's no longer circular) my driver's side front alloy.

I'm still running on stock SR alloys and at the moment I've put the spare on - basically can't drive on the mangled one.

I really need to get a proper wheel back on there soon - I need to commute a fair bit and 50 mph max doesn't cut the mustard :-(.

Anyway, I was wondering what you all think would be the easiest and most cost effective way to proceed?

I went to my local dealership today and got a quote for £100 including shipping and all for a new wheel. This is excluding the tyre and it seems like a lot. Plus, I'm not so sure whether it would seem slightly inconsistent (having one shiny alloy and 3 dull slightly curbed others).

My other option as far as OEM wheels go is to buy some used alloys off eBay- there are a couple of sets of 4 going, I estimate that will cost about £150 (not sure whether this will include tyres or not).

I could go for non-OEM wheels - I don't know how willing my insurer will be regarding this modification (Mark's & Spencer's if anyone might know).

Again, I'd like to keep the cost as low as possible, I've seen some Wolfrace wheels with tyres for ~ £330 on potn - this is probably as expensive as I'd like to go. I would prefer black rims where possible - as long as it's not pure silver - in fact I've seen some nice orange ones which might look interesting (although they will probably a royal pain to keep clean).

So, please let me know what you think, feel free to suggest - I guess it's cheaper to buy a set of 4 than to buy just 1.

June 29, 2007

I'd just buy another SR wheel if it was my car, I love those wheels & buying 1 might cost more per wheel than a set of 4 (if that makes sense) but it'll still be a lot cheaper & you wont have to worry about it messing around with your insurance cover.

Keep checking eBay & also try phoning a load of scrap yards to see if they have any in stock, wont be easy though because Yaris' are notoriously difficult to find at scrap yards (they're extremely difficult to kill) but stick at it & you'll get 1 soon enough

June 29, 2007

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toyota-Yaris-SR-Spor...1QQcmdZViewItem

Keep searching mate, they come up quite alot!

June 30, 2007

i saw a single SR alloy on eBay yesterday i think or the other day so get on there asap and see if its still there

July 1, 2007

@forde - Cheers dude, had a look but it's gone.

I phoned up about 15 breaker's yards but they don't tend to carry alloy wheels apparently - I found a T-Sport wheel actually (if anyone needs just one). Will probably end up buying a set of four used from eBay - hopefully I'll get those with tyres and be able to swap the wheels out when my existing tyres get worn down.

For the moment anyway, I got a steel wheel from the breaker's yard for £10 which should keep me going - hopefully it doesn't cause too much uneven wear to my car!

July 6, 2007

Argh, can't find any alloys anywhere, even Toyota are out of stock in Europe + the UK.

I might just end up getting some after market ones - stupid question but I assume all the 5 stud alloys are ruled out automatically? Any recommendations for a cheap but decent looking set of alloys with tyres?