Your car is a reflection of who you are. It’s a direct result of your own personal tastes and lifestyle. However, some car owners use their car as a way to elevate their status. This is fine, as long as your car actually does what it’s intended to do. In most cases, this doesn’t happen and owners take things a little too far, even going to the extent of transforming the entire body. But when you get right down to it, one of the most defining features of the car is its wheels. Especially if you’re a bit risky and go for a bold set.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t usually seem to work out in your car’s favor, more often than not. Something a little too loud can drown out the rest of the car. Or, in the rare case that the custom wheels are anywhere from extreme to bizarre and even outrageous, they have a way of choking the life out of your car.

No one enjoys looking at something that is so reflective it blinds them while they’re driving. No one takes pleasure in looking at wheels that have more colors than an actual rainbow. No one has an appreciation for a set of rims that look like they’re made of plastic. Needless to say, a few of the ugliest rims that we’ve found fall under these scary categories. Others are anomalies that you probably didn’t even know existed. Nonetheless, it would be hilarious to catch a few of these monstrosities on a familiar street in your own area.

20 Money Rims

via Fiveprime

We can all agree that money is the universal symbol of status, although literally plastering it all over your car isn’t going to convince anyone that you have a lot of cash. In fact, the opposite is probably true, and these cheesy rims do a fantastic job of discrediting the owner. Nothing about these rims breathes “expensive.” The pink and blue color scheme just makes it seem more like a set of rims that belongs on a child’s toy than on a real-life car. Though we’re only commenting on the ugliness of the rims, it should be pointed out that the rear fender has a wrap with a thick stack of ones. Yes, not even twenties. Affluent rims should look like they’re expensive without actually having to include Benjamins in their design.

19  Chrome Bar Rims

via Reddit

These wheels have been almost unanimously disliked by every human on the web. Chrome center rims make absolutely no sense for a variety of reasons. For one, if you’re even remotely OCD, then these will drive you crazy because hardly ever will they all be facing the same way (and that’s based on every car we’ve ever seen with these ugly rims). What even brings someone to spend a dime on these? It looks like a cheap way of covering the brake dust that covers your real rims. Nope, the chrome bars are the actual rims. It may seem like they’re made of plastic, but we’re assuming there are some heavy-duty materials involved in these since they come at a starting price of $260. That’s low-cost, but they’re a lot pricier than a set of hubcaps that may actually look nicer.

18  Teddy Bear Rims

via Pinterest

There was a time when many of us enjoyed the cushier aspects of life: teddy bears, rainbows, lollipops, etc. Apparently, some of us never really chose to outgrow this delicate time of our lives and, instead, chose to inject childish junk into every part of adulthood. The teddy bear rims are the most tragic of these sins.

Users on Reddit claim that there are more animal options, all of which are very popularly seen throughout Germany and other parts of Europe.

Regardless of where you live, we’re under the impression that these ugly rims ship globally. Don’t be surprised if you have the unfortunate experience of spotting these on your own turf.

17 Ninja Star Rims

via AutoGuide

The saddest thing about this CrossCabriolet is the fact that it was meant to be unique in the best way. Should anyone mention to them that they failed utterly? First off, the Nissan CrossCabriolet is one of those “meh” cars that few people find to be jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Installing the largest rims you could find isn’t going to help the image of the CrossCabriolet in any way.

It looked like maybe they were going for a hardcore, ninja star look with these rims, but in all actuality, it looks like a child cut out a paper snowflake and slapped it on an ugly car.

16 Asanti's Flower Power

via Pinterest

Asanti was previously recognized for having some radical rims, but these are probably the ugliest ones currently in production. We just can’t get past the ugly shade of gold that makes these rims look much less expensive than they actually are. The pattern looks like a cute flower, but then it’s colored an awful orange-gold tone, and surrounded with jet black – not exactly fitting for a flower. Maybe we’re just not seeing the same vision, but it appears as if Asanti pulled every trick in the book in order to make these rims look as cheap as possible.

15 Anything With Elbows

via Pinterest

No one likes elbows. End of story. Even when these rims were "in," few people actually liked them other than a minority of celebrities.

