General advice on wheel purchases
07-18-2020, 02:58 AM
#1
General advice on wheel purchases
Anyone looking to order wheels from CarID..just a word to the wise.....
I ordered a set of Savini BM-14 in 19's on PS4S (235/40) and (265/35) from CarID back on May 8th. I went against my better judgement; I was going to get HRE P101SC but the Savini's looked very similar and were a bit cheaper. I wanted to go with a local company in Cali.
In the past for other cars i'd just call the company that makes the wheels I want and find the closest dealer to me, but I figured i'd give CarID a try. Big mistake. One of the reasons I decided to order through them is because I thought their website was good..yea no. If you want to check on the status of an order you've made you have to call even though there is a button on their website under your account that is supposed to tell you the status of an order that you've placed...doesn't work. . Every time I called it was almost an hour wait. It was seriously the same 2 people every time I called over a 2 month span so I think they only have like 2 customer service people. Just tons of misinformation each time i'd call I think mostly just to get me off the phone..telling me i'll get an email the next day with tracking, saying my wheels are ready but are just waiting for FedEx to pick them up, blaming it on COVID, etc etc. It took over 2 months to get my wheels (shipped UPS, not FedEx).
So I get the wheels and put one of them on and the tires rub my upper control arm. Not only that but the front wheels stuck out from the fender over 1/4 of an inch, wayyy too aggressive. I call them to report this, and they asked me for pictures of it rubbing. I send them the pictures and they claimed that the pictures were taken with the car on a lift (they weren't) and that I needed to send them pictures with the car on the ground. I was pretty furious because i'm a engineer, I understand how car suspensions work. I took a picture of the tire rubbing the control arm with it on the ground, and with it jacked up, no difference. Even if there was a difference, the suspension would make it rub even more when it hit a bump and the weight of the car fluctuated. They are a bunch of amateurs, really pissed me off. They told me I had to take the car into a shop to get a second opinion. I just wanted my damn money back so I took it somewhere and sent them a video of the tires rubbing after the mechanics put them on, along with a picture of an invoice from the mechanic saying they weren't safe to install. I sent them the pics and called them back. Another hour wait and then they said a manager will call me within 1-2 hours.
No phone call from a manager that day...3 days later they email me saying that they will issue me spacers, lol. This would have been fine, maybe with a negative offset, but the wheels already were wayy to aggressive and putting spacers on them would have made them look ridiculous. I told them hell no, I mean I wouldn't have ordered them anyways if I knew I would have had to have spacers. Told them I want to talk to an actual manager, like the one that was supposed to call me. A couple days later a manager finally called me and actually asked what the problem was because he couldn't understand from the notes the other employees put on the return and the 5-6 pictures that I had sent. Just a total shtshow. I explained the whole thing and he agreed and initiated the return process. I just wrapped them all up and dropped them off at UPS. We'll see if/when I actually get my money back. The manager was fairly helpful and reasonable, but he started telling me stories about how he just had a kid, has had to work too much every week and stuff, just a total joke. A whole bunch of excuses when it would have just been nice to hear someone from CarID say hey sorry we screwed up, let me get you your money back asap. This is the world we live in though, no one wants to take accountability for their mistakes.
So yeah...CarID is bad. They carry a fairly decent variety of products but their customer service is garbage. You won't be able to track your orders, and if you call you'll be waiting a long time because they apparently only have 2 customer service employees. . They second guessed my ability to install a wheel on my car, made me take it somewhere to get another opinion before they'd proceed with a return. Then offer me spacers even though the wheels are already way too agressive. Back and forth for over a week when the deal when I bought them was "guaranteed fit or my money back". Not sure I would recommend Savini wheels either as they messed up the offset for my C43 really bad. it's a shame because I think their wheels are nice..the ones I ordered were very good looking and seemed solid and very light. The salesman at CarID told me that they sell more Savini's than anyone else and that they know what they're doing, lol. It is Savini's fault for making them to the wrong offset though, CarID for just being terrible at customer service. The 8.5 inch with 29 ET on a 235/40 PS4S will rub your upper control arm. Not only that but it's too aggressive. The 8.5 might work with a 225/40 because the tire is stretched more, but it will be very aggressive on that particular wheel. They sent me 44 offsets for the back..not sure if they were right because I didn't even try to install them.
