Dealer murdered my clear coat

[davetha]

I recently traded in my 2011 RAM 1500 for a 2014 RAM 2500 Laramie. The truck is gorgeous... well was.

I bought the truck at night so I didn't realize there were little brown spots all over the paint. It turns out that these spot were apparently railway iron dust that ended up getting stuck on the clear coat. I tried washing the spots off, but they didn't seem to go away very easily.

I called up the dealership last Monday and let them know the situation, and they told me to bring it in for them to get the spots removed.

The next day I get a call saying the truck is ready to be picked up, and then 10 minutes later I get another call and the person said it wasn't up to his standards and he wants them to redo it.

I ended up picking it up several hours later. The clear coat was murdered. There are marks all over it, deep enough to where my finger nail gets stuck on some of them.

The dealer later gave me the option of getting me into another vehicle, which I was all for. I ended up finding one with similar options and let them know I found one. I then find out that by "getting me into another vehicle" meant. "You can trade it and loose $5000+".

Any idea what I should do here? I'm worried that they've thinned the clear coat from buffing it twice. Do I bring it to a professional detailer? Legal action?

I've had 2 rams before this one, and never had a clear coat that looked like this, even after years.

 

[LB3711]

They screwed up. Their problem. I'd say even trade or threaten legal action. My opinion.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Nce]

Present them with 3 options that will resolve the issue. Also let them know that only 2 of the 3 may have a positive outcome for them.

Option 1. The dealer ship has the truck repaired professionally by either detailing it or having the clear re done.

Option 2. The dealership switches the truck for another and any costs incurred are eaten by the dealership.

Option 3. Pursue legal action against the dealer.

3. is costly and time consuming. They are probably thinking you won't go this route due to the aforementioned reasons. I had a similar situation with a Range Rover Dealer several years back. I had an attorney draft a letter threatening option 3 if the dealership did not resolve the issues via either options 1 or 2. It took some back and forth but I got a different vehicle as the issues with the original one were so numerous.

My guess is that with some pushing they'll resolve it using option 1.

 

[Cruizer]

Yeah, don't settle for BS. You bought a new truck, that means the paint should be new too. I say either they respray it correctly or they replace the truck straight up. Best of luck!

 

[White Beauty]

rail dust could have been removed by a professional with no isses... seems this dealer is a bit sketchy... If it was me I would give them:

option 1 as mentioned above (but must be someone YOU choose, disregarding the price)
or option 3 as mentioned. get legel advice.

 

[PRammer]

Present them with 3 options that will resolve the issue. Also let them know that only 2 of the 3 may have a positive outcome for them.

Option 1. The dealer ship has the truck repaired professionally by either detailing it or having the clear re done.

Option 2. The dealership switches the truck for another and any costs incurred are eaten by the dealership.

Option 3. Pursue legal action against the dealer.

3. is costly and time consuming. They are probably thinking you won't go this route due to the aforementioned reasons. I had a similar situation with a Range Rover Dealer several years back. I had an attorney draft a letter threatening option 3 if the dealership did not resolve the issues via either options 1 or 2. It took some back and forth but I got a different vehicle as the issues with the original one were so numerous.

My guess is that with some pushing they'll resolve it using option 1.

Ditto. Let us know what they say and what happens !

 

[Burla]

Actually, you don't have to be a pro to get rid of rail dust. Just get clay bar and make sure to use a lot of lube as if your truck was a virgin, and rub the rail dust away like you were erasing pencil marks off paper. It is whack and the dealer is a fool, but don't sweat the small stuff bud. Call scotwax, look him up he is a detailer in your area, the best of the best that guy. If you don't want to do it have him do it, and ask the dealer to pay or take him to court.

 

[davetha]

I looked up how to do it before I even brought it back to the dealer. I just figured since it wasn't preped before I left they would get it done without an issue. It honestly looks like they smeared dirty cloths are all over it.

The deepest scratches seem to be on the curves on the truck. I wasn't able to get a picture of that though.

I ended up getting a picture of what it looks like all over. Its surprisingly difficult to take pictures of scratches.

 

[dsent]

Present them with 3 options that will resolve the issue. Also let them know that only 2 of the 3 may have a positive outcome for them.

Option 1. The dealer ship has the truck repaired professionally by either detailing it or having the clear re done.

Option 2. The dealership switches the truck for another and any costs incurred are eaten by the dealership.

Option 3. Pursue legal action against the dealer.

My guess is that with some pushing they'll resolve it using option 1.

The only way I would accept option 1 is if they give you in writing a "Life Time that you own the truck warranty on the paint"!!!