These look like they came out of an episode of Pimp My Ride, and if you know anything about the quality of PMR builds, then you wouldn’t be too proud about having elbows on your car.

We’re just curious how many times these things have actually caused damage to other cars (or people). Unless you don’t mind paying to repair neighboring parked cars after your set of elbows demolishes their side panels, compact spaces would never be an option.

14 Fake Solid-Gold Rims

via Pinterest

Remember how we mentioned that putting status symbols on your car doesn’t actually make it look expensive? The same goes here. A gold wrap and fake, gold rims won’t transform your base model Camaro into a top-of-the-line luxury sports car.

In fact, it must devalue your car considerably because we can’t imagine that very many people would ever be willing to buy it.

Anyone who swaps out their stock rims and tires for these big boys better save the original set for a rainy day (or the day you have to sell). There’s nothing cheesier than finding an entire car engulfed in a faux precious metal.

13 Fleur De Lis Rims

via Sub5zero

To give these rims the benefit of the doubt, we have to recognize that there were probably good intentions beneath this design. The Fleur De Lis has been a royal symbol for centuries, we’re just not sure that it has ever been displayed on a set of rims before – and probably never should, ever again. We recognize that there’s an elephant in the room, so we’ll just come out and say it: they’re nerdy rims. The issue with combining historic emblems with modern design is that it needs to be executed tastefully (if you want anyone to appreciate them, anyway). This set has a long way to go before they’ll earn any respect.

12 Countach-Inspired Rims

via Motor1

When any set of rims is modeled on a Lamborghini, you know that they’re going to cost an arm and a leg. And, this set of ugliness delivers a price that would give most of us a mini-heart attack.

They start at $1,300 apiece and the price goes up from there, depending on the size needed.

To be frank, these rims look as if they were envisioned at the last minute by a designer that was under a lot of pressure. They’re practically rose-gold discs with a few holes punched out, yet they expect people to pay a premium? That sounds like a bad joke.

11 Daisy Rims

via Pinterest

Under no circumstances are daisy rims ever okay. If you love the idea of bringing nature into the design of your chariot, we get it. Installing a set of plastic wheels that resemble daisies on a car that doesn’t even match is not the way to go about that. Go for a nice custom paint job (preferably done by a professional), incorporate daisies into the interior décor, or even get a wrap, but save yourself the embarrassment and never settle for a flimsy excuse of a wheel such as these. While they seem to be common with VW Beetles, there is the occasional compact owner that just doesn’t get it. Nothing about your car improves if you don’t work with what it’s already got, and there’s no place for daisies on a Japanese compact.

10 Plasti Dip Nightmare

via Fiveprime

Let’s first acknowledge the ugliness of the Renault Clio on its own. This car truly didn’t need any help looking ugly as ever but, unfortunately, its owner was quick to pile Plasti Dip onto the stock rims. It’s not even a color that remotely compliments the looks of the Clio, either. In fact, the car seems alienated by its own rims; they seem like they belong on another car. The funniest part is that these rims were actually made for the Renault Clio. This is legendary in the worst possible way; you’d have to be an expert at botching Plasti Dip if you can make stock rims look out-of-place.

9 Rainbow Rims

via Flickr

Don’t get us wrong, we have nothing against a beautiful rainbow, particularly those found in the sky. But the execution of these rims went all wrong. They look like they were inspired by the brightly-colored, rainbow lollipops. Unless you’re planning on selling ice cream and candy out of your vehicle then that’s probably not the look you’re going for. Still, we do have to give them props for being a one-of-a-kind set. It’s not every day that you come across the ugliest rainbow rims on the planet. Rumor has it that the owner’s car is also multi-colored – although, you probably expected that – and the wheels were bought on eBay.

8 Wagon Wheels

via Pinterest

Upon glancing at this atrocity, an endless load of questions floods into one's mind. For starters, how is this even possible? These wagon wheels must have been constructed from tough wood in order to support the weight of a Hummer H3. That’s no easy load for any set of wheels.

