This is a cautionary tale for anybody thinking of getting their wheels refurbished - especially if they are not a common colour.
I have owned my 997.2 GT3 since 2013 and during that time I managed to lightly scuff both rear wheels, albeit years ago. Nothing major, I used touch-up paint to cover the damage and it was barely noticeable to anybody other than myself but I thought it would be nice to get them looking pristine again. I actually got quotes a couple of years ago from MyAlloys in Basingstoke who had previously done an excellent refurb on another car I owned, and also from Porsche Reading, both of whom said they would need the car for four or five days. The quote from Reading was about twice MyAlloys quote and ultimately I decided to leave the wheels as they were as I wasn't sure what the better option would be.
In August 2025 I got a quote from Dick Lovett Spraymaster in Swindon who are a Porsche Approved repairer which was not much more expensive than the quote I got two years ago from MyAlloys so I decided to book it in as they assured me that they would get the wheels back to as new condition, and said that normal turnaround was seven to ten days. So, on September 22nd, I dropped the car off. Ten days later I got a call saying that the refurb had been inspected and wasn't a good enough standard so it was going to be redone. A week after that I got another call saying it was having to be redone again so it was four weeks after the drop-off that I was able to collect the car. It was inside the workshop when I arrived so I hadn't actually seen it before paying and when I saw it I thought the wheel colour was wrong ie significantly darker and did comment as such but was in a bit of a rush so didn't challenge it there and then. Driving home the car was almost undriveable over 65mph as the wheels were so out of balance. I rang and complained about wheel balance and said I was not happy with the colour once I got back and had checked thoroughly. The reaction to the colour was that they were surprised that it was wrong as they had used the Porsche OB5 Platinum paint code. I had to tell them that the paint code for the GT3 wheels is is EP8 Titanium (thank you Porsche forums!), not OB5, and emailed photos of what the wheels looked like beforehand to show how they should look. I was told that it was an easy mistake to have happened but they would fix it, and also fix the balance issue. I asked if I could have a courtesy car next time but I would have had to wait weeks so dropped it off again the following week. A couple of weeks later when it was ready and I went back the wheels were now silver, not titanium. To be fair they had sent me a photo when the first wheel was done and I wasn't sure it looked right when I saw it but it's hard to tell on a mobile phone screen and under artificial lights so I hadn't queried it. I asked why they were still the wrong colour given that I had told them then paint code and sent photos and the answer to that was that the paint suppliers that their wheel centre uses don't use the same codes as Porsche. So, it would have to be done a third (actually fifth) time. At least the wheels were properly balanced that time. They said they'd call and let me know when I could take it back again and get a courtesy car, so the following week I got a call saying I could get a car two weeks after that. Not wanting to wait that long I took it back yet again, again having to arrange my own travel, armed with various A4 photo prints of the car showing the original wheel colour and a sample of EP8 I got from ebay painted onto some wood. The bodyshop deputy manager had previously said he wanted to go through the available colours with me to make sure they got it right but on looking at the photos he said I know exactly what that is, it's the same as an Audi colour, which sounded odd but I guess is possible. No prizes for guessing what happened next. Nine days after taking it back I got a call saying they had failed inspection and were being redone. When I went back to collect the car for the third time, almost eleven weeks after I initially dropped it off, the wheels were still nowhere near the original colour and I was told that realistically that's as close as they were likely to get. When I subsequently made a formal complaint requesting a refund the bodyshop deputy manager called me and offered to have the wheels wet painted rather than powder coated. I said I would need to see a sample of what it would look like before agreeing to getting anything else done but a month later, now mid January 2026, I was still waiting for a paint sample so gave up and asked for the refund I had previously requested. A couple of weeks later I did at least get the refund for what I had paid, minus the cost of the valves they replaced.
While waiting I had gone to Porsche Reading for a quote. It was more than double what Dick Lovett had charged but they use Neutron Alloys which I had previously used for a refurb on Golf GTi alloys and was happy with. They told me I could take it in whenever I wanted and would get it back within a working week. When I got my refund from Dick Lovett I booked it in at Reading. I dropped it off and Neutron rang me the next day to double-check on the colour before they started work and again after they had been done and asked me if I wanted to drop by and take a look at them myself as they thought they looked darker than they were in the photos I had sent of the original colour. I did and they looked good and with the car now back at the end of that week back they were absolutely correct and they are darker, but it's not that significant and I expected that there would be some difference so it is finally done properly . The OPCs often get criticism but in this case Porsche Reading were absolutely first class, they were really helpful, as of course were Neutron Alloys.
Long story short, despite Dick Lovett being a Porsche Approved repairer and have their own wheel centre, I would avoid using them for wheel refurbs. Neutron Alloys by contrast are highly recommended.
