Clean wheels put everything in motion!
Wheels make the car. Any car can look better or worse depending on how the wheels look. We're going to make yours look the best they can.
Let's start with wheel covers. Hubcaps are pretty easy to keep clean for the most part. They are usually pretty flat. It is important to make sure all the brake dust is washed off thoroughly every time you wash the car. The brake dust can become a permanent part of your wheel cover, and can cause it to fade to yellow. This looks really bad, and it just comes from a lack of washing (usually)! If you can see your lug nuts through the hub cap, wash around them with a clean, soft paint brush. Wheel covers should not be waxed, since they are plastic 99% of the time now. When you rotate the tires, be sure to clean the backside of the wheel cover and the front of the rim. Do this to keep it looking good when it rains later on (no dirty streaks on the tire leading from the wheel cover). That's the last thing regarding wheel covers: when you wash the wheels, spray through any openings in the wheel cover to rinse out the brake dust and gunk from the rim behind it to prevent that ugly tire run mentioned a few sentences ago!
For those of you with alloy rims (painted or machined), you need to do a little more work to keep your wheels looking good. Wash them gently to avoid scratching. Wash around the lug nuts with a soft, clean paintbrush. Wax your rims when you wax your car to keep them from being easily stained and to prevent tar and brake dust from adhering to them. Use carnuba or another non-cleaner wax for this! When you rotate your tires (every 6K miles - are you remembering?), wash the back of the rim thoroughly. Wax it if you can. If your rims are spoke/classic style, you have your work cut out for you! Just make sure you brush wash them frequently! (More details on spoke/classic rim cleaning under the wash section). If you have chrome rims, you can use chrome polish on them to get them nice and shiny. Follow that up with a coat of carnuba wax to seal in that polished shine.
Tires are very important to the look of the car. I highly recommend Tire Wet and Eagle 1. They are excellent products that will keep your tires looking good for a week or more! Apply it generously to a sponge and wipe it on the tire. Avoid spraying protectant directly on the tire, since overspray will hit the rim no matter what. Do the entire tire wall up to the edge, but don't get it on the road contact part of the tire or you may wipe out - this stuff is slick! After applying the protectant, leave the excess on for a brilliant tire shine. For best results, let the car sit for a few hours to absorb more of the protectant. Otherwise, the excess may be thrown all over your rim/wheel cover and vehicle paint making a not-so-pretty mess.