Why are OEM optional wheels so expensive?

"TheOnelectronic" (theoneelectronic) 02/13/2016 at 10:33 • Filed to: None

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Is it just because they can, or are they legitimately high-quality enough to warrant that price?

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > TheOnelectronic 02/13/2016 at 10:37

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They’re higher quality than low end aftermarket stuff but they’re still usually overpriced. So basically a bit of both.

bob and john > TheOnelectronic 02/13/2016 at 10:37

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I think its a bit of both

CAcoalminer > TheOnelectronic 02/13/2016 at 10:39

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In most cases, I would say they are as they have to actually go through durability testing.

EL_ULY > TheOnelectronic 02/13/2016 at 10:49

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my only guess is supreme quality. I work at a multi brand dealership and when we open up the boxes the wheels come it, the quality is top shelf.

cooterbaldwin > bob and john 02/13/2016 at 10:51

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This. I also seem to remember reading that back in the day (20 years ago) Borbet (sp?) was making several high profile auto maker’s up-scale OEM wheels. Borbet had/has a reputation for making an extremely strong wheel, which was usually reflected in their price, but the auto makers marked the wheels up even higher.

CaptDale - is secretly British > EL_ULY 02/13/2016 at 11:34

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Agreed. Besides the cheap steel wheels, my lines have great quality in the wheels we get. If anything is wrong, its cause the shipper handled them improperly.

Sovereign, Purveyor of Coupes > TheOnelectronic 02/13/2016 at 12:29

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I don’t think I’ll risk it.

wiffleballtony > TheOnelectronic 02/13/2016 at 13:48

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In general I think they’re over priced because they can. From what I understand they’re still usually pretty heavy. You can usually get a third party wheel that weighs of the same durability for roughly the same price.

EmbraceTheRasp > TheOnelectronic 02/15/2016 at 10:45

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The prices are too dang high, but consider some possible reasons that factor in the high price:
First, OEMs are much bigger targets for law-suits, hence the wheels must be not only [over]built to a much higher standard, they must be third-party tested and verifiably safe. Remember the Ford/Firestone debacle?

Second, is the basic law of scarcity. OEMs order wheels in disceet quantities for the build-life of the model, and extra for upselling. But they discontinue the design after just a few years. As prrof of this, try finding a set of 4Runner “Trail Edition” wheels on craigslist for anything liek a reasonable price.

Thirdly, you are buying the wheels, not directly from the OEM, but from a dealership. Probably the same dealership that will charge you $100 for a “genuine OEM” air filter.