I have always left my alloy rims on for the winter since I lease my cars and am lazy to bother getting steel rims for the winter I guess. I will be leasing the 2016 touring civic and wonder if I should leave those nice rims on all year. I live in Canada with lots of snow by the way ! any opinions would be appreciated.
A questions about alloy rims in the winter ......
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Getting a set of steel wheels for winter will be best since over the life of the tires, (4-5 years) you can save on costs of having to change over from one set of tires to the other, you'll be able to keep your alloys in good condition and prevent rusting from any possible chips or scratches that exposes the metal and if you plan on sticking with vehicles in the same segment... that set of wheels will last you a long time.
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I believe it really depends on what they put down on the road to aid in the melting of snow or ice. If it is just sand just wash the wheels off. Salt or calcium chloride you might want to get steelies unless you really are on top of washing the wheels off.
Coating the wheels with a protector that acts like a clear coat, and then waxing them is a good thing to do as that will make washing them far easier.
I've had factory alloy wheels on many cars with little or no corrosion problems.
1. '83 Civic with painted alloys looked like new after ten years.
2. '92 Saturn with factory alloys had some corrosion after ten years.
3. '97 Civic EX with HX alloys looked like new after 16 years.
4. '03 Mazda Protege5 with polished alloys are nearly flawless after 12 years.
5. Black Betty's wheels look like new, but they're only 3 years old.
Unless you scratch or scrape them, they should hold up fine. I do nothing special to care for the wheels except wash them well with the car. Oh yeah, I'm in NW OH where they spread salt like butter on toast.
1. '83 Civic with painted alloys looked like new after ten years.
2. '92 Saturn with factory alloys had some corrosion after ten years.
3. '97 Civic EX with HX alloys looked like new after 16 years.
4. '03 Mazda Protege5 with polished alloys are nearly flawless after 12 years.
5. Black Betty's wheels look like new, but they're only 3 years old.
Unless you scratch or scrape them, they should hold up fine. I do nothing special to care for the wheels except wash them well with the car. Oh yeah, I'm in NW OH where they spread salt like butter on toast.
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182 Posts
Out Toyota Highlander (2208) has Alloy wheels. They get plenty of snow time and slushy salt during the winter. The rims are still great except for where the plastic center cap meets the alloy. About 3 mm out there is some corrosion. The car sees a car wash about every 2 weeks during the winter months. The corrosion at the center cap is a Toyota trait on the Highlander.
As others have said, salt is the killer.
As others have said, salt is the killer.
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