Panther wheel repair, lulz
 

Vancouver Wheel Repair and Refinishing Specialists - Panther Precision Machine


my brother has some very minor curbage on his rear right, went into Panthers and firstly they wanted $400+ per wheel and on top of that they said they need to do all 4 wheels for a "perfect match"
I don't even have to say anything further on this, the bullshit not just stinks but literally speaks for itself.
first 4 bills for an OEM 19" wheel is a LOT, secondly any decent wheel repair shop should be able to match the finish not perfectly but well enough to blend in with the rest...

I posted this for two reasons, first to let you guys know what Panthers is about, and secondly to ask which of the 3 other shops I know off the top of my head would be recommended....
I know about Nu Brite, Greens and Western Wheel craft..
please recommend, as nobody likes wasting their time driving out halfway across town for a shop to try n feed you bs

From my past dealings, Nu Brite and Greens worked with one another. When one shop was overloaded with work, they'd send it over to the other guys and vice versa.

What OEM wheels were they?

Both bodyshops ive worked at have dealt with Nu-Brite

lol every time G-spec makes a thread its about some ridiculous story ! good on you man and thanks for the heads up too!

I recommend greens too :) took care of my wheels

Dave @ Shinez took care of my curb rash last year on one of my wheels. Wasn't a perfect match given that my wheels were a machined finish but he made sure I understood that before
I committed to anything. Price was more than fair despite it not being perfect.

never take it to western wheelcraft. they did a set of wheels for my brother and lets just say... 2 months of bullshit and did not get the result we where after. take it to greens!

I've been to Nu Brite and Greens before, on several occasions, to repair aftermarket 19"s and 20"s.
Greens offer awesome prices. However, I think Nu Brite does a better job.

LOL $400 for an OEM 19" wheel is a joke!

I'd pass on Panthers too. I had them refinish one curbed wheel and while the colour matched perfectly they painted over the rivets and from what I can see the barrel wasn't resprayed as well. I didn't bother to have them correct the problem given the quality I received.

if its special finish, sounds about right.

lets see the quote? was it basic refinish? was there any straightening involved? did the tire need to be dismounted and mounted? how bad if any road rash is on the rim? can it get away with sanding, or does it need bondo, or even add metal on top of the wheel if it was a chunk missing. since its oem, its not a 3 piece in which they need to dismantle then put back together.

special finish merc AMG wheels are done by only 1 supplier, starts around $250 for basic, + restraightening which is about $100, then if you need them to mound and balance, then severity of the damage, so $400, sounds about right.

ive had brabus wheels sent out to the states to get black chromed, no straightening, and we did the dismantling and dismounting ourselves that cost about $600 each.

if u are looking for a very basic refinish of top coat, u are looking about $150-200 starting.

if the cost is too great, why not think of replacing the wheels completely with oem. you can get away with refinishing 1 side of wheels, eg, left side front and rear, because no one will be able to see both left and right at the same time.

Has anyone had a bent wheel repaired from panthers or greens???
If so how much you guys think a OEM 17 wheel would cost to get repaired???

i had a whole set of 20" iForged wheels repaired by Panthers including a minor crack and bends in all the wheels for $1100. Fully repaired and refinished and sprayed to matte black centers and polished lip. I was happy with their pricing and service.

400? i hope they are speaking in china dollars.

they're just simple 19 inch OEM nissan wheels off a M45, i found this random google picture and actually the curb rash on the wheels in this pic is literally identical to my brothers wheel... as you can see very minor, no major repairs needed just a bit of sanding I dont think even bondo is needed

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f1...cture007-1.jpg


but yea like SG said doing both wheels on the passenger side is a good idea so it matches, and since he's got a bit of rash on his front right as well. Also those AMG Benz wheels you mentioned are higher end wheels than what Nissan offers, you work out of Brian Jessel right ? so your customers expect the best, black chroming I know like you said has to be sent down to California nobody locally does that, nobody in Canada last time I checked when I wanted something similar done.


and ShyGuy, so for $1100 you got your 2 or 3 piece iForged fixed cracks AND bends, then refinished to look like new, well that IS a good price!
But the discrepancy between what you paid and what they want from my bro probably close to $2k after it's all said and done and for a lot less work than your wheels, it doesn't make sense, but it does at the same time.. they wanna get paid and are pulling dealership style stunts.

I'll definitely check out the suggestions you guys gave out, thanks for heads up

The dealership I work at uses Panther all the time. We could not be happier with their service, their work, and pricing. There's always 2 sides to every story, and sometimes, the other side is left out unintentionally by lack/miscommunication.

Panther wants $1600 to redo the chrome on my old car wheels. LOL

ive had very good experiences with panthers. i deal with them pretty on daily and their quality and speed is great.


i say greens and panthers has about the same quality of work but panthers has better service.

i went to panthers for a bent 19" wheel 3 years ago.. i dont remember the price correctly but it was just below $200 (cant guarantee though.. it was 3 years ago), that included fixing the curb rash on the lip as well.. i thought it was okay?

I always thought Panthers were good. I brought My TE37s to one bodyshop to get it sent to some wheel repairing place, it was done horrible. They basically touch up the paint. But another bodyshop I went to did a perfect refinish of the wheel. But never knew Panthers were that expensive..

I would use greens.
Thats the reason most infiniti use a "special" grey paint that they charge $100 for.
So you should expect $175-$225 repair $100 special paint, $25 mount and dismount, $25 enviro levy.
They should not require to do all for 4 wheels though, they should be able to get close of a match and you not notice because the other wheels are on the other side of the vehicle.

It must be some kind of special paint (ie black chrome) and coating for $400. I've dealt with panther in Surrey on 2 occasions for 18inch repair and repaint (gun metal color aftermarket wheel). Both times, they quote 175$ cash job for me.

I haven't gone back since 2007, perhaps price went up or ownership changed. Thx for headsup

That appears to be a pretty complex wheel as well.

The usual price breakdown for a bodyshop looks something like this:

Wheel Repair $175.00 (this is a starting point only)
Mount & Balance - $25
Alloy Material Allowance - $25
Specialty Finish Allowance - $100 (this is anything with that Euro style paint ~ I'd expect an M45 wheel to have this)

This alone is $325 + tax - I'd say $400 is pretty fair.
Why not make an ICBC claim if that's too much? Just pay the deductible.

same experience, top notch work on my 22" HRE 3piece wheels. Took wheels completely apart (face,hoop and inner barrel, refinished all 4 wheels (2 had slight bend on them) left the bolts on the face unpainted, mounted and balance for $900 (matte black and black gloss lip)

Can go wrong with those prices and had them done in 3 days to boot.

I think the main reason why it is so expensive to repair your wheels is the colour of the paint. Supposedly it is extremely expensive. i could be wrong

hey adon, from experience i have dealt with nu-brite and greens. greens does amazing custom work and heavy repairs, nu-brite does really good minor repairs. i would go to nu-brite for your wheel as they also do on-site work at the dealerships in the automall for all the dealerships, so they know they can match the wheel with the others, they also have the cheapest rate

on a side note, i had my brothers wheels refinished and custom painted, panther was gonna charge 500 a wheel plus they had to send it out to get the chrome stripped which was "extra charge" cause i have to pay for transportation and stripping.

since i dealt with greens before, i worked out a deal for 1700 for all 4 wheels total. 2 paint schemes with some chrome finished parts.