GM freeze on all chrome wheel sales?

gdnelis · May 9, 2016

Does anyone have any insider information about a GM freeze on chrome wheel sales?

Long story short, 6 months ago I purchased a 2015 Silverado LTZ with the optional (dealer installed) 22" SF1 7 spoke silver wheels. I ignored common sense and spent more than I wanted to due to the wheel color nearly matching the tungsten paint and looking great in my eyes, so I splurged and bought more than I was shopping for.

The truck had a defective valve stem that leaked when sideways pressure was applied to it (noticed while cleaning my wheels). I took it into the local dealer for warranty repair of the valve stem, and of course they ruined the wheel by scratching it around the entire circumference. I refused to let their fly by night touch up guy fix the damage on my then 4 month old $50k+ truck. For 2 months they've tried and failed to acquire a matching wheel through GM. They've received 3 wheels, 2 of which they installed and removed, but all of which are a different shade of silver from the other, and none match the other 3 on my truck.

So I accepted defeat and realized even if we find a matching wheel after months of trying (began in March), should it happen again in the future I honestly don't want this headache with GM's supplier changing paint color on a weekly basis it seems. The offending dealer finally did the right thing and said "Pick any GM accessory wheel you want, we'll put 4 on your truck." I went with the 22" split spoke chrome wheels (SES style) and placed the order agreeing to forgo the wheels that attracted me to the truck.

3 days later, I'm now being told GM has put a hault on all sales of chrome rims. They have hundreds of the wheel I'm after in stock, but the dealership is being told they cannot sell them any for any vehicle. Coincidentally, I'm being told they can get me a set of 6" spoke Cadillac wheels that are almost the same, but not the same in my eyes, and I'm trying to figure out what amount of BS I'm being fed given that the offending dealership also sells Cadillac.

My lack of trust is this. After the 2nd non-matching wheel was put on my truck a 2nd time, I flipped out over wasting my time at the dealership for nothing. I left with their non-matching wheel on my truck, explicitly told them I forbid any type of paint work on my damaged wheel, and told them not to call me to waste any more of my time until they had a new wheel sitting next to my scratched wheel and felt it was a perfect match. 2 weeks later, I get the call so I ride the motorcycle up. I'm presented a wheel with buffing compound on it and dirt in the paint, clearly it had been mounted to a vehicle (paint in lug area tells the story), and then I'm fed BS that my wheel was sent back due to their being a core charge. They painted my wheel. I lost my mind over two grown men lying to my face without having a clue to my level of dealership employment in the past.

I'll skip a lot of detail and simply say my level of trust is non-existent, so I'm asking if anyone knows of any such freeze on the sale of chrome rims across the board or if the guy who stepped in to help me (dealership's field operations manager) rectify this situation isn't as bad as the service writer and service manager who treated me as though I'm a fool.

Thanks,

Greg

Nathan79 · May 10, 2016

Have you called up another dealer and ask if they can order the wheels you want? If they say the same thing you have your answer right there.

wsk3 · May 10, 2016

I'm very interested to know why they put a freeze on selling them. I'm suspicious because I have chrome wheels, and the 76mph shake.

gdnelis · May 10, 2016

WSK3 - note that I'm only aware of the issue as it applies to chrome wheels supplied through the "Custom Vehicle Outfitters" which is described on their website as "the General Motors Authorized Distributor/Installer of Accessories for Central & Western New York and Western & Northeast Pennsylvania." As I'm being told, they're nationwide but I haven't a clue whether they operate under different names or not... it isn't making sense to me. Anyhow, I'm told that if your window sticker said "Dealer Installed Option" the parts came from them (in my region).

Nathan - I'm right there with your logic. I'm stopping at another dealership today to ask they call the CVO company and ask about the availability of the part. I received a screen shot of the placed order to CVO the day I met the only helpful party at the dealership last week, a shot sent to him by the parts department confirming the order was placed. As a result, it would seem walking in and trying to order a set with a Visa in my hand would "work" but I suspect a day later I'd get a call saying there is an unknown length delay on the shipment of my parts due to the stop sale. I'm hoping to skip that process and cut straight to asking them to make a phone call for me to confirm what I'm being told is legit.

While the dealership's service department has flat out lied to me in the past , the LAST person I've encountered told me what i already knew (there was no core charge for an accessory "purchased" to replace damage they caused) and has been above board with me so I have to give him an ounce of my trust. It's just my poor luck that has resulted in this fun at this point. My truck is nicknamed Brutus after "The Born Loser" cartoon since I truly feel like that guy some days.

If you have the wheels in this photo, protect them with your life. The front is the original color (clean, not covered in brake dust) and the rear is the 5 shades lighter replacement. Sorry for the blurry cell phone picture, but I was shaking with rage when I found the mismatch of color once home in good lighting.

Darcy13 · May 10, 2016

When I bought my truck, I wanted to have the 6-spoke chrome 22s installed on my truck in place of the stock 18s. I was told they had a hold on all chrome 22s until June or July. My best guess is that their supplier availability is limited, and emerging stock is reserved for factory-installation, because they are still shipping trucks and SUVs off the line with chrome 22s. What is confusing is that they have aftermarket stock of all other non-chrome GM 22s. Luckily, my salesman tracked down a set of the wheels I wanted at another dealership in Minnesota. I would say that's probably your best bet at this point.

