I don't think the dealer is going to waranty that. Probally going to call it "road hazards."

 

Hm, now that you mention it that one area does seem a little "flat", do you guys think something like this could actually cause serious damage to the rim aside from those scuffs?? This is really scaring me now. What I'm worried about most right now is the car juttering. That could be the rim, but it might be alignment too. Dealer is the place I'd take it to get rebalanced and realigned - there's not many other options around here in Charlottesville.

Cosmetic wise, I think I'm going to clean up the car and try taking the lip off tomorrow and clear out the debris in it, and see if that fixes the problem. If not, then the car goes off to the body shop to get the lip and the rims fixed. Though, I don't want to waste money fixing up the rim if the rim really is flattened out.

What to do?

 

Don't worry about the cosmetic side of things... you can easily fix that up. Make sure to have the wheels checked by a shop that can fix bent wheels. If you take your car to the dealer they're just going to outsource to one of those shops. Maybe someone on here has a recommendation for a wheel fixing shop? I'm almost certain that wheel can be fixed. If you can drive on it without losing pressure it's probably not that bad... maybe even just scuffed.

Also, have car re-aligned just to be safe and have a check of the suspension for potential damage.

Sorry to hear about what happened, but I'm sure it's fixable... it's just a matter of time.

Mark

 

Thanks for the ideas, Mark.

The problem is, I don't have a wheel lock key. If I take it somewhere else they might just jam them out and that would probably ruin the socket. If I did take the car to the dealer, I'd at least want it clean looking, so I'll clean the car first and probably try to fix the lip myself like I mentioned. Also, a lot of the body shops are in downtown, and I wouldn't even try to leave my car overnight there. Granted its not downtown like big city downtown, but it's still kinda sketchy in some areas.

*sigh* Yeah, just a matter of time.. and money. Both of which elude me at the moment.

 

Yeah, I understand. Do you know where the wheel lock key is? If you can get the wheels off yourself, you could store the car somewhere safe and just give the wheels to the shop for repairs... less risk of the car getting stolen.

Mark

 

Well see, my dealer never gave me a wheel lock key and I completely forgot about it. They're in Northern VA. While I'm at school here it's not completely feasible for me to drive back up and get it. If the dealers have a master key it's possible I could "borrow" one persay, from the Cville Mitsu but I don't know if they'd let me do that.

 

sorry to here about your mishap but this evo is deffinately far from down bro,your lucky it wasn't rapped around a tree or something.

 

Also if you hit the rim hard enough to tear out the metal that way your allignment will deffinately be off ,so if there is a rim shop in your area that can fix the rim up a bit and balance it it will or should take away the jittering

 

Have them mail you the wheel lock key ASAP. Then, take the wheels to the closest wheel shop in the area. They should be able to fix the wheels if they need it.

Mark

 

Z man so sorry to hear of your troubles. I know now it seems like life has dealt you an incredible blow. A brand new car...messed up...but be grateful you are still here living and breathing....in a free country.

Something had to happen eventually. I know your blue sticky wheeled monster is only 2 weeks old and who wouldn't want to have it just as perfect as the day you picked it up but something had to soil your Evo sometime. I would be grateful that I am still around to enjoy it.

When I was fortunate enough to go to the Mitsubishi dealer and drive mine home I realized, with all the excitement happening driving home this beautiful car, that they did not say a word about the wheel locks. I asked the delivery person and they shuffled around for a while and came up with the key and the key number so if I ever lost the lock I could order another key. On other cars I have always found the key AND the four nuts the locks replaced in the glove box. When I asked about the four nuts they just shrugged their shoulders and said they didn't know where they were.

I would call your dealer as soon as they open and ask WHERE is your key!

Happy motoring..!!

 

Have you looked in with the lug wrench that they supply. Mine was in that little bag. They alos never mentioned mine either I looked for it myself and found it.

 

Good thing you found it. Imagine if you were stuck somewhere with a flat... That wouldn't be fun at all. You should have that key number too. If it is not anywhere in your paperwork the dealer gave you I would give them a ring....

Also no tire stores around here have these Yok's. The day after I picked up my car I called around locally and found none. I called one mail order vendor who was getting some in early April. Called back a couple of days ago and he had three at $204 a copy. I was thinking of picking up a spare just in case.

 

Hey man...sorry to hear about your little incident. But don't sweat it. At worst, it looks to me like you need to replace the mesh screen.

The wheel may have a mark on it, but if you get it rebalanced, you'll be fine. You can actually see in the pic you took, that a wheel weight was thrown off. One missing wheel weight will certainly make the car shake at speed.

The paint looks like it'll be fine after you clean it and possibly compound it.

As for your wheel lock......check the bag in the trunk with the jack tools. Thats where I found mine.

SC~

 

Man that car is ruined. I will haul it off for scrap for you. Just sign the title over to me and I'll come pick it up.

 

Well, would have known - I found the wheel lock! I bought from the same dealer as SC, so it was right where he said it'd be. Thanks man.

Anyway, with regards to the rim - the scuffs are cosmetic but that's not what's really worrying me right now. The "juttering" is really more like a "bumping", as if I were going over gravel. It is very very SLIGHT, and you might think it was just the harsh ride of the car if you weren't used to it - but the car doesn't usually bump like that.

A couple friends have recommended a shop called Wheels Wizard down in Richmond, VA. Some guy got his rim fixed (he had scuffs too) and wheels rebalanced for $125. The problem is, with my ride being bumpy as it is now (and not knowing whether the problem is rebalancing, realignment, or maybe a flattened rim) would it be smart to take a 1 hour road trip to Richmond? If it were the rim that was damaged, would this only worsen the problem?