Polishing Stock ST rims

[Sanguinius]

I recently picked up a 2023 ST and one thing I noticed is the center of the rims have a nice, deep, shiny polished look to them, whereas the "flats" at the ends of the spokes as well as the outer dish of the rim is more dull. I picked this up from a reputable dealership who of course threw in a free detailing which, to my observation included some mediocre vacuuming and a goober with a giant buffer blasting the center of the wheel to make them shiny. I know this because when I went to pick the car up there was 2 big globs of polish still left on the wheels.

Anyways, has anyone else encountered this? And how did you remedy it? I have already broken out the polish and gotten an amazon-special drill attachment set and it hasn't made any difference so I'm wondering if I'm doing anything wrong.

 

[GearHead_1]

I can't envision it other than shiny center caps. I'm assuming 20" wheels? Pictures?

 

[Sanguinius]

Factory ST rims (21”?) yes. The bottom spokes show it best View attachment IMG_4535.jpeg

 

[2020FordRaptor]

SOmeone really messed up those wheels. They should be looking nice and glossy throughout the whole wheel.

 

[GearHead_1]

Has someone painted them to cover curb rash?

 

[2020FordRaptor]

Has someone painted them to cover road rash?

Bingo, that looks like that would totally make sense.

 

[GearHead_1]

I don't know, I really thought you must have been talking about the 20' wheel. I couldn't have imagined they'd mess a black wheel up like that. I've never seen anything like it. The other thought that went through my mind is a car wash with tire scrubbers going round and round.

I'd probably try an orbital polisher with a finishing polish and see if paint comes off. Should that be the case you'd at least know where you stand.

No matter how it happened, I'm afraid the only real fix would to have them re-powder coated.They'll take it down to bare metal and start over.

 

[GearHead_1]

Bingo, that looks like that would totally make sense.

Kind of seems like something a Dealer would do to make a quick cover up.