SouthPawCO · May 10, 2016

Have you looked at aftermarket wheels? Maybe convincing the dealer for nice aftermarket wheels from one of their tire suppliers will suffice. We had a similar instance at a non GM dealership I worked at where the wheels that were on the car were damn near impossible to find. They were backordered from Germany with no ETA (already three on months on backorder). The service director finally agreed to let the customer pick out some aftermarket wheels that he liked and paid for them. At the price of factory GM wheels, you could get some pretty nice wheels from Discount Tire or the like.

Shu · May 10, 2016

Wow the wheel is much lighter in color. I didn't expect it to be that far off when I read your first post. I wouldn't settle for that either. Did they offer to replace all four with the new lighter color? While it wouldn't match the paint exactly as you liked they would all at least match each other. I think Keystone wheel is the manufacturer of the wheels. FWIW, I saw you could order some on rockauto.com but I think the 20's and 22's were not available there either.

BOOMER119 · May 10, 2016

Have you checked Ebay? Tons of OEM wheels on there

gdnelis · May 10, 2016

I'll try to answer them in the order received...

Darcy - thanks for the heads up. Dealer found a source with 200+ but wouldn't sell him any. Your story helps make sense of that information. They only offered me the 6 spoke Cadillac chrome wheels but I couldn't have the 7 spoke ones i want. Go figure, but I will not compromise (already doing that giving up the ones I like more than chrome).

SouthPaw - I appreciate the suggestion, but afternmarket wheels are not my desire at this time. $54k truck that can't get parts for 4 months after buying is unacceptable to me.

Shu - can't stand the lighter wheels so not an option for me. Not interested in having them refinished either.

Boomer - I appreciate the advice, but I don't have 6k miles on the truck and I'm not about to lift a finger for the guys who screwed it up by sourcing my own replacement with it's own headache. Biggest concern is the color of what i buy on ebay won't match the 3 I have. Plus, don't want a used rim... too many possible problems going that route.

I realize I sound crazy / obsessed, but dropping this much coin for this much of a problem is ridiculous. I want rid of the original wheels now to avoid going through this again should I actually damage one a month from now.

Thanks for all the advice and info, I really appreciate the responses.

camcamaro1991 · May 10, 2016

Geech, there are supply constraints hence more likely the reason you're not finding the correct wheel, there are lots of folks wanting the 22" wheel, besides at best you have chrome inserts with painted wheels. which I believe are made here in the USA, my 20" chrome Denali wheels are made crap china, just hold out until chrome insert wheels becomes available.

Heck I hate my Denali grill ugliest grill to date, I wanted a all terrain color matched Onyx, but I guess at this point I hope the 2017 2500 Denali grills look better b/c it doesn't take much.

BOOMER119 · May 11, 2016

Personally I was thinking find 4 wheels you like on Ebay and have the dealer order, pay for and install them. At least that way you would have 4 wheels that matched.

BOOMER119 · May 11, 2016

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tallspawn · May 11, 2016

Geech, I can't tell from the photo, do you have the chrome inserts or no?

Sent From My Galaxy S6 Edge+

gdnelis · May 11, 2016

No chrome inserts for me, they're standard painted rims.

These are what I settled on as replacements:

The issue with going with anything but a dealer installed wheel is you lose the warranty that came with them. I've had 2 vehicles in the past where the finish of the wheels resulted in a warranty claim and I'd like to retain the warranty coverage for the product I purchased (my old GMC had pealing clearcoat on the cast aluminum wheels, the finish on two wheels from my Challenger which rarely sees rain let alone salt bubbled). I realize living in PA will make the chromed rims more of a maintenance issue for me, but seeing as how they can't match their own paint colors these days my hands are kind of tied. I'll probably end up buying someone else's new take offs to run in the winter as a result.

tallspawn · May 11, 2016

The issue with going with anything but a dealer installed wheel is you lose the warranty that came with them. I've had 2 vehicles in the past where the finish of the wheels resulted in a warranty claim and I'd like to retain the warranty coverage for the product I purchased (my old GMC had pealing clearcoat on the cast aluminum wheels, the finish on two wheels from my Challenger which rarely sees rain let alone salt bubbled). I realize living in PA will make the chromed rims more of a maintenance issue for me, but seeing as how they can't match their own paint colors these days my hands are kind of tied. I'll probably end up buying someone else's new take offs to run in the winter as a result.

You have the same ones I have then....I've noticed most of them lately are the ones with inserts and also noticed mine seem darker than some others I've seen (which I like). I like the ones you picked as replacements but agree on the maintenance. It sucks you can't get a matching one, these are the my favorite wheels I've owned to date, so easy to clean and look great imo. I wish you luck in finding some take offs so you can get back to the setup you want! I guess I better threaten the SA when I go in for my first service, smh.

Sent From My Galaxy S6 Edge+