The finish is not cosmetic
A refurbished wheel comes back looking better, and that is the part people notice and the part they discount. "We do not care what they look like" is a reasonable position and it misses what the coating is doing.
The finish is the barrier between the metal and everything that attacks it. A wheel with its coating worn through, chipped by mounting, or blasted away at the edges has bare metal exposed, and bare metal in a wet climate starts corroding immediately. The corrosion then works outward under the surrounding coating, which is why a small chip becomes a large patch over a couple of years.
Refinishing restores that barrier. The appearance is a side effect of the thing that actually extends the wheel's life.
Which also means a wheel is worth doing before it looks bad rather than after. By the time the corrosion is obvious, some of the metal it was eating is gone and will not come back.
What the inspection decides
The national wheel refurbishing page covers the process and why a leak is usually the wheel rather than the tire.
The part that matters when you send a batch is that each wheel is assessed before any work starts, so you are told which are worth doing and which have reached the end rather than finding out afterwards.
Time it with the casings
Casings going to the Purcell plant in Potosi, Missouri for retreading leave their wheels standing free, which is the moment this work costs no downtime of its own.
On a fleet account it becomes a standing arrangement rather than something anybody has to remember.
About this store
The Hot Springs store carries all nine Purcell tire categories, is open Monday to Friday, 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM, and is managed by Jeff Risor. It also runs OTR services for equipment wheels.
See the national wheel refurbishing page for all 42 locations.