Paint problems HELP!!

[davidking]

I noticed very thin paint on the drivers front fender. You can see right Thru the black paint to the white primer! The dealer said they were going to have the fender painted, I was not to thrilled with that. Well I went out this morning and inspected the whole truck and found that I can see Thru 60% of the truck! I called the dealer and they say it's out of their hands and a dodge Representative will call me Monday. The way I figure it is I bought a new truck not a repaint!! I dont want to settle for anything less then a new one either!! Am I in the right here? I' guess I will wait and see what they say Monday. Is there anybody I can call at Dodge directly so I can get an answer sooner?? VERY DISAPPOINTED in this truck so far. The last 3 trucks have been Dodges and have had good luck and I do think they build the best out there but they even put a decal over the primer under the hood.

 

[CATCRACKER]

that truck should be a kzy1 status which is "not be sold as new" i know this is ordering status but try to use this argument. if that does not work just put a sighn out in your front yard stating the dealerships name and claim they sell lemons. it worked for my buddy on his dodge, he got a new truck!

 

[Ladders]

Whell..

if it was me (and its not) - IF - repeat IF there is a EXCELLENT (Mercedes quality) body shop that it would be repainted 100% at, I would accept delivery (after I approved the re-paint). Extra paint, longer life ('specially with todays mfg "thin" coats) and more to buff out before thin-ness shows. Of course, this also includes the body shops paint warranty for a yr or 2 on their work. You still get the ordered truck and an extra gud coat of paint (the next order may be just as bad or show it in the later years).



just another arm pit... .....



SOTSU!! (HOPEFULLY rides agn!)

\\BF//



EDIT QUESTION: where were these built?

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

When I was walking the lot with a friend we noticed the paint looked very thin and could see right through it on ALL 6 of the silver trucks on the lot. Front left fender always was the worst for some odd reason.



Vaughn

 

[davidking]

Mine was built in Mexico. My last truck a 2002 25004x4 was also built in Mexico and it was built better then any truck I ever owned! The fit and finish was near perfect. I cant believe that there are that many out there with no paint!! And at the same dealer!! So if I get a new one out of this mess I wonder if it will have paint?? There is no way I will take it being repainted! NO WAY! I'm very reasonable but I paid $30K++ for a brand new truck that I ordered the way I wanted. If they cant give me that I will go and buy a semi. I know that I will never be happy with the power of anything else. I guess if they compensate me, and I mean very well I will just drive it for a year and trade it in.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by davidking



I dont want to settle for anything less then a new one either!!

David, how many miles on the truck? How long have you had it? If you have only had the truck a couple of days then I think you should get a new truck. If you have had it for a month and have a couple of thousand miles then you should get a repaint. I brought my new truck home and was looking it over and noticed a ding under the passenger side mirror that was not there when I was looking at the truck and bought it. Must of been done in clean-up before I took delivery. I looked at it this way. I should of caught the ding before I drove away, I never went back to the dealer to ask them to fix it. They never called me to ask me to pay to fix anything they did not notice on my trade when they took it. Now I think it is a little different with the paint job being defective and hope this gets resolved to your satisfaction.

 

[davidking]

I have owned the truck for 3 weeks and 1000 miles. When i bought my last truck I also found a door ding in it. I called the dealer and they fixed it the same day for free. I was surprised as I may hav done it. But this is different. They didnt paint it and that is that.

 

[dnitzel]

I've talked to a couple of guys who looked at the new black Rams and they thought that the black paint did not look as good on the new ones? I'd be REALLY P. O. 'd and would want a new different truck, maybe a different color.

 

[Dkevdog]

So nice to see that after three generations of trucks, Dodge still can't figure out how to paint em ... .



Kev

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by davidking

I have owned the truck for 3 weeks and 1000 miles.

That should be in the interval that would qualify for a new truck. Let us know what they say.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by davidking



When i bought my last truck I also found a door ding in it. I called the dealer and they fixed it the same day for free. I was surprised as I may have done it.

The 2000 I traded in had $3200 in hail damage that the insurance company had given me a check for and I had not fixed the 2000. I know that they saw the hail damage but doubt they new how bad it was, so I kinda felt funny about going back the next day about the ding I found. I guess I was afraid they would take me over to my old truck and say we found a few on it :-laf

 

[boonsur]

I'll be checking mine (black) closely when it arrives. What light makes it most evident; shop (artificial) lights, bright sunshine, or overcast? How close, and what angle do you have to be, to see it?

