OEM wheels

mickdw

I took a wheel off my brand new audi today to discover the inside stamped with "Non original euipment". The wheels were bought new with the car from audi dealer and were picked out of the brochure for the car.

Does this mean the wheels are copies or simply that they are genuine wheels but were not factory fit for the car (i.e. accessories)?
I am also experiencing steering pull and extreme tramlining, Could it be that these are cheap heavy copies and are causing my steering problems?

Gumbo

mickdw wrote: »

I took a wheel off my brand new audi today to discover the inside stamped with "Non original euipment". The wheels were bought new with the car from audi dealer and were picked out of the brochure for the car.

Does this mean the wheels are copies or simply that they are genuine wheels but were not factory fit for the car (i.e. accessories)?
I am also experiencing steering pull and extreme tramlining, Could it be that these are cheap heavy copies and are causing my steering problems?

depends what audi you have?
it could be something like, you bought an audi A4 but got RS4 replica wheels fitted from the dealer. its cheaper for them to supply and fit replicas then to supply genuine wheels as sometimes they wont fit the normal car.

any pics of the wheels you got?

mickdw

Its an a5 and I just wanted upgrade to bigger a5 wheels. These wheels are specifically for a5 so no fitment issues and I understood I was getting genuine wheels when I ordered them and paid significant money for them.

Gumbo

mickdw wrote: »

Its an a5 and I just wanted upgrade to bigger a5 wheels. These wheels are specifically for a5 so no fitment issues and I understood I was getting genuine wheels when I ordered them and paid significant money for them.

thats strange, are the S5 replica wheels?

mickdw

Nope, A5 y style, You may know them. common wheel on A5. Mine are 18" but someone said they may only be available as 19" in the genuine wheel. I wasnt told this and its not good enough.

Is there any way these could be genuine? No Audi stamps visible with tyre on. Made in Italy and stamped "Non original E"

Gumbo

mickdw wrote: »

Nope, A5 y style, You may know them. common wheel on A5. Mine are 18" but someone said they may only be available as 19" in the genuine wheel. I wasnt told this and its not good enough.

Is there any way these could be genuine? No Audi stamps visible with tyre on. Made in Italy and stamped "Non original E"

there is a guy on here "Audichris", hopefully he will log in and see this thread, he will be able to help alot more than me, but if it was me i would try go a few other A5's and compare the wheels or maybe check with another dealer and see what they say about it?

mickdw

Ya I asked him a few things before.
Cheers.

-Chris-

Are they the "scissors" alloys that are on this pic?

They're in 19" only from the factory, not available in 18". I'd have to check with the parts dept if they're available aftermarket in 18", but I'd expect not...

I don't expect they're the cause of your tramlining, but certainly they should be offical Audi wheels if you paid for and were told that you got official Audi wheels.

Darando

Do Audi wheels have a part number somewhere on the wheel? I know all Ford alloys have a part number on them... for ease of identification

So if Audi wheels should have a part number on them and yours don't then I would be taking a trip back to the garage and kicking up a fuss. Should have all Audi wheels available on their parts system - get them to show you the ones on your car as proof.

-Chris-

First port-of-call should be back to your dealer to ask them what their take on it is. If you want to do your homework, call a parts dept somewhere else and see if it's possible to order them. If they can't find them in their parts catalogue then they're not official Audi parts.

mickdw

Yes chris they are the wheels and mine are 18" so not genuine so I presume. No Audi stamps or anything like that on them.
Genuine or not was not mentioned but these are the wheels on all the brochures etc so I just said I will have a set of those. At that point surely he should have said they were not available in 18 but that he could offer them in a replica if I wished.

JoeA3

Sounds like the dealer fitted replicas, which is common enough practice. Question is, how much did you pay for the wheel "upgrade".? Audi tend to charge quite a lot for their alloy upgrades. If they are replicas its likely the wheels were fitted by the dealer locally, so what did he do with the standard fit wheels if thats the case?

Several manufacturers source some of their wheels from 3rd parties, e.g. Golf GTI alloys are BBS, with "BBS" stamped on the inside of the rims.

mickdw

JoeA3 wrote: »

Sounds like the dealer fitted replicas, which is common enough practice. Question is, how much did you pay for the wheel "upgrade".? Audi tend to charge quite a lot for their alloy upgrades. If they are replicas its likely the wheels were fitted by the dealer locally, so what did he do with the standard fit wheels if thats the case?

Several manufacturers source some of their wheels from 3rd parties, e.g. Golf GTI alloys are BBS, with "BBS" stamped on the inside of the rims.

On the car brochure from audi, The only set of 18" wheels (Not my ones but equally nice) are priced at €1521 as an upgrade with them taking the original wheels & tyres. He gave me best price of over €1400 for the upgraded wheels (taking my own wheels in part ex) and got him to €1250. I have been had.

-Chris-

If I read that correctly, you paid €1,250 for a set of 18" wheels and tyres. I don't think that's bad pricing Mick, I don't think you've been had.

