[Ajrothm]

2016 SS "Bright" silver wheels, 9500 miles, the finish seems to be turning black internally. It looks like over spray but its underneath the clear...

Anyone see this yet?












We live in Houston so its not like it gets driven on salty roads or anything. Its like the paint itself is failing.
All 4 of the wheels are doing it, some worse then others. The finish is completely smooth as glass.

I guess I'll take it to the dealer tomorrow but, I was just curious if anyoone else has had or seen this?

I tried the search function but found nothing.

Thanks in advance.

[MostlyHarmless]

Not sure how often you clean your wheels, but sure it's not brake dust getting baked on?

Mark

[BluinSC]

Mine are doing it too, although not as bad as yours. 11.4k miles here.

[Memphis SS]

Are you using any type of wheel cleaner or just soap and water like you clean the car with? Do you use any car washes? Just asking because I never seen this issue with painted wheels.

I did have a issue with the clear coat on my C5 and I just removed it and started polishing the wheels.

[Ajrothm]

Originally Posted by Memphis SS

Are you using any type of wheel cleaner or just soap and water like you clean the car with? Do you use any car washes? Just asking because I never seen this issue with painted wheels.

I did have a issue with the clear coat on my C5 and I just removed it and started polishing the wheels.

No wheel cleaner. All we do is wash the car/wheels with Meguires Gold class car wash soap. Its never been to a car wash.

The black color is UNDER the clear for sure as its very smooth on the surface. This is very recent, it was like this about a month ago. My wife has been washing it, not me for the last month or two. So she washed it yesterday and told me the wheels were turning black and I was like "WTF are you talking about? " LOL...

Hopefully the dealer will warranty replace them.

[Ajrothm]

Originally Posted by BluinSC

Mine are doing it too, although not as bad as yours. 11.4k miles here.

Any pics? This has got to be some sort of defect in the paint blend or something and after getting the wheels hot over a period of time seperates the paint blend or something.

I've definitely never seen anything like it before.

[Ajrothm]

Originally Posted by MostlyHarmless

Not sure how often you clean your wheels, but sure it's not brake dust getting baked on?

Mark

Definitely not brake dust. We keep the car pretty clean. Plus I changed the oem pads out at 300 miles to the PowerStop Z26 pads so they don't dust very much at all, and when they do its very light and blows right off.

[Michael2000]

Are these the standard SS silver painted wheels?

[BluinSC]

Originally Posted by Ajrothm

Any pics? This has got to be some sort of defect in the paint blend or something and after getting the wheels hot over a period of time seperates the paint blend or something.

I've definitely never seen anything like it before.

Buying a new phone tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get some pics in at some point.

And to the person above, yes they are the stock 5 spoke wheels.

[Ajrothm]

Originally Posted by Michael2000

Are these the standard SS silver painted wheels?

Yes these are the stock 2016 SS 5 spoke (solid spoke) wheels that come in Bright silver or Satin black. Factory finish.

[Ajrothm]

So I took the car to the dealer today, the informed me that the GM procedure for wheel finish warranty claims is they use a local/third party wheel restoration vendor that is GM approved to remove/repair/refinish the wheels, and then reinstall them. After some negotiating with the dealer and the wheel shop, they are going to refinish the wheels in gloss black for a $200 additional charge. I really always wanted the black wheels so this will actually work out good for me.

The car goes to the dealer tomorrow for the repair. I'll post up pics after the wheels are redone, hopefully they come out well.

The dealer said they have never seen this issue before on any wheels but it certainly looks like a paint product problem.

[Michael2000]

Originally Posted by Ajrothm

Yes these are the stock 2016 SS 5 spoke (solid spoke) wheels that come in Bright silver or Satin black. Factory finish.

I have never seen painted wheels discolor like that. Very strange. I could better visualize this issue taking place with polished wheels with clear coat over them.

[Ajrothm]

Originally Posted by Michael2000

I have never seen painted wheels discolor like that. Very strange. I could better visualize this issue taking place with polished wheels with clear coat over them.

Yeah I know. It's really weird. Even the service advisor at the dealer said they have never seen this. Almost like the base coat silver is seperating under the clear. What's really odd is that the finish is still dead smooth/glossy on the outside.

I'm glad they are opting to refinish them tho, now we can get the black wheels my wife originally wanted, and get them in gloss as opposed to stock satin. Hopefully the wheel guy can paint well.

[Max RS]

My two rear wheels look like that from Day 1. I noticed it the first time I washed them about a week after purchasing. Not as bad as yours but the black spots look the same and it is under the clear. My two fronts have no issues, yet.