Problem 06 2500 Paint

[JStrosnider]

I have a 2006 2500 with now 13000 miles on it, in May as I was washing it to attend a truck show I notices spots on the tailgate and had a friend of mine take a look at it. He said it appeared to him to be Rust, you can take you finger rubbed over it and the coloring goes around but will return with in 20+minutes. So when I return home I took it to my local dealership to have it looked at, service writer looks at it and says its from the torch we used to put our B&W hitch in the bed where the sparks flew up and laid on the bed rail. I then asked for him to explain to me how it's all over my tailgate, both bed rails and now starting on my hood. This truck is minanally driven but for hauling and when it is not being driven it's sitting in our garage or under the car port. The same day it was at the dealership, the body shop guy looks at it and says it might be "rail dust" they will need to call their "rep" to take a look at it. Three weeks later, I take it back in not for the "rep" to look at it but for the service writer to take pictures of the spots & the vin tag to send to Chrysler. He tells me that he has had several of these rail dust issues and the the use a 600 sandpaper to (i guess) wet sand the paint to remove the belmishes. Goes on to say that its a $900 quote he is turning into Dodge (like that's is making me feel better about my truck & the money I have paid for it), today I hear from the dealership and Dodge that they have turned it down cause of the age of the vehicle. So, I have a truck I brought brand new from the same dealership that is going to rust out before it's probably 3 years old.



Any suggestions?????? Besides, sticking this truck up Dodge & the dealership's **#.

 

[DPKetchum]

Rail dust shows up very quickly. Like in a week on new vehicles. Thats why it was turned down for that. If the blim is coming UP from under paint or clear coat its a warranty/Chrysler issue. If its on the TOP surface and 13k its your and maybe your insurance companys issue. Least thats the way I would see it.

 

[MLimpert]

Have you tried a clay bar on it yet? It might help if the money doesn't come through to get it fixed.

 

[JStrosnider]

This is my wifes truck and she actually started this post. I Installed the the Gooseneck Reciever and used a Hole Saw to cut the hole in the bed floor for the ball. The Truck was then washed garage kept overnight and then taken the next morning to have LineX installed. This was back in January and when this issue first became noticable. At first I just thought it was dirt stuck to the tailgate and bedrails that was missed during the wash since I was able to rub it right off with no effort. However it keeps coming back worse and more intense. It's our fault we didn't address this situation sooner like we should have but, here's what's currently going on. The rust deposits on the truck look like someone has taken a fine ball point pen and just dotted the truck.

Today I spoke with my Dealer and they have told me that it was out of their hands and that this lied solely in the hands of Daimler Chrysler. They stated that I need to call the Customer Service # and explain my concerns with this problem. . So I did. After many round about conversations it was bluntly stated to me that this was not a warrentable issue due to it was an environmental cause and not Flaw. I asked the customer assistant "If this is an evironmental flaw if they could explain what caused this at such a rapid rate so that my 2002 Dodge wouldn't undergo the same circumstances". She stated she had no idea and that any work performed outside of Daimler Chrysler is my responsibility and that they WERE NOT going to warranty this problem and that I needed to pay for any repairs made. I forgot to mention that I was bounced back and forth from my dealer to customer service 3 times today with no answer and believe me I was HIGHLY Aggravated and Upset (Still am). FINALLY after speaking with my dealers Service Manager I explained to him that if this is what I have to expect from Dodge is a $45K Truck that's less than a year old and 13K Miles I don't want it and they could have it back! However my Dealer is begining to take some concern in this matter as the Service Mngr. passed me onto my Dealers GM. We discussed this matter and discussed ways of taking care of this problem however we both feel that the only true way to completely solve the problem is to have the entire truck repainted. Currently I am speaking with several Body Shops and letting them see first hand at what's going on unlike Daimler Chrysler who has only seen pics of this problem. So far I have gotten the same response from the Body Shops. They are stating that this is a higly possible Clear Coat Flaw and nothing we have or haven't done and the only way to solve it is to repaint the entire truck. I was also lucky enough to find out today that this is not the ONLY vehicle this has happened to. One Body Shop told me today that they had a White 06 Ford with this same exact problem that wound up being a clear coat flaw. We are going to get all this information documented and then present it to my dealers GM (per he advised me to to do this) then we are going to present this to Dodge again and see what happens.

As soon as I can get a good set of pictures I will post them on here for all to see. However I can say that I am not satisfied with how Dodge's Customer Service is dealing with this problem (this is not the first time I've been down this road them, but thats another story). They were suppose to have a company rep come and take a look at the truck however, they decided to take pictures and sent them into Chrysler. In my opinion in a situation like this one needs to physically see the problem rather that just stare at a set of pictures.

I just feel very uneased that GM will bend over backwards for there customers and Daimler Chrysler sits back and says it's your baby have a nice day. . That's not how customer service works. They have made me feel once again that they are not at all concerned with there trucks after they leave the factory and that their customers are 100% satisfied with their product.

 

[mgoncalves]

That's what you get for washing your truck:-laf





Post some pictures so we can see what you're talking about. I know guys that expect a new truck if there 3 year old truck gets a rock chip, screaming about the paint quality. This is one of those things that's hard to tell how serious it is without seeing it.