I know there is a wheel thread on here but my advice to anyone wanting to get wheels for this car..it's a tricky fitment. Do your research. Know what ETs you need before you call. If they tell you something way off from what you know your ETs are, run. Take your time and don't rush a wheel purchase. Also, stay away from these big online wheel retailers, they will waste your time. You aren't really getting much of a better deal if at all. Most of them just sell cheap wheels. Just go directly to the company that sells the wheels and use their website or call them to find a dealer. If you want to save money just buy the wheels, tires, and sensors all yourself and take them somewhere to have them installed. Costco runs great deals on Michelin tires if you are a member. You can buy sensors online for a third of what most retailers will charge you. When you do buy wheels, get their return policy in writing. Don't put cheap wheels on this car either, the suspension is stiff and you will bust a wheel. Go with a well known company, get a warranty.
Ok thats it for my rant, hope it helps someone.
I ordered a set of Savini BM-14 in 19's on PS4S (235/40) and (265/35) from CarID back on May 8th. I went against my better judgement; I was going to get HRE P101SC but the Savini's looked very similar and were a bit cheaper. I wanted to go with a local company in Cali.
In the past for other cars i'd just call the company that makes the wheels I want and find the closest dealer to me, but I figured i'd give CarID a try. Big mistake. One of the reasons I decided to order through them is because I thought their website was good..yea no. If you want to check on the status of an order you've made you have to call even though there is a button on their website under your account that is supposed to tell you the status of an order that you've placed...doesn't work. . Every time I called it was almost an hour wait. It was seriously the same 2 people every time I called over a 2 month span so I think they only have like 2 customer service people. Just tons of misinformation each time i'd call I think mostly just to get me off the phone..telling me i'll get an email the next day with tracking, saying my wheels are ready but are just waiting for FedEx to pick them up, blaming it on COVID, etc etc. It took over 2 months to get my wheels (shipped UPS, not FedEx).
So I get the wheels and put one of them on and the tires rub my upper control arm. Not only that but the front wheels stuck out from the fender over 1/4 of an inch, wayyy too aggressive. I call them to report this, and they asked me for pictures of it rubbing. I send them the pictures and they claimed that the pictures were taken with the car on a lift (they weren't) and that I needed to send them pictures with the car on the ground. I was pretty furious because i'm a engineer, I understand how car suspensions work. I took a picture of the tire rubbing the control arm with it on the ground, and with it jacked up, no difference. Even if there was a difference, the suspension would make it rub even more when it hit a bump and the weight of the car fluctuated. They are a bunch of amateurs, really pissed me off. They told me I had to take the car into a shop to get a second opinion. I just wanted my damn money back so I took it somewhere and sent them a video of the tires rubbing after the mechanics put them on, along with a picture of an invoice from the mechanic saying they weren't safe to install. I sent them the pics and called them back. Another hour wait and then they said a manager will call me within 1-2 hours.
No phone call from a manager that day...3 days later they email me saying that they will issue me spacers, lol. This would have been fine, maybe with a negative offset, but the wheels already were wayy to aggressive and putting spacers on them would have made them look ridiculous. I told them hell no, I mean I wouldn't have ordered them anyways if I knew I would have had to have spacers. Told them I want to talk to an actual manager, like the one that was supposed to call me. A couple days later a manager finally called me and actually asked what the problem was because he couldn't understand from the notes the other employees put on the return and the 5-6 pictures that I had sent. Just a total shtshow. I explained the whole thing and he agreed and initiated the return process. I just wrapped them all up and dropped them off at UPS. We'll see if/when I actually get my money back. The manager was fairly helpful and reasonable, but he started telling me stories about how he just had a kid, has had to work too much every week and stuff, just a total joke. A whole bunch of excuses when it would have just been nice to hear someone from CarID say hey sorry we screwed up, let me get you your money back asap. This is the world we live in though, no one wants to take accountability for their mistakes.