Secondly, why would anyone in their right mind decide to test these babies out?

We can only hope that this was meant as more of an experiment than an alternative to modern-day rims, but then again, it’s parked in front of a restaurant. Also, there’s nobody standing by that’s proudly claiming ownership to the crowd of onlookers (not pictured). Seems pretty suspicious, but we can’t blame anyone that evades crowds for these rims.

7 Patrick Star Rims

via Pinterest

Believe it or not, these are a popular set of rims. There have been tons of variations made, but these take the cake for being the most ridiculous. Of course, almost anyone born post-1995 probably has a soft spot for Spongebob Squarepants, but when the fandom reaches this extent that’s when we have to draw the line.

It’s never really “cool” to have cartoon characters on your car, but Patrick Star rims are a guaranteed downhill spiral.

Each of the rims features a different facial expression, although that doesn’t exactly change the fact that we’d never be caught driving an Acura with his body plastered on each of them. The art is very accurate, but they still look like they belong on a toy.

6 Blue Steelies

via Pinterest

Whoa, now. Whoever thought it would be trendy to paint their set of steelies was sorely mistaken. We understand that the owner was probably trying to enhance his crappy car while staying within his own budget, but this is just one of those situations that makes it look like you’re trying too hard. Driving a 90s Civic on a daily basis doesn’t mean you should paint the severely stock alloys and call it a day. Your car is probably still ugly after this radical paint job, especially if you chose to go with the cookie-monster-blue color shown above.

5 White Jeep Rims

via WayaLife

Jeeps are the custom builder’s dream. They have a practically unlimited amount of aftermarket products, so, virtually everyone could have a completely different-looking Jeep. Many of the custom parts are cutting-edge and innovative. No one ever thought off-roading could look so good. However, the white rims still have a long way to go before they’re considered nice. In theory, these rims would be great if they didn’t ooze with arrogance. We have to admit, they do match the paint job nicely, but on their own, these rims are pretty plain and – like many of the guys who probably love them – don’t draw nearly as much attention as you may think.

4 Roulette Rims

via Pinterest

If you have a gambling problem, you may want to keep on moving because this wheel is the most dangerous of all. A serious amount of detail was put into these roulette rims; it almost looks like the actual wheel when you’re first met with these. It’s always neat to find unique aftermarket parts based on real-life interests, but after a few moments of logical thought, you realize how dumb these would look as actual wheels. It’s difficult to imagine anyone showing up to a casino with these rims, or anywhere else for that matter.

3 Quarter Wheels

via Pinterest

Money may not be indispensable for most of us, but that doesn’t mean you have to advertise that with quarter wheels. Unless you have a profound love for the worst drinking game known to man, we don’t see any point in these.

Easily written off as some of the silliest wheels that a person could put on their car, the quarter rims have no significant meaning (from what we can tell).

The sad truth is that even if there is an underlying meaning behind the quarter wheels, it doesn’t detract from how ridiculous they look. George Washington is probably rolling in his grave.

2 Stock Honda CR-X OEM Rims

via Honda Civic Forum

We shouldn’t put all of the shame on Honda for coming out with the ugliest rims of all time, but it happened way too much (particularly with 90s models) to be ignored. Honda’s OEM rims that were on the CR-X were some of the worst of all. What was the manufacturer thinking? They look like portholes that allow you to see all of the brake dust inside of these. We can probably all agree that these resemble a dark time for Honda’s design engineers. Let’s hope these tragic wheels become a thing of the past.

1 Orange Pinwheels

via YouTube

It’s always admirable when someone carefully considers customizing their car and actually gets everything to come together cohesively. But these orange disasters don’t fit the personality of a Challenger, by any stretch.

The rims look like pinwheels, which isn’t necessarily terrible in all cases, but it is when you’re driving a performance sports car.

Who chooses to install kiddie wheels after buying a brand-new, burly Dodge? The worst part of all this is how big these wheels are; it defeats the whole purpose of buying a Challenger if you’re not even going to have performance tires and a set of wheels that are actually the right size.

Sources: Reddit, AutoGuide