John McM

In this case, heat to anneal the aluminum making it workable, then various tools that encourage the wheel back to round. There are some good videos on YouTube of the various methods.

John McM

All good points. If you look at the first images of the machine output, you will see that the faces of both wheels were acceptably round (Green tick). It was the hoop inner faces that showed the damage. I think the car has hit a pothole and the inner rims have deformed because they don't have the spokes to reinforce them like the outer rims. The force has come via the tire/tyre as a buffer so there are no scrapes etc., The car was last aligned in 2017 and tires/tyres changed then. When I had an alignment done, the front camber was way off. I suspect the previous owner hit a pot hole and later sold the car to the dealer. Whether the dealer should pick this up is a difficult question. They have a good reputation. I don't think they knowingly palmed it off. I'm keeping them informed via the broker. We'll see what they say.

With respect to how the car presents, this appears to be a single incident in nine years and 48,000 miles of operation. The wheels are otherwise unmarked, as is the car. The wheel manufacture dates match the build year. Sure, I'm upset that I have to pay USD 525 to fix the wheels from an incident I didn't cause, but on the bright side I'm grateful I'm not looking at USD 3,200 to have two new wheels landed in New Zealand.

To your final point. If I do this again I will pay to have the wheels spun at a tire/tyre shop as part of the PPI.

Marine Blue

It’s good to hear that the wheels are back to round, hopefully no further issues.

I suspect an impact like that would have caused a bulge in the tires which would require immediate replacement. We had a similar situation recently with the Mercedes and I wonder now if the wheel is out of round since I feel a very slight vibration at speed. The tire shop didn’t mention anything when the tire was changed but I really don’t know if they check for this if the wheel balances out ok. But in your instance one of the wheels did have a small ding which at least may have alerted someone to the issue?

John McM

Like many things in life, once you have had an issue you become sensitive to it.

In many decades of motoring I've never come across this before. I've only ever looked at the cosmetic face of the wheel. Once I knew there was an issue pointed out to me I could see the damage. You live and learn.

SpyderSenseOC

That would certainly be helpful information but probably would increase the price of the PPI another hundy.

Looking at the BEFORE videos, though, has me believing that those wheels would have shown faults to the naked eye just by spinning them on the car with your hand.

Turbo Jonny

Have you informed 911 Virgin about these faults ? They trade on high standards reputation. If they had missed them they may compensate.

John McM

I bought through a specialist buyer agent so am one step removed from 911 Virgin. The fact this spent three months travelling to NZ means there was a delay until this was picked up. I have kept the agent informed. On Monday, I will pick up the wheels and pay the bill. I will ask him to put it all to Henry and Co with evidence and cost. Needless to say if I'd bought in the UK this would have been dealt with quickly. I've heard nothing but good things about 911 Virgin.

John McM

Onto a more positive aspect of the car purchase.

Today I had the chance to check out the paint on a Carrara White 997 GTS. It's close to the same age as my Spyder.

The paint on both cars looks original based on thickness readings.

John McM

With the wheels being fixed I took the 964 to a Porsche Club hill climb. Yes, I like to have music from the engine and the stereo.

Marine Blue

Nice, that looks like fun!

Now I’m curious if PCA does anything like this in our area. I also like music in the background although I do end up lowering the volume when I get into the twists so I can hear the engine and tires better. That is actually another reason I love the Spyder (applies to any convertible), you have that additional aural feedback that lets you keep your stay even more focused on your lines.

Suicide Jockey

Certainly not in California. I recall reading that there are a few PCA-sanctioned hill climb events somewhere in the midwest, but hillclimb has always struck me as a predominantly European thing. Not sure why we don't have more of it here in the U.S. Yes, we do have Pikes Peak and undoubtedly it is the grand daddy of all hillclimbs (Goodwood being hugely popular, but in a different league entirely). Like rally racing, hillclimb has never gained a firm foothold here. Pity!

John McM

The owner of the property we drove on is Rod Millen. He's driven Pikes Peak a few times https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Millen

Suicide Jockey

Small world! Rod’s Millen Motorsports was a prominent race shop here in So Cal. Believe his son Rhys has now taken over and/or opened his own shop in Huntington Beach.

Makes total sense that Rod would have a hill climb course on his property there It’s great he makes it available for local Porsche club events.

John McM

The man himself during the briefing. A good turn out with 66 cars.

John McM

Wheels are back home. USD 600 to straighten and repaint. If I had kept this all to myself you wouldn't be able to pick the refurbed ones from original.