First the rant.
I was in the car with my Dad coming off of a round-a-bout onto a dual carriage way. We were in the middle lane of the round-a-bout exiting into the outside lane of the dual carriage way.
On the inside was a 7.5 tonne truck. As you exit on to the carriage way there is a bend in the road.
At the point at which we were just over half-way up the truck, he starts veering over into our lane leaving my dad with 2 choices; smack through one side or mount the curb (at ~40mph).
Dad picked option 2, the curb, and instantly *bang*. We pulled over and the front wheel is totalled, the back just has severe tyre damage.
The truck driver, guess what, pulled over to check that we hadnt hit him; cnut.
I had to call out the AA as the front wheel was stuck fast and could only be removed with a hammer and a good beating :s
Thankfully there doesnt appear to be any steering or suspension damage.

His car is a Citroen Saxo VTR (03). The stock wheel specs are 14" PDC 108 Offset 15-20 running 185/55 14 tyres.
A new wheel is £135 (second hand will be about £60 if we can find one) and 3 new tyres will be about £300; I suggested its going to be cheaper to just get 4 new wheels w/ tyres.
We went straight to Halfords (mistake ?) to buy a set. There were a couple of sets of 15" somethings for £260 w/ tyres; ideal youd think...
However the useless spunk monkey of a sales assistant couldnt tell me if theyd fit the car or what Id need to get them to fit on the car :s Ive since done some research and I am now more confused than ever :s

Ideally I just want a set of wheels thatll go straight onto the car, this is looking high unlikely from what I can gather ?
   - Ive been advised that a VTR can run 15" wheels as the Saxo VTS comes with production 15" wheels and there are no body/chassis differences between the two vehicles; does that sound right ?
Will the existing wheel bolts fit/work or will I need to replace them too ?
What does the offset 15-20 mean ?
Do all wheels need spacers ? Will I need a specific spacer for this combination of car + wheel ?
What is a "fitting kit" for ?
Is it safe to run on wheels that have to be fitted using these spacers and spigots and wot-not ?

And finally, has anyone ever bought replacement wheels over the internet ? If so, who from and did you have any problems ?
Im still advising the old man to go for new wheels but he is starting to fall back to replacing the stock-alloy and getting new tyres even though its more costly.
Id like to be slightly more educated on the matter before I really feel confident in forcing him down the new wheel route, as Ill be having to fit them

All advice (except the suggestions of getting a better car) appreciated

he coulda probably got a set of 4 VTR alloys off ebay with tyres for cheapo


EDIT: VTS wheels will be fine
the bolts should be fine
you wont need a spacer unless the wheels are from a different make. I.E ford alloys have the same 4 hole setup but they need spacers to fit onto the car properly

as i said, if u can find some VTS/VTR wheels from ebay or a scrappy they will be fine

also peugeot 106/205/306 wheels will fit the car

You can but they are generally all worn tyres; best Ive seen so far is with ~6mm of tread left. Plus none of the sets on there (or even single wheels) are perfect, theyve all got damage of some description.

well for the price ur gonna pay for em theyre gonna be less than perfect

otherwise ur gonna pay like £130 for a single new wheel when u can get 4 with tyres of ebay

Quote from: Eddalso peugeot 106/205/306 wheels will fit the car

Ive got 4 alloys off a 205 with tyres, let me know if any good.
Should have a set of the longer wheel studs somewhere also.

Note if you havent had it checked already you may also have issues with suspension/steering rack etc.


Keep your eyes peeled on ebay as per above, I got a set for my mr2 when I busted 2 of mine.

280255401389 for example is a full set of VTR alloys with not so great tyres for £85 bin.

exactly!
ur dad is gonna be much better off getting a deal from a scrappy or ebay and then refurbing it and hell still be quids in compared to getting 1 from citroen

Cheers for the offer filbert but the offset on the 205 wheels is slightly different to the VTR and Id have to mess about trying to find a 5-10mm spacer to bring it back into tollerance.

So youre all of the opinion that itd be better to try and get a second wheel than to buy a complete new set ?

The reason Im finding this hard to understand is the costs:
Second hand wheel (in decent nick) ~£50
4 New Tyres w/ fitting / balancing ~£400
or
New set of Wheels w/ tyres inc. fitting kit ~£350

If he gets a second hand wheel well need to replace the tyres on the front to keep them matched. The rear offside tyre is knackered from the impact and if were doing 3 tyres most places do better deals on the price for 4.

I can see the sense in getting a second hand wheel if its really cheap. The other 3 wheels have no damage on them at all, thats why he/me/we are being a bit fussy about buying a damaged replacement. That said a direct replacement wheel is obviously going to fit straight on with no fuss or problems.

Ergh, I dunno.
Ill phone around some more scrappies (tried 9 so far with no luck) and see what I can find. Apparently alloy wheels have a scrap value of of £25 min. though, which is where a lot of them go (according to one scrappy I spoke to).

you should check the back of the auto trader for people who specailise in  Citroens/Saxos... I killed 2 alloys on my bm (drunk jumped out infront of me, kurbed them badly avoiding him)... was £170delivered for the 2 of them, no tyres but they were in PERFECT condition !

Have a look on the saxo club forums for any local people for wheels.

Scrap yards somtimes have piles of wheels, but they could be buckled or somthing. Id go with the saxo club forums and see if anyone has some for sale.

Cannot get a decent 2nd hand wheel anywhere.

So instead Ive had a complete result ordering from potn.co.uk

I ordered a wheel/tyre package that came in at about £345 w/ locking nuts and a tyre upgrade.

They called to say they didnt have stock of those wheels but could offer me another set (slightly more expensive) for about £360; I agreed as I need them in a bit of a hurry...

...I then randomly checked their clearance section and found the exact replacement set theyd offered me on there for £250 (smells a bit funny to me). So I called them back, cancelled the first order and got them to send out the replacement set w/ tyres from the clearance section for £275

All Ive got to do is buying a pack of locking wheel nuts, whats that ? £15 ? result.


So Ive got a complete wheel + tyre package (w/ tyre upgrade) delivered for £275
http://www.potn.co.uk/p1002001.htm

And I think they look quite nice too

Just go onto a Saxo club site, people are always selling alloys on them. My brothers gone through so many just out of wanting them to look good on the Golf.

When theyre fitted dont forget to tell the insurance or itll be invalid...

Jaimz