17-NA-052 1..8

Service Bulletin

Bulletin No.: 17-NA-052

Date: March, 2022

INFORMATION

Subject: Refinishing Fully Color Painted Aluminum Wheels with Base Paint (U.S. ONLY)

Brand: Model:

Model Year: VIN:

Engine: Transmission:

from to from to

All GM Passenger Cars and

Trucks

2011 2022 — — All All

Involved Region or Country United States

Additional Options (RPO) Vehicles equipped with Fully Color Painted Aluminum Wheels with Base Paint

This bulletin updates the position of General Motors on

refinishing aluminum wheels. GM has established a

new process for the way that refinishing under GM

Warranty will be handled . Only cosmetic refinishing of

wheels due to quality defects is allowed.

• Only Fully Color Painted Aluminum Wheels with

Base Paint are allowed to be refinished.

• GM documents the Wheels that can be refinished

based on Model Year, Brand, Vehicle Model, and

Wheel RPO. If the Wheel is not on the list as

refinish-able, valid warranty claims will involve

wheel replacement through the GM Pre-Repair

Authorization (PRA) process outlined in Service

Bulletin #18-NA-306 utilizing the Certified Service

Mobile Toolbox (CSMT). See Steps 2 to 3 under

“Steps for Refinishing Aluminum Wheels Under

Warranty” to obtain the list of wheels that can be

refinished.

• GM has worked with a company that can provide

refinishing services on-site to most GM Dealers in

the United States. This company uses a

self-contained trailer unit in order to perform

refinishing and has a standard process.

This company is Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists

(AWRS), LLC and is the only company permitted by

GM to perform wheel refinishing under warranty or for

customer enthusiasm cases. Therefore, only the use of

AWRS for aluminum wheel refinishing is allowed by

GM. AWRS is required to perform the refinishing on-site

at the GM Dealer in one day via their self-contained

trailer units.

Important: The Refinishing under Warranty of the

Paint on Chromed Aluminum is no longer GM

supported. Please utilize the Certified Service Mobile

Toolbox (CSMT) Pre-Repair Authorizatio n (PRA) App

for replacement of this type of wheel.

Important: Steel Wheel Refinishing under Warranty is

not GM supported.

Important: GM does not endorse any repairs that

involve welding, bending, straightening, or

re-machining wheels. Wheels exhibiting physical

damage requiring this type of repair should not be

submitted for warranty or customer enthusiasm

consideration.

Evaluating Damage that can be

Refinished Under Warranty

• It is the GM Dealer responsibility to inspect the

wheel for paint peeling, paint runs, debris in paint,

etc. The Dealer must ensure that the condition

present is not deeper than what can be sanded or

buffed-off (less than 2 mm deep).

• The wheel must be visually inspected for cracks. If

cracks are found, the wheel is not refinish-able.

• Flange cracks caused by road hazard impact

damage are not warrantable and should not be

refinished. Wheel bent rim flanges are not

warrantable and should not be refinished under

warranty. For a customer with a wheel that has

these types of physical damage, inform the

customer the GM recommendation is that the

wheel should be replaced, and is a customer

pay situation because road hazard impact

damage is apparent.

• Wheels that have been refinished must be

returned to the same vehicle. Refer to “AWRS

Responsibilities” section later in this bulletin.

Page 2 March, 2022 Bulletin No.: 17-NA-052

Examples of Valid, Warrantable and

Refinish-able Issues

• If the condition present is a warrantable defect

(paint peel, paint run, debris in paint, etc. and area

does not exceed 3 inches by 1 inch, refinish via

AWRS. Otherwise utilize the CSMT Pre-Repair

Authorization (PRA) App for replacement of the

wheel.

• If there are up to 3 issue areas on the wheel, and

the 3 areas in total do not exceed more than 3

inches by 1 inch, refinish via AWRS. Otherwise

utilize the CSMT Pre-Repair Authorization (PRA)

App for replacement of the wheel.