Last time I put non-Audi wheels was a set of 17" wheels and tyres on an A3. Cost incl vat was €1,100.
€1,250 for 18"s seems quite reasonable.

You may have an issue that you feel you've been misled, but the pricing seems fair.

Bluefoam

AudiChris wrote: »

If I read that correctly, you paid €1,250 for a set of 18" wheels and tyres. I don't think that's bad pricing Mick, I don't think you've been had.

Last time I put non-Audi wheels was a set of 17" wheels and tyres on an A3. Cost incl vat was €1,100.
€1,250 for 18"s seems quite reasonable.

You may have an issue that you feel you've been misled, but the pricing seems fair.

But they held onto the Audi wheels with tyres.

I would be very p****d of if I had been misled like this - you are buying into a particular brand and having cheaper knock off's put on does not sit well with the whole Audi experience...

mickdw

AudiChris wrote: »

If I read that correctly, you paid €1,250 for a set of 18" wheels and tyres. I don't think that's bad pricing Mick, I don't think you've been had.

Last time I put non-Audi wheels was a set of 17" wheels and tyres on an A3. Cost incl vat was €1,100.
€1,250 for 18"s seems quite reasonable.

You may have an issue that you feel you've been misled, but the pricing seems fair.

Genuine 18" of a different style in the a5 brochure for 1521 euro trading in originals too. So how was it fair for him to ask 1400 euro ( bargained to 1250) for replica wheels while also trading in my originals.

Bluefoam

Wheels on a new car should be original brand, unless specifically asked for by the buyer or sold as replicas by the dealer.

I know that I can pick up replica wheels for my car for less than €1000 (with tyres) but the originals from a dealer are about €2000 without tyres - and that's retail price, think about the amount of margin he is making on them...

*Kol*

mickdw wrote: »

Genuine 18" of a different style in the a5 brochure for 1521 euro trading in originals too. So how was it fair for him to ask 1400 euro ( bargained to 1250) for replica wheels while also trading in my originals.

Did you pick yours from the A5 brochure? Did he tell you they weren't available in 18"?

Henry Ford III

€1250 + the value of the original new Audi wheels are tyres is a lot to pay for an upgrade surely.

The original equipment must have cost him maybe €450 a corner.

Therefore these non OEM wheels plus tyres looks like costing €762.50 each! :eek:

mickdw

*Kol* wrote: »

Did you pick yours from the A5 brochure? Did he tell you they weren't available in 18"?

went through the brochure, liked the wheels, rang him and said I wanted these wheels in 18".
He came back with price. No mention of non genuine.

Anyway rang him this morning, His response, any wheel not ordered with the initial order from the factory will be non genuine! Hard to believe. Anyway he is agreeing to change to genuine rims of another design in the same size ( The €1521 ones ) I will not be paying the difference. This will be the fourth journey to the dealer in last fortnight (90 mile trip)

conneem-TT

Henry Ford III wrote: »

€1250 + the value of the original new Audi wheels are tyres is a lot to pay for an upgrade surely.

The original equipment must have cost him maybe €450 a corner.

Therefore these non OEM wheels plus tyres looks like costing €762.50 each! :eek:

It cost me ~2,500 to upgrade to the 18" my car, so work that out

It is a bit wierd/deceiving that they would stick some non OEM wheels on a new car without you knowing

TheDriver

mickdw wrote: »

went through the brochure, liked the wheels, rang him and said I wanted these wheels in 18".
He came back with price. No mention of non genuine.

Anyway rang him this morning, His response, any wheel not ordered with the initial order from the factory will be non genuine! Hard to believe. Anyway he is agreeing to change to genuine rims of another design in the same size ( The €1521 ones ) I will not be paying the difference. This will be the fourth journey to the dealer in last fortnight (90 mile trip)

I thought you ordered from the brochure and whether they have it on the lot or not means your ordering new, course it should be genuine parts. Wonder would Audi Ireland not be impressed with that comment?

Henry Ford III

conneem-TT wrote: »

It cost me ~2,500 to upgrade to the 18" my car, so work that out

Crikey! :eek:

That's maybe €1125 per corner. Are they made of gold?

Bluefoam

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Crikey! :eek:

That's maybe €1125 per corner. Are they made of gold?

No, its not a Subaru!

-Chris-

Bluefoam wrote: »

But they held onto the Audi wheels with tyres.

Just to comment on this, and the subsequent maths based on this line of thought...

If I have a standard A5 sitting on the forecourt and I sell it, but the customer wants new wheels on it, I have to price up the new wheels.
If the new wheels are €1,200 including tyres, I'll have to charge €1,200 - there will be no "trade-in" value of the wheels/tyres that are on the car at the time.
They are the standard wheels and every A5 that comes into the country will have those wheels or better.
I have nothing I can do with those wheels, they'll probably be thrown out.

If you choose upgraded wheels from the factory for €1,500, that doesn't mean that I'd be able to source them aftermarket for €1,500. In that situation you're paying €1,500 to upgrade the wheels and the factory is saving on the original set of wheels (if you know what I mean).