 

[JStrosnider]

I guess I did leave one thing out. . There are no dents, dings, blemishes, scratches and or rock chips of any kind where the rust deposits are forming. Hopefully tomorrow I can post some pics.

 

[skipro3]

Have you tried a clay bar on it yet?

Please do try clay bar. I swear by this stuff. It's made my paint as good as any I've ever seen out there and never leaves a scratch or swirl mark. I can't believe anyone would suggest 600 or any other grit sandpaper. In my opinion, I would not put anything on my truck's paint that I wouldn't put on my own ***$. Wanna try 600 grit on your bung hole? Of course not. Well don't use it on your paint then either.

 

[JStrosnider]

Here are some pics of the the bed rails and tailgate. I'm sorry but these pictures didn't quite come out the best. I took about 2 dozen pictures but it's very hard to see what your looking for. Just look for the brown specs in the white paint. .



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[mgoncalves]

That wouldn't bother me one bit, but it's your truck so it's up to you how serious you get with Dodge.





My less than one week old Chevy already has a few scratches and dings in it's first 700 miles. You wouldn't like the way my Dodge looks at 26,000 miles, I just don't wash it, and it's not very noticeable.

 

[JStrosnider]

Scratches, Dings, Rock Chips are one thing, they happen and there's nothing you can do to prevent those from happening. . This rust ordeal is another. The pictures aren't very good at all and it is very hard to tell how bad it is. . In person it is much worse. . You can run your hand across it and feel the bumps in the paint. The white paint really makes it noticiable. The tailgate and bedrails look like they have brown paint splatter on it. .

 

[JStrosnider]

Tomorrow I am going to try and take some more pics in the direct sunlight. I got home late this evening and the daylight was starting to go away.

 

[ADreher]

I have the identical truck- 2006 white long bed, and I noticed the same thing around 15k. I went to the dealer and they gave me the same BS- "rail dust" and not covered under warranty. Two wax jobs later it is barely noticeable.

 

[DBentley]

my white 06 has the same thing with the rust spots on the bed rails.

Just noticed last week.

I will leave it alone as I fear the dealer more than the dentist

 

[jman]

I agree with some of the above posts. Try a clay bar kit. My brothers silver 04. 5 had similar spots and I used a clay bar and it came off with very little effort. They are really amazing. I ran a clay bar over mine after a long, snowy, mag cloride, salt winter and it took all the embedded junk out and it looked good as new.



I know you are dissatisfied with you dealer and DC, but it may not even be worth the headache anymore.

 

[JStrosnider]

The Biggest Problem I have is mainly with DC because the dealer is starting to show some concern. This is the second time that I've had to to deal with DC and the second time I've gotten a sorry about you bad luck but have a Nice Day!#@$%! I guess what bothers me the most is that there was suppose to be a Represenative from Dodge come and actually look at the truck and instead the Dealer took pictures and sent directly to Dodge (because it would be about 3 weeks before the rep would be back in the area). . Now I don't know what kind of quality pictures they took or how well they came out but if they looked anything like mine how could they determine anything at all?? I feel this is a situation where The represenative or somebody from Dodge should have looked at this in person rather than through pictures that were sent through e-mail or snail mail. .

 

[silverram03]

Both my 1999 and now 2003 have these pin size rust marks. Try a Clay Bar. I know its a lot of work but if it works on a small portion take it to a body shop or dealer and have them finish it. Funny story with my 1999 White Sport Ram. My Dad and I had been staning the back deck and for some reason a few days later I noticed these spots everywhere on my truck. So we both thought some of the over spray made it over the house and onto my truck. So after a trip to the body shop, some Prepsol and a lot of wax we got it off. But when the 2003 had it we just laghed about the alleged overspray on the 1999 Ram. I know exactly what your dealing with and I keep my truck very clean. I know its frustrating, give the Clay Bar a try.

Greg

 

[jgillott]

The white paint on my '92 and '01 Dodge trucks did exactly the same thing. Once I waxed it off the initial time, I could keep it from coming back by waxing them often and keeping them clean. Hopefully that will work for you.

 

[J Shocik]

Isn't there a rust warranty on the new trucks? If so, I'll bet they (DC) say it only covers rust from the inside out. This is from the outside in from "enviormental polution". In which case, don't the new trucks come to the dealer covered in white paper-like wrapping to protect the new truck from "enviormental polution"? If so' then this rules out "rail dust" as the culprit.

 

[rbattelle]

Both my 1999 and now 2003 have these pin size rust marks.

Fascinating. Just last weekend after washing I noticed tiny pin-sized rust marks in the paint on the hood!



I assumed it was from ferrous cutting and grinding operations in my driveway right next to the truck. Maybe it wasn't? I actually touched up 90% of them with a tiny dab of touchup paint. I just want to prevent the rust spreading.



Ryan

 

[jnelson]

My wifes trucks clear coat was peeling on the right rear of the bed. More so around the fender well. Dealer said it was rock chips from the mud grips. I told them you can fix it or I'll see you in small claims court. It was fixed.

friend of mine had a serious paint issue after an accident. He wrote a letter of intent addessed to the dealership owner. He stated his problem and his intent to go to small claims court (limit $5,000) to seek repair of his truck. His truck was repaired to his satisfaction.

It would cost the dealer more in attorneys fees than it would be to repair the truck. Give it a try, it should cost you no more that $100.