Dealership issues with a new truck damaged at dealer...

[DanR]

Hey guys,

Sorry in advance, this is long...

So it's been a couple of months now and this issue is still going nowhere, not sure what I should do next.

It's been about 2 months, maybe 3 now since I bought my new 2017 Ram 1500 Sport. At the time of purchase, there were a couple of stone chips on the truck that needed to be touched up (they could no longer get any more orange sports). I made sure they wrote in the contract that the chips had to be repaired to the point that they were invisible to me. I told the sales guy and the body shop that after this, I would be putting on a protective film on the front once they were done.

So a few days after purchase, I bring the truck to get the touchups done. 2 days later they call me with some pretty bad news... instead of confirming my truck was ready, they let me know that when they were done the paint, they parked my truck in front of the showroom and someone scraped the front bumper when parking next to my truck and they need to fix the bumper.

I'm furious, but wtf am I supposed to do... ok so fix it. They tell me to wait 2 weeks before applying the protective film. I pick up the truck and it was ******* rain, but from what I could see it looked good. It didn't even occur to me to give it a super close inspection, and to be honest I don't really have a trained eye for that sort of thing. But to me it looked OK, but again it was raining and hard to see anything.

I wait about 3 weeks and the guy from the shop that I used for the film picks up my truck in the AM. He calls me a few hours later and the conversation goes like this... "We have a problem... the dealer did a **** job fixing your bumper, it looks like they did it with rattle cans. I was laying down the film and it sat for maybe 5 minutes while I was working it and had to lift up a corner (they use the wet technique with the soapy water of course). When I lifted it, all of the "new" clear lifted right off with it and made a mess. So at this point I can leave the film on and it hides it for the most part, or I can remove it and you can bring it to the dealer and show them."



So now I am furious because I really fought with myself at first about taking a truck that needed some minor touchups and these idiots parked my truck out front where the customers parked and caused this nonsense.

So I call the dealer to ask if I should keep the plastic on or peel it off and everyone that has any power at the dealer is either not available or on vacation (The director of the body shop was on vacation for example). I'm told someone will call me later. So I make the call, leave the film on... you can still see if you know what to look for that the clearcoat is a mess and if I remove the film, it will rip all the new paint off with it.

So at this point in the timeline, we're about a month ago.

I call the dealer again and tell them what's going on. They schedule an appointment to do some touchups BUT the bodyshop director basically tells me there is nothing he can do to repair the bumper where the paint will not be damaged should I ever want to remove the film. Basically any non-oem painted surfaces will be damaged by a film. So because of their stupidity, there is no way for me to apply a film to the bumper without ripping off some paint when I want to remove it after x amount or years or should the film be damaged.

To me, this is unacceptable, especially as I made it clear from the start that I planned to Suntek the entire front of the vehicle from the start.

So the last month or so has been me playing telephone tag with various people at the dealership and so far I have no resolution. Apparently the easiest solution is simply not available to them... get an OEM painted bumper directly from Dodge.

I don't know enough about paint to know how to properly respond to any of this, I just want to be able to put on the damn film and not worry about it taking half the paint off 5 years later when I take it off. So far I've been sticking to my guns but starting to wonder if I should just have them remove the film, repaint whatever the film peels off and leave it as is. But considering this is a brand new truck, this should not be my problem.

Is it time to call corporate? Problem with that is they tend to side with whatever the dealer recommends, so not sure how that should help me.

What do you think guys? I'm starting to wonder if this is even worth all the hassle...

Dan

 

[ScottFL]

Sue them in small claims court for the OEM painted bumper cover.



Good luck.