Paint Peeling Warrantable via Refinishing if defect

area less than 3 inches by 1 inch

5731628

Paint Run Warrantable via Refinishing if defect area

less than 3 inches by 1 inch

5731629

Bulletin No.: 17-NA-052 March, 2022 Page 3

Debris in Paint Warrantable via Refinishing if defect

area less than 3 inches by 1 inch

5731630

Examples of Not Warrantable

(Customer Pay) Issues

Gouges/Scratches not Warrantable

5731632

Page 4 March, 2022 Bulletin No.: 17-NA-052

Curb Scrape not Warrantable

5731633

Paint Chip not Warrantable

5731634

Steps for Refinishing Aluminum Wheels

Under Warranty

1. Confirm that the customer is within base warranty

period. It must also be confirmed that the condition

that is present on the wheel is a warrantable

manufacturer defect (paint peeling, paint runs,

debris in paint, etc.). See “Evaluating Damage that

can be Refinished Under Warranty” section of this

bulletin.

2. Utilize the Wheel Refinishing document to

determine if wheel is refinish-able.

• This document can be accessed in the

Warranty Administration Resource Center in the

Global Connect app center.

• This document is titled, “RPO Wheel

Refinishing Guide.”

• This document specifically defines which

wheels are GM approved for refinishing under

warranty by Model Year, Brand, Vehicle Model,

and Wheel RPO.

• If the Wheel is not on the list as refinish-able,

valid warranty claims will require wheel

replacement through the GM Pre-Repair

Authorization (PRA) process.

3. The Alloy Wheel Repair Specialists (AWRS)

Corporate Call Center must be contacted via the

web URL noted in Step 4 to arrange any wheel

refinishing under GM Warranty. AWRS Corporate

Call Center is available 8 AM to 8 PM Eastern

Standard Time Monday thru Friday. It is closed

on Saturdays, Sundays, and National Holidays.

The Step 4 web page shows the needed

information to provide and has entry cells for

submitting the information to AWRS electronically.

Bulletin No.: 17-NA-052 March, 2022 Page 5

4. Contact AWRS Corporate Call Center

electronically via their website URL:https://

www.awrswheelre pair.com/general motors

5. Please complete the fields with the necessary

information, Dealership BAC#, vehicle VIN#, etc.

Similar to the current PRA process, please provide:

• Pictures of the issue (close-up of issue and of

whole front face of wheel), with labels noting the

wheel position (Right Rear, Front Left, etc.) and

also pointing to the area of concern on the

wheel.

• AWRS Corporate Call Center may be contacted

via phone for more detailed questions at +1

(877) 743-2977.

6. AWRS Corporate Call Center will respond within

the following time windows:

• 30 minutes (via e-mail) confirming the claim is

valid for refinishing, and that there is an AWRS

Franchisee that supports the involved GM

Dealership.

• The AWRS Corporate Call Center will respond

within 1 business day (via e-mail) for the day(s)

that the AWRS Franchisee can be on-site to

perform same day refinishing at the GM Dealer.

• Once the day is agreed upon for the Franchisee

to be on site, the AWRS corporate call center

will then schedule the Franchisee to be on site

(via e-mail) at the Dealership for same day

refinishing.

7. The GM Dealer is responsible to remove and

re-install Tire/Wheel Assemblies to the vehicle (this

should not be done by AWRS). If tire is

dis-mounted/re-mounted on a wheel, coated

stick-on or clip-on balance weights must be used in

order to reduce the chance of future cosmetic

corrosion damage (this should not be done

by AWRS).

• The warranty transaction for Dealer required

services are included in the published labor

operation and times for this bulletin. See

section titled “Warranty Information ” section

below.

• The Dealer required services are as follows:

Tire/wheel assembly removal from vehicle, tire

deflation, tire beads broken down or tire

dismount, reinstallation of tire/wheel assembly.

Refinishing the face of the wheel that uses

stick-on balance weights outboard will not

require removal of wheel weights.

AWRS Responsibilities

5731635

• Permanently mark on the inner brake side of rim

that wheel has been refinished by AWRS. Shown

above is an example of what this mark will look

like, on the inboard barrel of the wheel.

