MOT defect file
Road wheel damaged, distorted or cracked
Last updated
Quick answer
A wheel is buckled, cracked or badly deformed. Kerb scuffing on the face is cosmetic and not a defect; damage that reaches the rim flange, the spokes or the bead seat is another matter.
- Typical cost
- £60–£350 per wheel
- DIY viability
- Garage job
What you might notice
- A steady vibration through the steering wheel or the floor at a particular speed, often around 50 to 60mph
- A tyre in that corner needing air every few weeks with no puncture ever found
- A visible flat spot, kink or split in the rim flange when you turn the wheel slowly and watch its edge
- Deep gouging or a crack in a spoke, sometimes with a hairline running from a fixing hole outwards
What causes it
- A pothole struck at speed, which is the commonest cause and usually damages the inner flange where you cannot see it
- Kerbing hard enough to fold the outer flange rather than merely scuff the paint
- Corrosion under the paint on an older alloy, spreading along the bead seat until it no longer seals
- A previous crack repaired by welding, done badly or left unmachined, so it fatigues again around the repair
Advisory or failure?
A road wheel that is damaged or badly distorted is a major defect and a failure. It becomes dangerous where the damage or a crack is such that the wheel is likely to fail, or where security is affected. Cosmetic kerb rash on the face of an alloy is not a defect and is normally recorded as nothing at all — what matters is the rim flange, the bead seat and the spokes, because those carry the load and hold the air. Testers also look for cracks radiating from fixing holes, an incorrectly sized or unsuitable wheel for the vehicle, and welded or otherwise repaired wheels: a repair is not automatically a failure, but one that affects the wheel's integrity is. The spare wheel is not part of the test, so its condition never appears on the certificate.
Can you fix it yourself?
Garage job
Assessment needs the wheel off the car with the tyre removed, and straightening or welding an alloy needs heat control, a jig and machining afterwards. This is not a driveway job and not one to improvise, because a repair that puts the rim back within tolerance visually can leave the metal locally hardened and ready to crack again. What you can do at home is find it: jack the corner, spin the wheel slowly and sight along the flange against a fixed point, and check whether the mystery slow puncture follows the wheel when it is swapped to another corner. Treat any crack as terminal, and be wary of secondhand alloys with fresh paint.
What it costs
A straightening and refurbishment on a repairable alloy is £60 to £120 per wheel, with a full refurbish and repaint nearer £100 to £150. A steel wheel is usually cheaper to replace than to repair at £40 to £80. A replacement alloy runs £90 to £200 for a good used or aftermarket item and £250 to £350 or more for an original-equipment part on a premium or large-diameter fitment. Add £15 to £30 for refitting and rebalancing the tyre, and expect the fitter to advise a new tyre as well if the old one has been running against a damaged bead seat.
What happens if you ignore it
A buckled rim never seals reliably, so the tyre on it runs under-inflated, wears its shoulders out and gets hot — the same path that ends in a structural tyre failure. A cracked wheel is worse, because the failure is sudden and complete, and it takes the tyre with it. In between, the constant out-of-balance movement wears the wheel bearing and the suspension joints in that corner, so what began as a £120 wheel becomes a bearing and a bill for alignment as well.
Common questions
- Does kerb damage on an alloy wheel fail an MOT?
- Cosmetic kerb rash on the face of an alloy is not a defect and is normally recorded as nothing at all. What matters is the rim flange, the bead seat and the spokes, because those carry the load and hold the air in. Kerbing hard enough to fold the outer flange is a different matter entirely.
- Is a buckled wheel an MOT failure?
- Yes. A road wheel that is damaged or badly distorted is a major defect. It becomes dangerous where the damage or a crack means the wheel is likely to fail, or where wheel security is affected. Testers also look for cracks radiating from the fixing holes and for wheels that are the wrong size for the vehicle.
- Can a cracked alloy wheel be repaired safely?
- Treat a crack as terminal. Straightening or welding an alloy needs heat control, a jig and machining afterwards, and a repair that puts the rim back within tolerance visually can leave the metal locally hardened and ready to crack again. A repaired wheel is not automatically a failure, but one whose integrity is affected is.
- Why does my steering vibrate at 50 to 60mph?
- A distorted rim is a common cause, because the out-of-balance movement shows up at one particular speed. Jack the corner, spin the wheel slowly and sight along the flange against a fixed point. A tyre in that corner needing air every few weeks with no puncture ever found points the same way.
- How much does it cost to repair or replace an alloy wheel?
- Straightening a repairable alloy is £60 to £120 per wheel, and a full refurbish and repaint £100 to £150. A replacement is £90 to £200 for a good used or aftermarket item, and £250 to £350 or more for an original-equipment part. Add £15 to £30 for refitting and rebalancing the tyre.
Cars this happens to most
Of every model with at least 2,000 tests in the DVSA data, these record road wheel damaged, distorted or cracked on the largest share of their MOTs. Across all of them the typical rate is 0.4% of tests.
- BMW Z41.4%
500 times in 35,178 tests
301 times in 22,073 tests
- BMW 8 Series1.3%
89 times in 6,794 tests
2,408 times in 230,225 tests
- Audi S50.5%
11 times in 2,163 tests
- Tesla Model S0.4%
38 times in 10,836 tests
- Infiniti Q500.3%
8 times in 2,417 tests
- Mini Clubman0.3%
91 times in 27,749 tests
A high rate here is a property of the fleet as much as the car: these models skew old, and almost everything fails more with age. It is a reason to check the item on a used example, not proof the model is badly built. Models with fewer than 2,000 tests are left out because a rate drawn from a few hundred cars moves too much to rank.
Warning lights behind this
This defect is what a tester writes down. What you see from the driver’s seat is a symbol, and it is worth checking which one, because manufacturers reuse the same shape for more than one system.
This is general guidance, not a diagnosis. The severity DVSA records depends on the specific fault found, so the same item can appear as an advisory on one test and a failure on another. Ask a qualified tester or mechanic to inspect the vehicle.
Has this been recorded on your car?
Check the full MOT history for any UK registration.