Alloy Wheel Repair: The Complete UK Guide (2026)

Kerb scuffs

The classic one — the rim has scraped a kerb and the outer lip is gouged. By far the most common job and the easiest to repair invisibly.

Pothole impact damage

A hard hit can crack or buckle a wheel. Cracks on the inner barrel can sometimes be welded; buckles can be straightened on a hydraulic press if the alloy isn't too brittle. Always have a buckled wheel checked for safety — a cracked alloy can fail at speed.

Corrosion & lacquer peel

Common on wheels older than 5 years, especially in coastal or salted-road areas like Devon. The lacquer lifts, water gets under it and the alloy oxidises into white blooms. Needs full strip and refinish, not a spot repair.

Diamond-cut damage

Diamond-cut wheels have a machined silver face with a clear lacquer. Once damaged they MUST be re-cut on a CNC lathe — a hand-painted repair will look obviously wrong because the original surface is machined, not painted.

• Mobile kerb scuff repair (single wheel, painted): £55–£90
• Mobile repair, all four wheels (painted): £180–£300
• Diamond-cut wheel repair (per wheel, off-car lathe): £90–£140
• Full powder-coat refurbishment (off-car, per wheel): £80–£140
• Colour change (all four wheels, powder-coat): £350–£550
• Pothole crack weld: £80–£140 per wheel (safety-checked)
• New OEM alloy: £250–£900+ each

Choose mobile repair when: the damage is kerb scuffs or chips on the outer face, you want it done while you're at work, you need it ready in a few hours, or you're prepping for a lease return.

Choose full powder-coat when: the wheel has corrosion under the lacquer, you want to change colour entirely, multiple wheels are damaged across the whole face, or you want a finish that's measurably tougher than the original (powder coat is 3–5× more impact-resistant than paint).

Powder-coating requires removing the tyre, sandblasting the wheel back to bare metal, then baking the new finish on at 200°C — it has to be done off the car and usually takes 24–48 hours.

1. Assess and mask — the tyre and brake caliper are masked to protect them from sanding dust and overspray.
2. Sand back the damage — kerb gouges are feathered out, working through progressively finer grits.
3. Fill if needed — deep gouges are built back up with metal-grade filler and re-sanded flush.
4. Prime — a high-build primer is sprayed and flatted smooth.
5. Colour match & spray — your wheel colour (silver, gunmetal, anthracite, bespoke) is mixed and blended into the wheel face.
6. Lacquer — two coats of clear lacquer applied and force-cured under infrared lamps.
7. Polish & reveal — masking removed, edges polished, ready to drive in about 90 minutes per wheel.

Diamond-cut wheels (think most Audi, BMW, VW Golf R, Range Rover) start life as a painted wheel that's then put on a CNC lathe to machine a perfectly flat silver face, which is finally protected with clear lacquer.

A hand-painted "silver" repair on a diamond-cut wheel will look obviously different because you can't replicate the machined finish with a spray gun. Worse, water gets under the lacquer at the repair edge and corrosion blooms within months.

Proper diamond-cut repair requires:

• Tyre off, wheel off the car
• Mounted on a CNC lathe and re-cut by 0.2–0.5mm
• Re-lacquered and force-cured

A wheel can usually be re-cut 2–3 times before the face becomes too thin and a full powder-coat in a solid colour is the only option left.

Repair kerb scuffs, lacquer peel, cosmetic corrosion, and small chips.

Replace any wheel with:

• A crack across the spoke or hub face
• A buckle that won't true on a press
• Repeated cracks (sign of a brittle casting)
• Damage that's been welded more than once in the same spot

Safety always trumps cost — a wheel failure at motorway speed is genuinely dangerous. Any reputable mobile tech will refuse to "tidy up" a cracked wheel and will tell you to replace it instead.