I don't like my new wheels

[coolvirus]

I bought the American Eagle series 192 wheels about a month ago to replace my factory chrome rims (I hit a pothole, my left front rim got bent real bad, the dealer wanted $600 for one new rim, I ended up buying a new set of 4 AE series 192 for about $480.)

When I got the AE series 192 the first thing I noticed was that they didn't shine as much as the factory wheels. I said OK, they're not chrome, let's try them for a few days, wash the car, clean them up and see what happens.
Now after 3 car washes, the wheels still don't look as good as the factory ones. I realize they won't shine like chrome but these wheels still look dirty even after washing them. I even saw some tiny scratches like if they had been buffed and also some tiny dots on them that looked like rust! And they're supposed to be brand new.
The only way to make them look remotely clean is to use aluminum polish on them (a friend of mine who own a hand car wash showed me on one of the wheels).

I know some members here have that same set of wheels. How do yours look? I don't know, I'm thinking about going back to chrome.
Anyone else not happy with the these rims?

They definately don't look the way they look on this picture, not even when I first got them:
http://www.jdwheels.com/images/eagle_192.jpg

[TripleJackInGA]

Originals are chrome PLATED, not painted.

[PianT]

Ha, my bad, like Emily Latella used to say, "never mind".

[crazyjoe]

The rust is from your brakes, most likely. Steel/Aluminum wheels will show that up a little moreso than chrome.

Read up on polishing using a corded drill and some jeweler's rouge or other polishing compound. You can polish them to a pretty nice shine and then seal them up with wax to prevent rust (and replace your brake pads with ceramic ones to help even more), and it will works MUCH better than using a rag and aluminum polish.

Stop by the detail forum here and ask gary about polishing wheels and see what he has to say, I am sure he will give out good advice.

[KMB60]

AE wheels, series 192, come in two finishes, I believe, polished aluminum and chrome. The advertising picture that usually is shown is chrome finish.[8D]
Aluminum doesn't look as bright as chrome and takes more work to look good.[:0]

[coolvirus]

quote:AE wheels, series 192, come in two finishes, I believe, polished aluminum and chrome. The advertising picture that usually is shown is chrome finish

bastards! So that's how they get you!

I wish I would've known that ahead of time.

crazyjoe, thanks for the tips. I didnt' even know we had a detailing forum here. I'll check it out.