Be cautious of PermaStar Coating

[outnumbered]

Guys, this is kind of tough, as I believe I was one of the first--if not the first, to have PermaStar coating applied to my wheels. If not, I know I hold the record for the number of times I have used them; currently I'm on my third set.

If you will recall, I have always spoken favorably on the quality of the wheels. I have absolutely loved them--until now. The last set I had coated were different than the rest. There was a burgandy tint around the lip of each wheel. With the tire mounted, it was less noticeable, but nonetheless, noticeable. After providing Goodrich Technology with pictures, I was instructed to send the wheels back, as they agreed something definitely didn't look right. I did that, and was notified today by the owner of the company with the following:

"what you are seeing is the base coat on the side of the wheel. We do not consider this a warranty problem. The wheels are so big that the side targets in our machine could not get great coverage on the side of the wheel. This area is covered by the tire and therefore not seen with a tire on it."

If the discoloration wasn't noticeable, I wouldn't have sent them back. I have never noticed this issue on the other wheels that they have done.

He went on to say that if I wanted them recoated, he would charge me $25/wheel to strip the wheels, and then $175/wheel to recoat. To say I am dissappointed would be an understatement. I have instructed him to send the wheels back without repair. So I will be out $500 just in shipping charges.

So if you are thinking of going the PermaStar route with your 22" wheels, understand that you are taking a chance on how they will turn out.

 

[FATJACK]

Well that sucks!!!

 

[outnumbered]

Well that sucks!!!

The bad thing is that I offered to only send one initially--just to make sure they were going to cover the cost to recoat. He responded with "send them all".

 

[hankthetank]

damn, that sucks bro......i guess everything is a risk. maybe it's a sign to go with black powdercoat on that black beast!

 

[viperhauler]

knowing you...it wasn't an unwarranted request...

but i'm surprised at the response, to say the least...

 

[ZCx]

so basicly all of a sudden our 22's are too big for the coatin machine.

did ya mention that these were your 3rd set to use their coatin & the first 2 were great compared to the 3rd set?????

drop a note to the area BBB???

 

[noid]

Well I have yet to take mine over there to get them Re PermaStared after putting a small curb mark in one. I'm going to look mine over real good before I take it there. If they come back not to my liking. We"ll have a issue for sure. Fortunately for me they are 45 min away.

 

[Venom Power]

Jack said it right.. :argh:"Well that sucks." I have three OEM wheels that are polished Permastars in the box and still unmounted. I have one more unmounted stocker that I have been meaning to send to them. But now I'm wondering if the one I send will look different from the other three. And since when is 22" wheels too big :dontknow:anyway? 22's have been around for quite a while and are NOT the biggest available. 24's are apparently highly sought after (which I don't like) and there are even 26's and higher. They really shouldn't have an issue with 22's. That's just a damn excuse IMO.

 

[outnumbered]

so basicly all of a sudden our 22's are too big for the coatin machine.

did ya mention that these were your 3rd set to use their coatin & the first 2 were great compared to the 3rd set?????

drop a note to the area BBB???

He knows how much business I have done with them; which is why I am really disappointed. If the size of my wheels were ever an issue, then none of them should have ever been coated, and they shouldn't have accepted payment.

 

[outnumbered]

Jack said it right.. :argh:"Well that sucks." I have three OEM wheels that are polished Permastars in the box and still unmounted. I have one more unmounted stocker that I have been meaning to send to them. But now I'm wondering if the one I send will look different from the other three. And since when is 22" wheels too big :dontknow:anyway? 22's have been around for quite a while and are NOT the biggest available. 24's are apparently highly sought after (which I don't like) and there are even 26's and higher. They really shouldn't have an issue with 22's. That's just a damn excuse IMO.

Anthony, you and Noid got me thinking. To prove my point, do any of your wheels have a burgandy color/tint around the top outer lip of the wheel. I'll post a pic of what mine look like.

 

[outnumbered]

I think the picture is "self explanatory" The picture is taken looking down.

Ok, now I'm sitting here thinking now what? I have instructed him to send my wheels back immediately, and for those of you that know me, I won't be putting them back on the truck in their current condition. Goodrich has already informed me that it is a difficult process to remove the coating; hence the $25/wheel charge. So sending them somewhere local to be either powder coated or chromed, could end up costing a small fortune anyway. So here are my options:

1. Buy different wheels all together
2. Spend the money for someone locally to strip and recoat.
3. Buy another set of stock wheels and be happy with the stock finish.
4. Buy a set of chrome replica's.
5. Take my chances with PermaStar to see if yet another attempt is successful.

This really ticks me off.

 

[FATJACK]

JMHO but no way in hell would I pay them to fix their own mistake!!

 

[Troy's QC SRT]

cant see the pic but damn im surprised at that response alone....not a good way to conduct business IMHO

 

[viperhauler]

can't see the pic, either, ron...

 

[Black1]

They need to make it right... The first two sets were good. It's not a problem with the machine. It sounds like a problem with them being "busy" or their personnel not being trained properly. They should be aware that you have sent them a LOT of business.... if they aren't aware of that, you should make them aware.

Just my opinion.

 

[outnumbered]

Now he says as a compromise, he is willing to strip and redo for $500. I just don't think my pride will allow me to accept that.

 

[JTS VENOM PERFORMANCE]

junk.................................

 

[outnumbered]

Can you guys see this??

 

[Black1]

Yep, that's not right....

 

[outnumbered]

Well, I swallowed my pride. Any of my other options will cost me at least $500, and given that I have already spent the money to send them out, I accepted his offer. I'm not happy, but the alternative just wasn't making good financial sense.

I should have stuck with my intuition and only sent him 1 wheel, rather than listening to his request to send all 4. That way, if he wasn't going to cover under warranty; which wouldn't have made me happy, I wouldn't be out the shipping charges. I guess every positive experience has to end at some time. I certainly wasn't expecting it with this situation.

I still love their product. I'm just not thrilled with how my situation was handled. I wouldn't expect anyone not to do business with them, but as my thread title implies, be cautious.