General Help!! I've been robbed!!

[Galina Rainex]

I wonder if anyone can help me? The Steel Wheel Trim Cover Cap and Chrome inner effect on two of my Fiat 500's wheels(Pop) have been stolen and I am trying to replace them. I find myself staring longingly ( jealously) at fellow Fiat 500's wheel trims at the moment. I've tried eBay but it looks like I may need to buy a whole new wheel trim and not just the chrome cap and chrome surround...does anyone have any suggestions?? Cheers x
I've included the picture as it's only the chrome parts that were nicked. So be aware people are after them.

 

[jrkitching]

I wonder if anyone can help me? The Steel Wheel Trim Cover Cap and Chrome inner effect on two of my Fiat 500's wheels(Pop) have been stolen and I am trying to replace them. I find myself staring longingly ( jealously) at fellow Fiat 500's wheel trims at the moment. I've tried eBay but it looks like I may need to buy a whole new wheel trim and not just the chrome cap and chrome surround...does anyone have any suggestions??

I'm guessing you've got the special edition white trims with the chrome centre.

Sadly I doubt you can buy the centre part separately from any official source, and OEM replacement wheel trims list for about £85 apiece , which I guess explains why some folks steal them .

You can get a significant discount on genuine trims from from Shop4Parts , and there is a further discount for donated forum members.

I would worry that purchasing replacements from ebay would only encourage further thieving.

 

[liav24]

Why the hell will anybody steal them?! damn a**holes.
Maybe its a good reason to replace them with some nice alloys? yes it will cost more a guess but a bit harder to steal..

 

[Noxide]

Why the hell will anybody steal them?! damn a**holes.
Maybe its a good reason to replace them with some nice alloys? yes it will cost more a guess but a bit harder to steal..

Not such a bad plan. but if someone wants something, they'll get them anyway sadly.

It's this sort of thing that puts everyone off having nice things.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

Too true. A more pocket-friendly tactic might be to purchase a set of generic plastic covers for daily use and keep the genuine ones for 'sunday best'. There are some nice covers around and they're pretty inexpensive so it doesn't matter so much if they get half-inched or kerbed. Sort of defeats the object of course...

 

[jrkitching]

It's this sort of thing that puts everyone off having nice things.

It's this sort of thing that puts me off thieving toerags.

 

[Mondaugen]

I would worry that purchasing replacements from ebay would only encourage further thieving.

I looked for a single replacement wheel cover on ebay, and one of the sellers offered nothing but used wheel trims, for all kinds of cars. I know, innocent until proven guilty, but I couldn’t help having a short morbid fantasy involving that guy, ropes, a blowtorch, and pliers.

 

[varesecrazy]

I looked for a single replacement wheel cover on ebay, and one of the sellers offered nothing but used wheel trims, for all kinds of cars. I know, innocent until proven guilty, but I couldn’t help having a short morbid fantasy involving that guy, ropes, a blowtorch, and pliers.

With the UK's abysmal road surfaces,
poorly secured trims litter most roads,

so a number of people have "small businesses" trading in these "FREE" trims,

never happened with the excellent "bolt-on" trims of previous model FIATS - Progress..!!

Charlie

 

[sm123]

I wonder if anyone can help me? The Steel Wheel Trim Cover Cap and Chrome inner effect on two of my Fiat 500's wheels(Pop) have been stolen and I am trying to replace them. I find myself staring longingly ( jealously) at fellow Fiat 500's wheel trims at the moment. I've tried eBay but it looks like I may need to buy a whole new wheel trim and not just the chrome cap and chrome surround...does anyone have any suggestions?? Cheers x
I've included the picture as it's only the chrome parts that were nicked. So be aware people are after them.

Hi
Just wondering what area you live in as I have
had all four of my special edition white and chrome trims (Colour Therapy) stolen last week.
I'm in Dudley, West Midlands.

 

[auditt]

£85 each! FIAT are also robbing us.Car manufacturers dont seem to want to help reduce car crime.

 

[arorat]

£85 each! FIAT are also robbing us.Car manufacturers dont seem to want to help reduce car crime.

£85 each !!!! wow !!!

I will put an ad up for a set of 4 x normal wheel trims, used for 1 winter season, £20, pick them from Surbiton. I got them from shop4parts.

 

[Mondaugen]

£85 each!

Considering the price of nice wheel covers, I convinced myself that I won’t be needing snow chains in the next 5 years and ordered a set of original Fiat 500 9-spoke (50901666) aluminium wheels with Firestone Winter Hawk 3 tyres for the equivalent of £480, although I would have preferred Dunlop Winter Response 2, but that wasn’t an option.

 

[zanes]

Christ almighty! 15" multispoke alloys (with tyres in some case) are cheaper on ebay from legit sources (vehicle dismantlers)!

 

[jrkitching]

Christ almighty!

Trim parts for special edition models are often priced at ludicrously high levels; Fiat do not have a monopoly on the practice. I dread to think what the OEM price for the '57 vintage edition alloys will be, if ordered as a spare part.

Knowledgeable traders are well aware of this and will value secondhand cars with damaged trim accordingly. Someone returning a CT with scuffed wheel trims at the end of a pcp or other lease may be in for a nasty surprise, as the lease company will likely add their own markup to the price of the parts as well.

Writing your postcode on the inside of high value wheel trims with an invisible waterproof UV marker would seem to be a sensible precaution.

 

[zanes]

Trim parts for special edition models are often priced at ludicrously high levels; Fiat do not have a monopoly on the practice. I dread to think what the OEM price for the '57 vintage edition alloys will be, if ordered as a spare part.

Knowledgeable traders are well aware of this and will value secondhand cars with damaged trim accordingly. Someone returning a CT with scuffed wheel trims at the end of a pcp or other lease may be in for a nasty surprise, as the lease company will likely add their own markup to the price of the parts as well.

Writing your postcode on the inside of high value wheel trims with an invisible waterproof UV marker would seem to be a sensible precaution.

Hasn't the OP got the option "vintage" trims that can be had on any pop (and has been available since launch IIRC?).

I can see a premium on the special edition trims (as you lose the ENORMOUS economies of scale the automotive industry operates on) but not the vintage trims shown here, and to an extent not the colour therapy ones as I didn't think they were special/limited editions, rather another trim level?

How things come full circle- for years petty thieves were nicking alloys. Now that every car has them (bar base spec and special edition 500s) it's the hubcaps that are being pinched!