 

[sag2]

I don't quite understand. The paint is so bad you need another truck, and it took you three weeks to notice? Must be awful!

 

[kkirkpatrick]

When I picked mine up it was raining, I did notice a small dent in the right front fender and called their attention to it. What I did not see were the scratches in the doors on the passenger side. Looked like claw scratches. I guess I will just live with these as I sure don't want them painting on my truck.

 

[Dean Upson]

I'd take the truck if they let me pick the shop to do the painting. I had a beautiful black truck before and I loved it, it is a bear to keep up and shows imperfections more than any other color.



Dean

 

[davidking]

Originally posted by boonsur

I'll be checking mine (black) closely when it arrives. What light makes it most evident; shop (artificial) lights, bright sunshine, or overcast? How close, and what angle do you have to be, to see it?

Boonsur,

It is really only noticeable under bright sunlight. Look on the front fenders and under the rear window.

 

[davidking]

Originally posted by sag2

I don't quite understand. The paint is so bad you need another truck, and it toOK you three weeks to notice? Must be awful!

Sag2,

I don't quite understand either. I cant believe I didn't notice it earlier. But to me just because I didn't see the problem immediately does not mean it's somehow OK! How does it get Thru the inspectors like this? I guess they don't look at the truck under bright sunlight. I don't feel so good but I'm sure they will do me right.

 

[jryan11518]

With thin paint it should not make a difference when you notice it (3-6 months). This is not like door dings, scratches, torn upholstery etc; all of the above the buyer could be responsible for. Now thin paint is just that and there is no way the buyer is responsible, this is one Dodge should step up and correct to buyers satisfaction. Not even the dealers, district managers, DC are twisted enough to infer that a buyer had anything to do with THIN PAINT, it is obvious who dropped this pass. No need for play review here.

IMHO

 

[MidwestMotorman]

here we go again...

More paint problems. I would get it repainted if you can get a near new loaner (like your old trade in) for a couple weeks. Hopefully the dealership has a reliable paint shop. Black is a breeze to paint becuase it always matches



If this is a problem on other vehicles, the body shop my be tied up with several more, and it could be six months before you could get scheduled in. A total warranty repaint would involve removing the box so everything would get repainted. A repaint from a quality shop would involve better paint thickness. Warranty repaint for thin paint would involve painting over your current paint.



If your color is thin, count on the pssibility that the clearcoat also being thin. If the clear is thin, the UV rays will damage everything underneath. If UV gets to your primer (when the base color is thin) your truck will look like the GM truck peelers of the mid 80s when baseball sized chunks of paint peeled off while driving down the road. Warranty peelers call for all the paint to be removed.



You had better get a paint job NOW, because 5 years down the line you will be SOL!!! That thin paint WILL PEEL OFF!!! A repaint now will get you a thicker layer of clear which will mean more buff jobs before the paint gets thin. The longer this truck sees sun, the greater the chance of catastrophic paint damage. Your Florida sun is intense. If you can't get into the shop now, get that truck waxed with a UV blocker.



GM used to only pay the shops 22hrs for a total repaint of peelers. A good body tech should be able to get your truck done in a week. It just depends on how good the shop is and how good of a customer you are. Getting another truck will not guarantee a better paint job. You may just get another truck with thin paint.

 

[sag2]

I did not mean that it was your fault, it clearly is DC's responsibility. I was making the point that it probably makes no difference in the long run, and certainly does not justify replacing the truck. Stop by a good body shop and have them measure the paint thickness. I just measured mine and it ranges from 6-8 mils on the fenders. I suspect that your color might be a little thin in spots, but it most likely has a couple of mils of clear over the top. The total thickness of clear is way more important than how much color is applied.

Just to check, I pulled the PPG product sheets from when I painted the wifes minivan fender. On the base (color) coat it says 2 wet coats. The film build per coat is . 5 mil for a total of 1. 0 mil. The clear says 2-3 wet coats, and the film build is 1. 0-1. 2 mil per coat, for a total of 2. 5-3. 5 mils.

So the bottom line is, if it has enough total film build, and it is not all that obvious, leave well enough alone. I bet you will be happier in the long run. Besides, the paint carries 3/36, so document it, and wait and see. At this point you have nothing to loose by waiting.