Cheaper alternatives to replacing damaged wheels

SPRING, TX (KTRK) -- If you have damaged your wheel hitting one of Houston's infamous potholes, you know it can be a pricey replacement.

But most times, you can have them fixed for much less than the price of a brand new wheel.

"There are more potholes in the city of Houston than there has ever been," said Robert Allbritton with Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists.

The pothole predicament has many car owners angry about the damage it causes to their wheels.

"Most of the time it bends the inside barrel of the wheel," Allbritton said.

Allbritton says the first place you might think to turn when replacing a wheel is a tire shop.

"Your tire store will wants to sell you a set of aftermarket wheels," Allbritton said.

The base price at Alloy Wheel Repair starts at $85 to fix a bent wheel. Depending on any specialty work, the price can go up to $175 to $200 per wheel.

"For an inside barrel bend on a wheel that you are not fixing the cosmetics on the outside face of the wheel," Allbritton said.

If your wheel has cosmetic damage, you can get that fixed too. The only wheels that cannot be fixed are chrome wheels.

"Does everyone in Houston have this, curb rash, if you have a 17 inch wheel or larger, chances have curbed your wheel at some point or another," Allbritton said.

Curb rash repairs cost $85 to $100 per wheel.

If you're looking to jazz up your wheels, the experts say don't buy new wheels. Instead, keep your original wheels and spruce them up instead.

"Why not keep what you have, instead of adding money buying different tires for it, just customize what you have there," said Mike Aguayo with Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists. "You don't even realize that it is an OEM wheel, because it looks so different from the original wheel."

For wheel repairs, expect it to take about 24 hours to get fixed. Specialty work usually takes two or three days.