Ford Fiesta 11 reg and buckled wheel

Any

Hi guys,
I am hoping someone can help me..
At the last service I have told Ford garage that my steering wheel gives me a bit of a feedback at higher speeds (motorway) if they can look at it.
They came back with buckled wheel. Replace ALL 4 at £700!! So I didn't do it at the time, as they said it is not life dangerous.

Now I also need new tyres so I thought I will buy a spare alloy on Ebay or something (as I believe there is really no need to buy all 4 if I buy exactly the same one??) and have it all done at the same time. Also it seems to me the buckle is now more pronounced.. But that might be just because I know about it now and sometimes concentrate on it:o

Having googled it, this came up http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/ford/fiesta/59731/watchdog-fiesta-alloys. Interesting!!

My OH said before to just get non Ford original ones (full set) if you cannot get used one exactly the same on Ebay. Now I am thinking that might not be a bad idea given this article?? I am worried about lowering the price of the resale value of the car though... I might be selling within the next 2 years.

What is your opinion and where would you recommend I get them? I have previously used mytyres.co.uk for tyres and they also have alloys WITH tyres, but they have only 1 type of alloys for my fiesta according to their search and that is different size that mine are now..

Any opinions from car experts welcome.

Thank you

goonarmy

Get another wheel from a breakers. Job done.

forgotmyname

If you fit non standard alloys you need to inform your insurance. If they are a fussy one and dont insure modified cars it maybe more expensive than just buying a genuine spare alloy.

Netwizard

plenty to chose from http://www.tchfordparts.co.uk/search,i.html?category=8&q=fiesta&manufacturer=Ford+Fiesta+Parts&gclid=CIbJ0-Sa5bwCFUoOwwodTEwACA&ito=LBC213544

Can't imagine there would be many 11 plate Fiestas in scrapyards yet (not that there is any scrapyards round here anyway!)

Any

forgotmyname wrote: »

If you fit non standard alloys you need to inform your insurance. If they are a fussy one and dont insure modified cars it maybe more expensive than just buying a genuine spare alloy.

To be standard, do they have to be genuine, or the same size though?

force_ten

hundreds of different alloys for fiestas on e bay i am sure you can find a single replacement to match what you have got on there

Any

force_ten wrote: »

hundreds of different alloys for fiestas on e bay i am sure you can find a single replacement to match what you have got on there

There is few matching mine and 3/4 of them are scuffed to hell.. one nice one and the same as mine, but is in essex collect only.. I am in Manchester
But more might come up later..

Any

Why does dealership insist that they replace all 4? Is there really such a danger if you replace just the one?

force_ten

Any wrote: »

Why does dealership insist that they replace all 4? Is there really such a danger if you replace just the one?

I would have no hesitation in replacing just one alloy, if only one is damaged then just replace the one

the dealer will make a lot more money by selling you four than they will by selling you one i can see no other reason

a single alloy will have a tyre mounted and then it will be balanced so no problem fitting it to your car

Any

force_ten wrote: »

I would have no hesitation in replacing just one alloy, if only one is damaged then just replace the one

the dealer will make a lot more money by selling you four than they will by selling you one i can see no other reason

a single alloy will have a tyre mounted and then it will be balanced so no problem fitting it to your car

Thank you
I understand that they will make more money, but do they think people really are that stupid and will just drop £700 like that? I am now wondering what their 'standard excuse' is..
When they told me, I asked if it must be done now (if it is unsafe to drive) and they said no so I immediately said 'well forget it then' and so they never said why it must be all 4.
I am not going there to get any morework done, that is for sure!!
(I only really went to dealer due to the warranty..)

force_ten

in that article that you linked to from auto express it seems that others are having similar issues with fiesta alloys

most of the time dealers and manufactures will play hard ball and say it is not a problem with the wheel it is a problem with the roads suggesting you hit a pothole and damaged the alloy

BMW had a major issue with alloy wheels cracking and in the end they did agree that some of their alloys did have an issue and started offering some good will

Ford's response

While there’ve been a number of cases of problems with alloys, Ford would not help Anthony, arguing his wheels had been damaged as a result of impact.

says it all really, some alloy look nice but by design they are not as strong as they could be and hitting a pot hole can cause damage to them

if the dealers are worried about a particular batch of alloys then getting you to pay to change them is a great way for them to get rid of the problem