What are replica wheels?

Replica wheels are usually the name given to copies of the standard alloy wheels of various car makes, repeating not just the design but also the car maker’s badge. Wheels that simply carry the logo (badge) of one maker or another are often also called replicas, even where a standard wheel of exactly that design never actually existed at that maker.

The “wheel” market has no shortage of myths and legends built up around replica wheels. Sellers never tire of telling buyers about Italian companies (the names keep changing) that “produce, under licence from the car makers, absolutely exact copies of standard wheels” (put in quotes as one of the stock lines sellers use). In reality, nobody has ever set eyes on such a licence, and the “biggest Italian companies” that get named do not even have websites, and for some reason “forget” to put their own name, registration details or any other information on their own products, just mysterious codes made up of a few letters and digits. What’s more, there is a logical hole here: if a car maker officially allowed wheels bearing its badge to be made, why are those wheels not given genuine status with everything that follows from it (a factory part number stamped on the wheel and sale through the dealer network and the car maker’s authorised garages)?

In fact, the overwhelming majority of replica wheels are made in China and Turkey, in breach of intellectual property rights, that is, without the car maker’s official permission to use the wheel design and the logos (badges). Nobody will give you reliable information about the real manufacturer, because retail sellers mostly simply do not have it themselves. There is no factory warranty on such wheels either, except that sometimes large retail chains, confident in their suppliers, will give their own warranty.

Does this mean replica wheels are bad? Not always. Since the real manufacturers of these wheels differ, so does the quality. But given that, whether or not you get lucky with the quality of the wheels you buy, you will most likely never find out who the real manufacturer is, buying such wheels can fairly be called a lottery with only a slim chance of a win.

The whole piece on replica wheels