bent after market rim. straighten or replace?

[shockwave20]

I am debating if I should take it to the shop and get it straighten or buy a replacement. I saw a replacement on ebay for $243. The most shop will charge around $150 to repair rims. The bend is not severe but I do have a slow leak because of it.
I have less than 3000 miles on the rims. I try to take care of the the rims and the car. The car is always cover and I don't drive it in the rain or snow. If there is any hint of salt on the road I would wash the rim when I reach home.
I did notice on the inner lip where the bend is the chrome is flaking.
I also might get charge to transfer tpms to a new rim. Since I installed the new rims with new tpms I never mate it to the car. I cant understand the the reasoning behind charging $180 labor to mate the 4 sensor to the car.

[szh]

You have an X model ... please make sure that the replacement wheel and tire are identical to what you have - if you decide to replace the bent one.

Z

[The Bodyguard]

If it's a one piece cast wheel I would go for a new one... Repaired will not work 100% so you may not be satisfied!

If two or three piece, I would definitely repair!! Simple as that!

Labor rate sucks!! Negotiate if you're a repeat customer!!!

[06M4.5]

replace at $243 would be best

[shockwave20]

I decide to repair because I found a shop that did it for $50. I tip him $10 and he also re-balance it for me. I installed the rim back on the car (left rear). When driving above 60mph I feel a slight vibration. I inspected my left front rim and saw the lip was bent too but it wasn't as severe as the rear. I decide to put the rim that was just repair to the front left and put the slightly bent rim to the back.
The steering wheel shake much more at 60mph with the repair rim at the front. The culprit of the shaking is the rim that I repaired. I left the slightly bent rim at the rear and put the repaired rim at the right rear. The steering wheel feel much better at 70 and 80 mph but I still plan to replace the repaired rim.

[06M4.5]

The truth is they never really come out good

best to get new and call it a day.

[mexillis]

50 bucks is really cheap to repair a bent rim. Did you check the inside to see if the wheel was bent there too? The easiest way to tell is spin it while in the air, even the slightest bend will make a horrible ride. I've had wheels straightend with no shaking afterwords. I hate when it happens though and am almost ready to get a truck or SUV again to have fat tires lol.

[shockwave20]

since tomorrow is a nice day I will jack up all four wheel and put it in drive. The rim repair to the inner lip looks perfect. The only way I knew where the bent was is because the heat burnt the chrome. I took the rim to pep boys to check the balance and it was only off by 1oz. I should of check the rim while it was spinning on the balancer but it didn't cross my mind. I took the rim home and installed the 1oz at the right spot and didn't make a different.