*sigh* That's the downside of getting a new car. You just know you're going to get your first little mishap sooner or later...

It's not even a bad scrape - perhaps 2in long, near the edge of the wheel. Far from obvious to the casual onlooker.

My only question is this: The wheel appears to have been painted, and the scrape went down through the paint in a couple of places. How vulnerable are these wheels to corrosion? I recall from chemistry class that there are such things as aluminum oxide and aluminum chloride, but don't remember how easily they're formed.

A couple more items of applicable information:

1. I plan to use the OEM wheels year-round, mounting winter tires on them each year

2. The roads do get salted around the DC area, though I doubt as heavily as further north along the coast. We typically put very light mileage on it (c. 600 mi/mo), even less in winter.

Should I not worry about it? Or is a little bit of touch-up paint a good investment? Intelligent advice would be greatly appreciated.

Tim