Page 6 March, 2022 Bulletin No.: 17-NA-052

5731639

• The Wheel Production Date must be recorded by

AWRS for proofing that the same wheels are

returned to the Dealer for the right vehicle. Shown

above are examples of wheel production dates

that are on the backside of the spokes. Month and

Year Grid.

5731642

Month and Year Numerals shown above.

Bulletin No.: 17-NA-052 March, 2022 Page 7

5731654

Month, Day, and Year Numerals shown above.

• AWRS warrants the refinishing.

• AWRS Lifetime Warranty web URL: https://

www.awrswarrant y.com

• Customer to register their wheel(s) after

refinishing.

• No paint and/or clearcoat permitted on the

following surfaces by AWRS: The wheel lug nut

chamfers/conical seats, the wheel mounting

surface, and the wheel pilot hole.

Important: Coating these surfaces can affect the

wheel lug nut torque and wheel attachment.

• AWRS is not permitted to do any process that

re-machines or otherwise re-manufactures the

wheel.

• AWRS is not permitted to do any repairs that

involve welding, bending, straightening, or

re-machining wheels.

• AWRS is not permitted to refinish any cracked

wheels.

For Customer Pay Outside of Warranty,

or Non-Warrantable Issues

GM recommends AWRS for customer pay wheel

refinishing. The AWRS Corporate Call Center IS NOT

to be used for customer pay wheel refinishing. For

customer pay transactions, please utilize the AWRS

website and contact number shown below.

www.awrswheelre pair.com

Alloy Wheel Repair Specialist (AWRS), LLC

3100 Medlock Bridge Road

Suite 305

Norcross, Georgia, USA 30071

1 (800) 518-3040

Important: Depending on the situation, Customer Pay

Refinishing may be more than $125 per wheel, may

take longer than same (1) day to refinish, and may not

be done on-site at the GM Dealer. On the AWRS

website, there is listing of local service Franchisees and

contact phone numbers that can assist with repairs to

aluminum wheel under customer pay refinishing

situations. The typical type of customer pay wheel

refinishing is for gouges/scratches, curb scrape, and

paint chips.

On polished and bright machined aluminum wheels,

fully color painting is an alternative to just

re-clearcoating for customer pay situations. Color paint

tends to better mask any surface imperfections and is

somewhat more durable than clearcoat alone. When

switching to fully color painting alternative, using the

customer pay option, it is recommen ded that all four

wheels be refinished for appearance consistency.

Warranty Information

For vehicles repaired under the Bumper-t o-Bumper

coverage (Canada Base Warranty coverage), use the

following labor operation. Reference the Applicable

Warranties section of Investigate Vehicle History (IVH)

for coverage information.

Labor

Operation

Description Labor

Time

Sublet

Net Item

8080058*

Refinishing Painted

Aluminum Wheel

(Includes Remove

and Install of Wheel)

0.4 hr $125.00

Add

Refinishing 2

Wheels

0.3 hr $250.00

Add

Refinishing 3

Wheels

0.6 hr $375.00

Add

Refinishing 4

Wheels

0.9 hr $500.00

Note: The amount identified in “Sublet Net Item” should

represent the actual sum total of the current GMCCA Dealer

net price needed to perform the required repairs, not to

exceed $125.00 per wheel.

*This is a unique Labor Operation for bulletin use only.

Page 8 March, 2022 Bulletin No.: 17-NA-052

Version 4

Modified October 26, 2018 – Added the 2018 and 2019 Model Years and a beginning Model Year

for aluminum wheel vehicles and updated the Warranty statement.

February 18, 2021 – Added the 2020-2021 Model Years, changed the Involved Region or

Country section to United States only and updated for New Subject, Process and

Warranty Information.

March 25, 2022 – Added the 2022 Model Year.

GM bulletins are intended for use by professional technicians, NOT a "do-it-yourselfer". They are written to inform these

technicians of conditions that may occur on some vehicles, or to provide information that could assist in the proper

service of a vehicle. Properly trained technicians have the equipment, tools, safety instructions, and know-how to do a

job properly and safely. If a condition is described,

DO NOT assume that the bulletin applies to your vehicle, or that your

vehicle will have that condition. See your GM dealer for information on whether your vehicle may benefit from the

information.

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