Short Track

All 4 of my wheels are cracked. 1 is losing 20psi daily. Dealer refuses warranty claim. "Physical damage". Normal wifey usage & NY roads just suck, compounded with the run flat tires.

If I call Geico and put in a claim; CARFAX will ruin the value of my mint 20,000 sedan.
New wheels $800 each installed.
To weld the 3 that are savable is $150 each.
What does one do ???

flohmann1

You will find lots of threads about this. Are your wheels the AMG 20" ones? The consensus seems to be that those are prone to cracking (heavy car, over-sized wheels), especially on the stock run-flat tires (run-flats are stiffer).
What can you do?
Well, you can replace them with the AMG originals (very expensive), or with quality after-market replicas (I just did all four of mine for ~US$2000).
You can also consider replacing your run-flat tires with non-run-flats, which will provide a little more "give" and may prevent future damage.
In the alternative, you can replace the 20" wheels with 19" wheels.That, of course, will require new tires all around, ideally non-run-flats. There seem to be a lot here on the forum who find that the 19" wheels not only are less prone to damage, but that they also improve the ride quality overall. (I would have taken this road, but my existing tires still have life in them, and I didn't want to replace all of them.)
Good luck!

Short Track

I should have mentioned. Non-AMG. Just a 4matic S560. 19" wheels !!!

superpop

I would fix the wheels and replace the tires with non RFT tires. My S63 has 20" Forged AMG wheels and I installed Michelin AS4+ tires that are very quiet and comfortable. The S63 does not come with RFT tires but they do include a mobility kit which consists of a jack, lug wrench, portable air compressor with integrated fix a flat goo and a pair of white gloves. I also have a tire repair kit. I think RFT tires give people a false sense of security because they are pretty limited on what you can do when they are flat and most tire places do not stock them so you are stuck if something happens. Would rather have the ability to fix it myself on the side of the road and be on my way unless it is a catastrophic failure in which case the RFT would not help you any. I have ran the Michelins on 3 different S Class sedans at this point and they have been fantastic. Go buy the mobility parts and stick them in your trunk, your insert in the trunk actually has the cut outs for all of the parts I referenced above.

Short Track

I actually drove 5 miles on the RF (2 years ago) . Side wall tore open like a sardine can from a minor pothole. Got home, removed wheel and ordered 1 from tire rack. So the RF served it's purpose.... at least once.

The Corvette guys deal with this nonsense also. Some sue GM and win. Some loose. Most go to forged wheels.

superswiss

It is a bit of a myth that insurance companies report claims to Carfax. That is not true in general. Geico doesn't report to Carfax in my experience. We have a collision claim on my wife's car and neither Geico nor the body shop reported anything. I had an accident report on my previous car from a minor no fault parking lot collision. Didn't affect the sale of the car. One dealership wanted to use it as leverage, but I just laughed at them and showed them the competing offers I got from other places and they were willing to beat them, but ultimately I sold it to a private party for even more money.

Believe it or not, but wheels are actually considered consumables. They do get damaged over time on pretty much any car. Some more than others depending on where the car was driven. I've had a bent wheel in the past and I filed a claim with the transportation department here in California and they paid for the damage. In my case it was repairable, but needed a new tire. Nobody is gonna ding you for cracked wheels. That's part of life with a car in many places, especially with low profile tires.

hyperion667

4 cracked wheels? need new brakes? Damn. You got a gem This is a used car? No PPI? Where did you get this car??

Short Track

What kind of wheels do you put on ?? Aftermarket ?? Can't see putting on OEM wheels again.
I'd like some forged wheels .. pothole proof.

SW20S

I would not worry about the Carfax, but I would ask about whether that would be a comprehensive or collision claim. Since potholes "can be avoided" my guess is it would be considered an at fault collision claim.

Mitch Alsup

a) only if you really love the look of the original wheels have them repaired.

b) if the car was used "normally" and you still got this problem, the only recourse is forged wheels (maybe even 3 piece; so when it happens again, you can replace only one component of the 3.) Yes, these are not cheap........

braunfels

I have a 2019 S560 too with 40,000 miles. My brake pads still have 50% left and none of my wheels are "cracked". I drive normally over city and country roads with stock Pirelli run flats. I don't understand why you're having the problems you claim to have.

SW20S

Have you driven in NYC? The roads are beyond terrible. I can absolutely see how all 4 wheels could be cracked by potholes.