Compare the cost of the aftermarket wheels to the cost of the factory upgrade. Take the idea of "trading-in" your old wheels out of the equation, generally it's not do-able.

Henry Ford III

AudiChris wrote: »

Just to comment on this, and the subsequent maths based on this line of thought...


If I have a standard A5 sitting on the forecourt and I sell it, but the customer wants new wheels on it, I have to price up the new wheels.
If the new wheels are €1,200 including tyres, I'll have to charge €1,200 - there will be no "trade-in" value of the wheels/tyres that are on the car at the time.
They are the standard wheels and every A5 that comes into the country will have those wheels or better.
I have nothing I can do with those wheels, they'll probably be thrown out.

If you choose upgraded wheels from the factory for €1,500, that doesn't mean that I'd be able to source them aftermarket for €1,500. In that situation you're paying €1,500 to upgrade the wheels and the factory is saving on the original set of wheels (if you know what I mean).

Compare the cost of the aftermarket wheels to the cost of the factory upgrade. Take the idea of "trading-in" your old wheels out of the equation, generally it's not do-able.

The set of wheels and tyres that came with the car as standard equipment are far from worthless I reckon.

-Chris-

Henry Ford III wrote: »

The set of wheels and tyres that came with the car as standard equipment are far from worthless I reckon.

If you can sell them, then they're worth something.
I took a set of standard alloys off the A3 when I put on the 17"s. I told the customer I'd sell them on her behalf. I couldn't move them at all and my "wheel & tyre guy" wouldn't take them as a trade in.

I'm not saying they're without monetary value, I'm saying that I wouldn't be willing or able to give you any value for them. You may be able to shift them on eBay or in Buy and Sell.

In the end, I had that customer's wheels in our storage area for 6 months before I called her and had her collect them.

su_dios

I know of a guy who just bought a new golf gt and upgraded his alloys to gti alloys only to be told a week before the car coming in that they were replica (after him chasing it up). He was looking at an 850 upgrade but never once was replica mentioned.

Now when I bought alloys for my last fiat stilo, I went to the garage and ordered the ones I wanted. They were original not replica so I don't get why VW/AUDI garages are selling replicas? Surely they're not made by VAG but by an outside company? Alloy-wheels.ie sells replicas for a far better price inc tyres.

colm_mcm

AudiChris wrote: »

If you can sell them, then they're worth something.
I took a set of standard alloys off the A3 when I put on the 17"s. I told the customer I'd sell them on her behalf. I couldn't move them at all and my "wheel & tyre guy" wouldn't take them as a trade in.

I'm not saying they're without monetary value, I'm saying that I wouldn't be willing or able to give you any value for them. You may be able to shift them on eBay or in Buy and Sell.

In the end, I had that customer's wheels in our storage area for 6 months before I called her and had her collect them.

I'm sure the A5 standard wheels will fit many other Audi models.

-Chris-

su_dios wrote: »

I know of a guy who just bought a new golf gt and upgraded his alloys to gti alloys only to be told a week before the car coming in that they were replica (after him chasing it up). He was looking at an 850 upgrade but never once was replica mentioned.



Now when I bought alloys for my last fiat stilo, I went to the garage and ordered the ones I wanted. They were original not replica so I don't get why VW/AUDI garages are selling replicas? Surely they're not made by VAG but by an outside company? Alloy-wheels.ie sells replicas for a far better price inc tyres.

I offer my customer offical Audi accessories, and if they don't suit the customer's budget I'll use my non-Audi supplier and state clearly to the customer that the parts are non-Audi and not tested or warrantied to the same level as the official Audi accessories.

I see no problem with this arrangement (I don't know if Audi Ireland have a different opinion... ).

To me, the main issue here is that it wasn't made clear to Mick that the wheels were non-Audi. The garage has moved to remedy this.

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'm sure the A5 standard wheels will fit many other Audi models.

No idea Colm, I'd have to look into it. I'd expect they're interchangable with A4 wheels at the very least.
I don't know any customers who would want the base spec A5 wheels on their new A4 is what I'm saying. I'm not sure if it's a sufficient upgrade.
I certainly don't believe they'll pay for them, which leaves me in the position of saying to a customer "buy that A4 and I'll throw in some upgraded alloys for free". As such I wouldn't allow a trade-in value for them.

If someone wanted to leave their old alloys with me and I try and sell them on their behalf (as Mary did), I have no problem with that, but I'm not putting a monetary value on standard wheels as I don't know if they'll sell at all (they didn't in Mary's case).

My 2c

Lord Nikon

Surely it is the benefit of the authorized dealer to sell OEM branded equipment, and charge the premium price for equipment that is very expensive anyway. Your buying into the brand, and surely that's what you should get.


The thoughts of a dealer supplying aftermarket/replica alloys shows badly on the dealer who supplies them and their thoughts of the brand they are trying to sell.

I would be on to Audi headoffice and express my dissappointment in the dealer that supplied these knockoffs, if thats what they are.