Beginner’s Guide: Disadvantages of Aftermarket Wheels

Until now, we have essentially covered the positive aspects of using aftermarket and alloy wheels on your Honda Civic. To better understand the different types of alloy wheels available, be sure to read our beginner’s guide here. However, have you ever considered that there could also be drawbacks and negative effects to buying these types of rims? We break it down for you to help you better understand the potential drawbacks of using these.

Disadvantages of Aftermarket Wheels

These are some of the potentially harmful effects of using aftermarket wheels:

Incorrect Size Selection of your Aftermarket Wheels

When choosing aftermarket it is critical that you consider the right size of wheel/tire combination that works best with your specific Civic model year and type. If you do not do your homework, chances are you will select a rim purely for its aesthetic appeal. This results in a potentially larger-than-acceptable wheel which means the car then has to work harder to move its weight and as a result, causes inefficiency in terms of fuel economy and premature wear of certain components.

Potential Rim Damage

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) companies put a lot of time and effort into ensuring standards of safety and quality are maintained in the rims chosen for their cars. The same can be said for reputable aftermarket wheels producers such as BBS, OZ, Vossen and Enkei.

However, there are a number of imitation and low-quality suppliers of aftermarket wheels. This means you might be choosing wheels purely because you got a deal and need to be cautious if this is the case. The main reason being the rims can then be at risk of potential cracking if you go over a road bump too quickly or other related premature wear and tear.

Potentially Reduced Ride Quality

The OEM tire and wheel combination selected is done after much consideration, mathematic calculation and ensuring that your Civic has the optimum balance of ride quality without too much compromise on efficiencies such as road noise, fuel economy, etc…

In the case of using larger wheels, this means the wall of the tire gets reduced and as a result, there can be some potential compromise in your ride quality with a harsher ride experience.

Air Leak

Improper rim construction means the potential for air to leak. This goes back to our suggestion of using aftermarket wheels from a reputed source ensuring quality and standards are adhered to. This minimizes any chance of poor construction and any potential air leak that can cause the tire to burst due to imbalanced pressure levels in the tires.

Resale Value

One of the assumptions made when a buyer sees a car with aftermarket rims is the reason for its use. The Civic with aftermarket rims is no exception. Questions that will make them wonder include:

Although not all of the time, scepticism from potential buyers in this case could result in a lower resale value of your Civic. These types of owners might insist on preferring the original rims, even if you think your Civic looks super cool with the aftermarket wheels on.

Our Take

For the most part, aftermarket wheels have plenty of positive attributes and your Civic can be easily made more appealing when used properly. The benefits of lighter weight, good looks, and improved fuel economy are all positives once selected from a reputed rims producer.

However, the above-listed Disadvantages of Aftermarket Wheels should be something for you to consider when upgrading to a set of aftermarket wheels for your Civic to ensure you enjoy cruising for many years to come.