Kizashi Club

Has anyone else had an issue with the polish on their rims coming off and the aluminum turning from chrome looking to black ?

Yes. Began slowly and after enough time all wheels had that black staining and tons of chipping. I refinined them all with dupli color hyper silver . Look good as new and holding up better.

Did you sand them down ? I had a place want to charge 200 a rim to restore.

Yes. That was the hardest part of the project given how many little curves and crevices there are on those rims. I used a very fine scuffing pad made by 3M sold at advance auto in the paint section. Cleaned all with tar and wax remover paint cleaner. I did go overboard with paint coats as I did not realize how well each paint kit would cover. Only need 2 kits but I ended up using 3. I bought 5 lol. And those 3 allowed for several coats on each wheel. Lots of masking. Total was about $100.

So what products did you actually use and what steps if you don't mind me asking? Was your rims as bad as mine or worse?

Wow...that looks bad. I was just starting to get some early signs of this happening, I didn't know it would ever quite look like that though. I brought it up while at the dealership, they took pics and got a Suzuki rep to agree to refinish all my wheels!!!

Wow, Suzuki can't get wheels right

Any chance you guys using aggressive wheel cleaners?

Like the CVT, the wheels are quite likely made by a different company.

My first thoughts were damage from brake dust being left on the wheel too long? Have OEM pads been fitted to the affected vehicles?

I really don't know if anything in particular caused this with my wheels. I'm just attributing it to the poor paint quality used by Suzuki.

Mind you it did take 60K miles to look that that, I'm at 80K now.

I did use specific wheel cleaners and only occasionally.

I did use Armour All's wheel (not tire) protector for a while, but I didn't notice any real benefit and stopped. Could that have done it??? Maybe.

I will say my car gets really beat up with salt and gravel during the winters, so that would be my first guess.

Don't think it was brake dust as I've always cleaned the car thoroughly at least every 2 weeks. So nothing really sits on the car for very long.

Anyhoo, the paint kits work very well, and the color match is almost perfect.


I've attached links to all products used below instructions.

1) Remove tires and work somewhere good for painting.
2) Clean and dry entire wheel thoroughly. (Take advantage at this time and cleaned inside of rim too)
3) Clean surface with wax and grease remover per instructions.
4) Use 3M sponge to scuff all surfaces well. Pay special attention to hard to reach areas.
5) Clean with wax and grease remover again.
6) Mask off all tire sides with tape.
7) Apply paint per instructions. (I ended up doing about 5-7 coats using 3 kits)
8) Apply clear coat per instructions. (Again, ended up with about 5-7 coats with 3 kits)

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/3m-p ... oft+sponge

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/dupl ... ax+remover

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/3m-a ... rm=3m+tape

https://www.duplicolor.com/products/hyperSilver/

Sounds like it could be a combination of things (cleaning chemicals/ salt/ gravel/ brake dust)?

You certainly did an excellent job with the refinishing of your wheels.