So yeah...CarID is bad. They carry a fairly decent variety of products but their customer service is garbage. You won't be able to track your orders, and if you call you'll be waiting a long time because they apparently only have 2 customer service employees. . They second guessed my ability to install a wheel on my car, made me take it somewhere to get another opinion before they'd proceed with a return. Then offer me spacers even though the wheels are already way too agressive. Back and forth for over a week when the deal when I bought them was "guaranteed fit or my money back". Not sure I would recommend Savini wheels either as they messed up the offset for my C43 really bad. it's a shame because I think their wheels are nice..the ones I ordered were very good looking and seemed solid and very light. The salesman at CarID told me that they sell more Savini's than anyone else and that they know what they're doing, lol. It is Savini's fault for making them to the wrong offset though, CarID for just being terrible at customer service. The 8.5 inch with 29 ET on a 235/40 PS4S will rub your upper control arm. Not only that but it's too aggressive. The 8.5 might work with a 225/40 because the tire is stretched more, but it will be very aggressive on that particular wheel. They sent me 44 offsets for the back..not sure if they were right because I didn't even try to install them.
I know there is a wheel thread on here but my advice to anyone wanting to get wheels for this car..it's a tricky fitment. Do your research. Know what ETs you need before you call. If they tell you something way off from what you know your ETs are, run. Take your time and don't rush a wheel purchase. Also, stay away from these big online wheel retailers, they will waste your time. You aren't really getting much of a better deal if at all. Most of them just sell cheap wheels. Just go directly to the company that sells the wheels and use their website or call them to find a dealer. If you want to save money just buy the wheels, tires, and sensors all yourself and take them somewhere to have them installed. Costco runs great deals on Michelin tires if you are a member. You can buy sensors online for a third of what most retailers will charge you. When you do buy wheels, get their return policy in writing. Don't put cheap wheels on this car either, the suspension is stiff and you will bust a wheel. Go with a well known company, get a warranty.
Ok thats it for my rant, hope it helps someone.
07-18-2020, 05:22 AM
#2
If you meant that the tires rubbed the steering knuckle/upright, I could understand that, but the upper arm is not anywhere near possible to contact the tire or rim.
235/40 in front is also oversized. Despite this, I have fitted larger tires than that on 8.5 ET30, so I don’t know what happened with yours.
235/40 in front is also oversized. Despite this, I have fitted larger tires than that on 8.5 ET30, so I don’t know what happened with yours.
Last edited by TModelle; 07-18-2020 at 05:36 AM.
The following users liked this post:
mo11 (07-19-2020)
07-18-2020, 07:50 AM
#3
If you meant that the tires rubbed the steering knuckle/upright, I could understand that, but the upper arm is not anywhere near possible to contact the tire or rim.
235/40 in front is also oversized. Despite this, I have fitted larger tires than that on 8.5 ET30, so I don’t know what happened with yours.
235/40 in front is also oversized. Despite this, I have fitted larger tires than that on 8.5 ET30, so I don’t know what happened with yours.
07-18-2020, 12:28 PM
#5
allowing a company to choose your widths and offsets is generally a mistake.
the fitment on his car is a little annoying but there is 100% enough information out there to digest it and pick the appropriate wheels. The problem is, many people are more concerned about the style than function.
First of all, putting cast wheels on is not an upgrade, don't do it. If you want a more personalized experience and help with your wheels look into nemesis autosport. Not only does a user here work for them and actually has a c43 - but they will never leave you hanging.
the fitment on his car is a little annoying but there is 100% enough information out there to digest it and pick the appropriate wheels. The problem is, many people are more concerned about the style than function.
First of all, putting cast wheels on is not an upgrade, don't do it. If you want a more personalized experience and help with your wheels look into nemesis autosport. Not only does a user here work for them and actually has a c43 - but they will never leave you hanging.
The following 2 users liked this post by alexasa:
Dieseldan9 (07-21-2020),
mo11 (07-19-2020)
07-20-2020, 05:20 PM
#6
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I'm sorry to read about your troubles above. We have built wheels for your C43 AMG dozens of times before & have guaranteed fitments for the car. We're also HRE's largest dealer in the world so if you still want those P101SC's I can help set that up for you & your entire order will be a breeze from beginning to end. You will be able to contact me (or any of our other team members) whenever needed. You will not have another terrible experience like this again.