 

[Pull Ya]

Two things come to my mind. One, you can get into a protracted lengthy fight with the dealer about what they did, what they should do, what they haven't done, and what further action you are planning to take. This will in all probability test your patience to the max and may or may not get the results you really want. If they screwed up the paint the first time, why would you think they would do better the second time? The only possible upside I can think of is that Ram MAY pay for it------maybe. My other thought is, find a competent body shop, one that you trust, and have them repaint your bumper at your expense and be done with it. I realize that you should not have to do this but these are the two options I see. Even though it might cost you a couple hundred bucks, IMHO, your mental health, after trying to deal with the dealership, would be worth the expense. Good luck with your decision-
Jay

 

[dan1911]

What do you think guys? I'm starting to wonder if this is even worth all the hassle...

Dan

Im not sure it'll happen but I would request a new bumper and get in contact with RamCares on this forum. I find it unacceptable they damaged your vehicle and seems unable to make it right, as the replacement bumper would be super easy for them and make you happy. They wouldnt be wasting labor hours on paint or anything, just a write off for the bumper. Others on here know more about this stuff than I do and assume they'll chime in, but IMO I would push for a new bumper

 

[stimpy433]

I can't believe they told you to only wait 2 weeks before applying the film. My dealership told us not to stick anything on the fresh paint or wax it for at least 6 months.

 

[mowin]

Unfortunately, there going to pass the blame onto the film installer. Once they touched it, your dealer has a easy scapegoat.

 

[RamCares]

Hey guys,

Sorry in advance, this is long...

So it's been a couple of months now and this issue is still going nowhere, not sure what I should do next.

It's been about 2 months, maybe 3 now since I bought my new 2017 Ram 1500 Sport. At the time of purchase, there were a couple of stone chips on the truck that needed to be touched up (they could no longer get any more orange sports). I made sure they wrote in the contract that the chips had to be repaired to the point that they were invisible to me. I told the sales guy and the body shop that after this, I would be putting on a protective film on the front once they were done.

So a few days after purchase, I bring the truck to get the touchups done. 2 days later they call me with some pretty bad news... instead of confirming my truck was ready, they let me know that when they were done the paint, they parked my truck in front of the showroom and someone scraped the front bumper when parking next to my truck and they need to fix the bumper.

I'm furious, but wtf am I supposed to do... ok so fix it. They tell me to wait 2 weeks before applying the protective film. I pick up the truck and it was ******* rain, but from what I could see it looked good. It didn't even occur to me to give it a super close inspection, and to be honest I don't really have a trained eye for that sort of thing. But to me it looked OK, but again it was raining and hard to see anything.

I wait about 3 weeks and the guy from the shop that I used for the film picks up my truck in the AM. He calls me a few hours later and the conversation goes like this... "We have a problem... the dealer did a **** job fixing your bumper, it looks like they did it with rattle cans. I was laying down the film and it sat for maybe 5 minutes while I was working it and had to lift up a corner (they use the wet technique with the soapy water of course). When I lifted it, all of the "new" clear lifted right off with it and made a mess. So at this point I can leave the film on and it hides it for the most part, or I can remove it and you can bring it to the dealer and show them."



So now I am furious because I really fought with myself at first about taking a truck that needed some minor touchups and these idiots parked my truck out front where the customers parked and caused this nonsense.

So I call the dealer to ask if I should keep the plastic on or peel it off and everyone that has any power at the dealer is either not available or on vacation (The director of the body shop was on vacation for example). I'm told someone will call me later. So I make the call, leave the film on... you can still see if you know what to look for that the clearcoat is a mess and if I remove the film, it will rip all the new paint off with it.

So at this point in the timeline, we're about a month ago.

I call the dealer again and tell them what's going on. They schedule an appointment to do some touchups BUT the bodyshop director basically tells me there is nothing he can do to repair the bumper where the paint will not be damaged should I ever want to remove the film. Basically any non-oem painted surfaces will be damaged by a film. So because of their stupidity, there is no way for me to apply a film to the bumper without ripping off some paint when I want to remove it after x amount or years or should the film be damaged.

To me, this is unacceptable, especially as I made it clear from the start that I planned to Suntek the entire front of the vehicle from the start.

So the last month or so has been me playing telephone tag with various people at the dealership and so far I have no resolution. Apparently the easiest solution is simply not available to them... get an OEM painted bumper directly from Dodge.

