Fikse wheels- never again

[NOPANTS68]

Well after 28 weeks, I still don't have a complete set of wheels. A couple of members here have asked me to throw up the story as to help other folks avoid what some of us have gone through. I have resisted doing so, but after today I'm over it all. Below are the facts- folks can draw their own conclusions from them.

Timeline

May 19th- I call Jon at Driverz and place the order for a set of FM5s for my wife's Chevelle as to take advantage of the wheel sale from Fikse. He offers a great deal on tires and insight on backspacing- I take advantage. He quotes me 6-8 weeks delivery time which has been the norm for the last 13 sets I have ordered for my cars in the past. I pay the 50% deposit and he emails me the invoice. Jon spent an hour of his time at the April GG Del Mar show with my wife so I felt my money was spent with the right vendor.

July 15th- I inquire about the wheels at 8 weeks just to try and plan my mock up stage. Jon contacts Fikse and finds them done and ready to ship. He charges me the balance and we agree that the travel time from Canada to him for tires to me will take an additional 2 weeks or so. I wait patiently.

July 26th- no tracking number, no wheels. I contact Jon at Driverz to find out he had not seen them yet. He follows up with Fikse.

August 5th- after several days of back and forth BS, the wheels still don't arrive at Driverz. I hear excuses like Canadian customs, shipping delays etc. I'm assured they will arrive any day. I wait patiently.

August 15th- after another week and a half of tennis with Jon, I call Fikse with limited succes. At this point I have missed my window for mock up and surrender my spot in the bodyshop to a 57 Chevy (who recieved his HREs in 5 weeks). I understand that Fikse can't disclose much about the situation and keeps refering me to my selling vendor for follow up. I do coerce out of the salesman that my wheels are still sitting there and have not been shipped. Fuming, I call Jon to see if infact they have been paid for by Driverz. Jon calls Fikse only to find out that the check he sent to Fikse for my wheels was incorrectly placed against someone else's order and shipped them out instead of my FM5s. Im assured Fikse will send them out immediately to Jon for tires and then routed to me asap. I wait patiently.

August 25th- no wheels still. No word from anyone. I call Jon to find out he has still not seen them. I wait patiently.

August 30th- I get tracking numbers from Jon.

August 31st- I open the last box only to find that the mounted wheel has flaws in the anodization and looks terrible. I decide to keep them after what it took to get them here, but the warden says otherwise. It's her car and it's my highest budget build yet (go figure). She correctly proclaims that for $1100 a corner, the finish needs to be consistent. She of course was right. I call Jon- he eats the freight-dismounts the tire-and sends it back to Fikse. At this point I own 3 wheels and feel like the fourth has been sent back into an abyss.

October 14th- I follow up from Jon to see where the fourth wheel is. He gets a quote from Fikse that it'll be here in 2 weeks. I wait patiently and wish I had ordered something else.

Today- no wheel- Jon had no answers from Fikse- I still only have 3 wheels and can't get the car out of the mock up stage.

I'm not willing to move the car to paint without seeing it on its wheels/tires and suspension loaded. A couple friends think I'm nuts, but that's the way I've built every one of my cars and have managed to avoid fitment troubles with radical combinations while others struggle with wheels on painted cars. Combining a 60s era car with Z06 brakes, custom wheels, and a lowered stance is too far of a risk to assume that this symphony of parts from dozens of vendors will work in harmony without actually seeing it happen.

At this point I totally regret my order. I have them up for sale not because I don't like the wheels, but rather that I don't want to run their product after all of the BS. I feel Driverz has been trapped in the middle and while I could blame them as the vendor, it would be foolish as that's not where the problem lies according to Jon. For those with millions, $4400 wheels isn't an issue. But for someone who works hard for his money I can tell you first hand that above timeline is not acceptable. The above can be supported by the 54 emails I have captured. For those in the market for wheels- be careful and avoid my situation. I have no idea when my fourth wheel will arrive and I don't think Jon does either. Guess we will see. I'll update when it arrives. Thanks for the space.

Dave