The short answer
In the UK, refurbishing a single alloy typically costs around £50–£120 for a standard painted or powder-coated wheel, while a full set of four usually lands between £200–£480, or roughly £50–£120 per wheel. The set works out cheaper per wheel because the fixed setup, tyre handling and curing time are shared across four. Diamond-cut wheels cost more — often £90–£150+ each, or £360–£600+ for a set — because they need a CNC lathe to re-cut the face and a fresh lacquer. A single kerb-only repair done by mobile SMART repair can be cheaper still, from around £40–£70, as it only touches the damaged area rather than stripping the whole wheel.
The price of refurbishing alloys depends heavily on whether you do one wheel or all four, and on the finish involved. The sections below give indicative UK ranges and explain why a full set is rarely four times the cost of a single wheel.
At a glance
- Single wheel (painted)~£50–£120
- Full set of four (painted)~£200–£480
- Diamond-cut per wheel~£90–£150+
- Mobile kerb repair (1 wheel)~£40–£70
- Main cost driverFinish type and damage extent
Single wheel vs full set: indicative UK costs
A single alloy refurbishment covers stripping the old finish or just the damaged area, repairing kerb scuffs, priming, applying colour and a protective lacquer or clear coat. The cost depends on the finish and whether the tyre has to come off. A full set spreads the fixed overheads — setup, masking, oven curing time and tyre handling — across four wheels, so the per-wheel figure falls. The ranges below are indicative and vary by wheel size, finish and region.
| Job | Indicative cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Single painted/powder-coated wheel | £50–£120 | Full strip and refinish |
| Single diamond-cut wheel | £90–£150+ | Needs CNC lathe re-cut |
| Mobile kerb repair (1 wheel) | £40–£70 | Damaged area only, tyre stays on |
| Full set, painted/powder-coated | £200–£480 | ~£50–£120 per wheel |
| Full set, diamond-cut | £360–£600+ | Lathe time on all four |
Indicative figures for guidance only. Prices vary by wheel size, finish, damage and region.
Why one wheel can cost almost as much as two
Refurbishing a single alloy carries a chunk of fixed work that does not scale with the number of wheels. The shop still has to remove the wheel, break the tyre off the rim (on a full strip-and-refurb), set up the booth, mix and apply paint or load the powder gun, and cure the finish in an oven. Doing that for one wheel means all of that effort is recovered from a single job, which is why a lone wheel rarely costs a quarter of a set.
A full set lets the shop process all four through the same setup in one batch. Tyres come off together, the wheels are stripped and primed as a group, and they cure on the same oven cycle. The marginal cost of each additional wheel is mostly the paint or powder and a little extra labour, which is why the per-wheel price drops noticeably when you commit to all four. It is also why many refurbishers quote a discounted set price rather than simply multiplying their single-wheel rate by four.
When a single-wheel repair makes sense
You do not always need a full set done. If one wheel has a fresh kerb scuff and the other three are sound, a SMART repair (Small to Medium Area Repair Technology) can blend the damaged area without stripping the whole wheel, often as a mobile job on your driveway with the tyre left on. That keeps the cost low and the turnaround to an hour or two per wheel. The trade-off is colour match: a localised repair has to blend into the existing finish, which is easier on a plain painted wheel than on a diamond-cut face.
A full strip-and-refurb on a single wheel makes sense where the damage is severe — heavy corrosion, lacquer peel across the face, or a wheel that has already been patch-repaired and now looks mismatched. In those cases refinishing the whole wheel gives a cleaner, longer-lasting result than chasing a blend. The honest test is whether a localised repair will be invisible; if it will always show, doing the whole wheel (or matching it to the others) is the better spend.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to refurbish all four alloys at once?
Yes, per wheel. Fixed costs like setup, masking, oven curing and tyre handling are shared across four wheels, so a full set usually works out at a lower price per wheel than doing one on its own. A single wheel carries all that overhead alone.
Why is a diamond-cut wheel more expensive to refurbish?
Diamond-cut wheels need a CNC lathe to skim and re-cut the bright machined face, plus a fresh lacquer over the top. That extra machining step and the specialist equipment push the price above a standard painted or powder-coated refurbishment, both for a single wheel and for a set.
Can I just repair one kerbed wheel instead of the whole set?
Yes. A mobile SMART repair can fix a single kerb scuff by blending the damaged area without stripping the wheel, which keeps the cost down. It works well on plain painted finishes; diamond-cut faces are harder to blend invisibly and may need the whole face re-cut.
Sources & further reading
Figures on this page are typical UK ranges drawn from published sources and depend on your specific wheels. They are guidance, not a quotation.