This is a picture of my 1999 Civic, taken before I sold it in the spring of 2010. Note the alloy wheels (OE Acura). Those were my winter alloys and were on the car for nine Alberta winters.
I never had any issues with corrosion, flats or slow leaks, and if you zoom in on the picture, I believe you will see that the finish still looks just fine. 1,000x better than black steelies, anyway.
Anything can be done given enough effort and resources.
LOL. I'm laughing because I am definitely not obsessive about car care! (Well, the cosmetic stuff. Mechanical is different)
In the ten years I owned that car, I waxed it exactly once. I never washed it by hand, but did take it to either the coin op wash or the touchless drive-through a couple of times a week in the winter.
Same with the GTI: I bought a can of wax and some fancy applicator pads when the car was new, thinking I should get off to a good start. 3 1/2 years later, and the wax is still sitting, unopened, in the garage.