My Focus came from the factory with the 17" Hyper Chrome wheels. To get a high quality, unique set like this from the factory should be a bonus. Unfortunately with Ford it winds up just adding another cost to the car. I first noticed some rust particles from brake dust were seemingly stuck in the paint. I figured I just didn't have anything strong enough to remove this dust. Around June I began to notice the clear was bubbling up in spots on the wheels. I also noticed black particles under the clear but again, thought it was something on, not under, the paint.

Despite being past the warranty period by about 16,000 miles (but being less than 3 years), I figured Ford might help me out. My dealer sent pictures to Ford (at this point all four wheels had at least two clear coat bubbles). Ford said no. They wouldn't fix, replace, or split the cost of the wheels. I was unhappy with this and emailed Ford. Despite expressing my disappointment, they simply told me they hoped they could please me next time. I then took my plight to social media. This got Ford's attention, and they connected me with a regional service rep, who told me Ford believed in customer good will and could perhaps cover some of the repair, so they had me take it by my local dealer again and she said Ford would call me back. I regret being on the road at that moment and unable to write down/memorize her number. The dealer looked at it and called me to tell me Ford would not cover any of it and the cost to replace all 4 would be over $2,000! We're not talking high end Japanese or German after market wheels here, we're talking Made in Mexico OEM wheels.

The Ford service rep? Never called me back. I guess she heard the dollar figure and decided she didn't want to hear what I would have to say. Meanwhile, a body shop looked over the wheels and said that A: he'd never seen that on wheels that new and B: it was most likely due to poor prep work as evidenced by the black specs under the clear. I would also be looking at about $150/each to have a pro quality body shop strip and refinish them.

In the end, I paid about $75 for a Plastidip wheel kit and did it myself. It looks good and should last as long as the factory paint (3 years). This is crazy. We have a 10 year old Suzuki and 6 year old Mitsubishi with alloy, painted wheels and neither have this issue. Ford wants to charge $500+ a wheel but they couldn't make a wheel that is worth $50.