I did this once on a GM product they were reluctant to do it but they did.


Threaten to call local news channel trouble shooter and tell them you will hold press conference in front of their dealership.

I have done this too and I got results.

Call consumer affairs in your state,they can help apply pressure for the dealer to do the right thing.


ON EDIT:

Call attorney general in your state and tell them your story.

I had to do this because of a travel company not allowing buyers remorse 3 day grace period that is required in my state

 

[Lhemi]

Agree with ^^^ get a paint and finish warranty, if they are a 5 star dealership use the legal action and posting a bad review on dealer rater . Com. My wife sales cars and she says that really hurts a dealership if people post bad reviews.

 

[Burla]

Looks a lot like acid rain, and being from Texas I'm sure you have had that before. Plus if it was driven at all you get that acid rain from the top and the ground salts from the bottom, when it isn't washed and just sits, you get that etching. The rule of thumb is if you can really feel them with your finger nail then it is a hard fix with at a minimum wet sanding, if you can't really feel the etching then it just needs a polishing. 250 bucks or less would get that truck looking better then when it came off the line.

 

[LB3711]

they obviously didn't know how to properly detail a vehicle. A dealer isn't going to do a proper detail with claybar and such. THey have some low paid helper that "details" cars.

 

[Riccochet]

And after you get everything situated leave an upper decker.

 

[audio1der]

There are just SO many problems with this issue which has been thrust upon you which shouldn't be your problem.
I hope they fix it to your satisfaction.

 

[Pull Ya]

IMHO--I wouldn't let them touch the truck again! They have already proven what type of work they do. I'd take it to a professional detailer and let them look at it to see if it can be corrected by detailing or if there is actual paint damage that has to be re-painted. As has been said there is an excellent detailer in your area(scottwax). He would be a good detailer to contact.
Jay
P.S.
This is yet another example of why buyers should NEVER EVER let a dealer touch the paint on their truck. They more than likely will do a lot more harm than good.

 

[davetha]

So I brought the truck to a professional detrailer yesterday. I paid around $250 to have the truck fully detailed. The owner spent at least a couple of hours on it and worked from section to section.

He was able to get the lighter scratches out, which made the surface smoother. However there are a ton of scratches that he wasn't able to get out. He confirmed that the scratches were from improper washing techniques and said they might have used a high speed buffer with an unclean surface. The detailer let me know he would give me a quick letter if needed as well.

After I got it detailed I brought it back to the dealer. I also brought a high grade flash light and two massive flood lamps since it was a gloomy day, and I wanted to show them again how bad it is.

Now they want the body shop to try to fix it. They said if they can't fix it I'll get something, but I'm not sure what something is at this point. If the body shop wants to respray it, I'm not going to accept it since it could potentially drop the value of the vehicle.

I am going to my lawyer office on Wenesday to finish my will up, so it might be a good time to have her do her magic.

All I want is to be whole, and I think legal action will end up being required.

The truck is nearly the same as this one New 2014 Ram 2500 Laramie For Sale in Houston | Houston, TX | 3C6UR5FL9EG181924 | Serving Sugarland, Pearland, Cypress, and Katy
(this is a different dealer btw) except its white, so we're talking a decent chunk of change.

 

[Cruizer]

I don't know if I would have had anyone touch it. I would have left it in the state the dealership did until you got this resolved. I definitely wouldn't have dropped $250 on something that should have been handled. But now you have let someone else work on your truck since the dealership did leaving an opening for them to claim it wasn't that way when you took delivery. Still hoping it works out for you. Keep us updated.

 

[DeputyDipShizz]

like the above said, getting it fixed partially without having photos and proof of the original damage (Besides the he said she said) was a mistake, although, if I was in the situation Id have to fight myself from getting it fixed as well...Wish you a speedy fix to the issue...If I was you, Id be fighting for a new truck, no matter what happens that will always be something you think back to...

 

[Rotzilla]

I would not be in favor of letting the bodyshop repaint the truck, from past bad experiences they could possibly make it worse.
However your concerns on a drop in value are not entirely accurate, if the truck is repainted by an authorized chrysler bodyshop it will not show up on any records that the truck was repainted. I did not believe this, however when I traded my 11 in that was repainted under warranty, there was no record of the repaint. Only thing that showed up was that I was in the dealers computer but there was no record of why I was there, and I traded the truck into the same dealer that screwed up the paint job.

Good luck

 

[blackout11]

Well if the buffed it with rail dust on it they are idiots they should of clayed the whole car