I have owned my 997.2 GT3 since 2013 and during that time I managed to lightly scuff both rear wheels, albeit years ago. Nothing major, I used touch-up paint to cover the damage and it was barely noticeable to anybody other than myself but I thought it would be nice to get them looking pristine again. I actually got quotes a couple of years ago from MyAlloys in Basingstoke who had previously done an excellent refurb on another car I owned, and also from Porsche Reading, both of whom said they would need the car for four or five days. The quote from Reading was about twice MyAlloys quote and ultimately I decided to leave the wheels as they were as I wasn't sure what the better option would be.
In August 2025 I got a quote from Dick Lovett Spraymaster in Swindon who are a Porsche Approved repairer which was not much more expensive than the quote I got two years ago from MyAlloys so I decided to book it in as they assured me that they would get the wheels back to as new condition, and said that normal turnaround was seven to ten days. So, on September 22nd, I dropped the car off. Ten days later I got a call saying that the refurb had been inspected and wasn't a good enough standard so it was going to be redone. A week after that I got another call saying it was having to be redone again so it was four weeks after the drop-off that I was able to collect the car. It was inside the workshop when I arrived so I hadn't actually seen it before paying and when I saw it I thought the wheel colour was wrong ie significantly darker and did comment as such but was in a bit of a rush so didn't challenge it there and then. Driving home the car was almost undriveable over 65mph as the wheels were so out of balance. I rang and complained about wheel balance and said I was not happy with the colour once I got back and had checked thoroughly. The reaction to the colour was that they were surprised that it was wrong as they had used the Porsche OB5 Platinum paint code. I had to tell them that the paint code for the GT3 wheels is is EP8 Titanium (thank you Porsche forums!), not OB5, and emailed photos of what the wheels looked like beforehand to show how they should look. I was told that it was an easy mistake to have happened but they would fix it, and also fix the balance issue. I asked if I could have a courtesy car next time but I would have had to wait weeks so dropped it off again the following week. A couple of weeks later when it was ready and I went back the wheels were now silver, not titanium. To be fair they had sent me a photo when the first wheel was done and I wasn't sure it looked right when I saw it but it's hard to tell on a mobile phone screen and under artificial lights so I hadn't queried it. I asked why they were still the wrong colour given that I had told them then paint code and sent photos and the answer to that was that the paint suppliers that their wheel centre uses don't use the same codes as Porsche. So, it would have to be done a third (actually fifth) time. At least the wheels were properly balanced that time. They said they'd call and let me know when I could take it back again and get a courtesy car, so the following week I got a call saying I could get a car two weeks after that. Not wanting to wait that long I took it back yet again, again having to arrange my own travel, armed with various A4 photo prints of the car showing the original wheel colour and a sample of EP8 I got from ebay painted onto some wood. The bodyshop deputy manager had previously said he wanted to go through the available colours with me to make sure they got it right but on looking at the photos he said I know exactly what that is, it's the same as an Audi colour, which sounded odd but I guess is possible. No prizes for guessing what happened next. Nine days after taking it back I got a call saying they had failed inspection and were being redone. When I went back to collect the car for the third time, almost eleven weeks after I initially dropped it off, the wheels were still nowhere near the original colour and I was told that realistically that's as close as they were likely to get. When I subsequently made a formal complaint requesting a refund the bodyshop deputy manager called me and offered to have the wheels wet painted rather than powder coated. I said I would need to see a sample of what it would look like before agreeing to getting anything else done but a month later, now mid January 2026, I was still waiting for a paint sample so gave up and asked for the refund I had previously requested. A couple of weeks later I did at least get the refund for what I had paid, minus the cost of the valves they replaced.
While waiting I had gone to Porsche Reading for a quote. It was more than double what Dick Lovett had charged but they use Neutron Alloys which I had previously used for a refurb on Golf GTi alloys and was happy with. They told me I could take it in whenever I wanted and would get it back within a working week. When I got my refund from Dick Lovett I booked it in at Reading. I dropped it off and Neutron rang me the next day to double-check on the colour before they started work and again after they had been done and asked me if I wanted to drop by and take a look at them myself as they thought they looked darker than they were in the photos I had sent of the original colour. I did and they looked good and with the car now back at the end of that week back they were absolutely correct and they are darker, but it's not that significant and I expected that there would be some difference so it is finally done properly . The OPCs often get criticism but in this case Porsche Reading were absolutely first class, they were really helpful, as of course were Neutron Alloys.
Long story short, despite Dick Lovett being a Porsche Approved repairer and have their own wheel centre, I would avoid using them for wheel refurbs. Neutron Alloys by contrast are highly recommended.