I don't know enough about paint to know how to properly respond to any of this, I just want to be able to put on the damn film and not worry about it taking half the paint off 5 years later when I take it off. So far I've been sticking to my guns but starting to wonder if I should just have them remove the film, repaint whatever the film peels off and leave it as is. But considering this is a brand new truck, this should not be my problem.

Is it time to call corporate? Problem with that is they tend to side with whatever the dealer recommends, so not sure how that should help me.

What do you think guys? I'm starting to wonder if this is even worth all the hassle...

Dan

Hi Dan,

Please send your VIN over to us--we'll investigate further on our end. I'm sorry to hear about this experience.

Kori
Ram Social Care Specialist

 

[dan1911]

Hi Dan,

Please send your VIN over to us--we'll investigate further on our end. I'm sorry to hear about this experience.

Kori
Ram Social Care Specialist

Kori, you and your team are incredible. I think the attention that this brand gives to their customers is unmatched and was the reason I made the switch to a Ram and will continue to do so in the future.

 

[DanR]

Unfortunately, there going to pass the blame onto the film installer. Once they touched it, your dealer has a easy scapegoat.

They are admitting there is nothing they can do to repair the truck that would allow me to add the plastic without damaging the truck. So they are saying they damaged my bunper and fixed in a manner that is not as good as OEM, which is my issue.

 

[DanR]

Im not sure it'll happen but I would request a new bumper and get in contact with RamCares on this forum. I find it unacceptable they damaged your vehicle and seems unable to make it right, as the replacement bumper would be super easy for them and make you happy. They wouldnt be wasting labor hours on paint or anything, just a write off for the bumper. Others on here know more about this stuff than I do and assume they'll chime in, but IMO I would push for a new bumper

Apparently they cannot order a painted bumper from Dodge, they told me they can only get it primed and it's up to the dealer to paint it :/

Dan

 

[DanR]

Hi Dan,

Please send your VIN over to us--we'll investigate further on our end. I'm sorry to hear about this experience.

Kori
Ram Social Care Specialist

Wow thank you! I will send it to you right now via PM, thank you!

Dan

 

[DRkNESS]

Sorry to see this and I hope that things get resolved to your satisfaction. Not to take over your story but I ordered my car and when it arrived I was called to come and pick it up. It was night time so I was ready to just take it and go. Something told me not to and I had them bring it into the service area. Long story short the bumper of my brand new car was painted off black, and my car was dark grey. Huh, well come to find out the original bumper was damaged earlier and they have their body guy pull one off of another vehicle to get mine gone. In all honesty they weren't trying to cheat me, they wanted me to have what I paid for. Needless to say I didn't take delivery of said vehicle. Had to wait for a dealer swap and they took quite a bit off due to my troubles.

I say this to say don't settle for anything less then full accountability on their part.


Father Of Four

 

[naumaa1]

I work with the same suntek paint protection film you are talking about and although factory paint is the best, having a competent body shop that does quality work will still look good and the installer won't have an issue working with. The fact it fell off is just a poor paint job issue. The recommended is 90 days from paint, but let the painter tell you what they think. I had my Audi painted and 3 days later had the film applied. 4 years later I went to have it removed and new stuff put on, all went perfect.

 

[huntergreen]

ask to see the owner of the dealership and see what he will do, he can put in an insurance claim. sorry for your troubles.

 

[Sir John]

Two things come to my mind. One, you can get into a protracted lengthy fight with the dealer about what they did, what they should do, what they haven't done, and what further action you are planning to take. This will in all probability test your patience to the max and may or may not get the results you really want. If they screwed up the paint the first time, why would you think they would do better the second time? The only possible upside I can think of is that Ram MAY pay for it------maybe. My other thought is, find a competent body shop, one that you trust, and have them repaint your bumper at your expense and be done with it. I realize that you should not have to do this but these are the two options I see. Even though it might cost you a couple hundred bucks, IMHO, your mental health, after trying to deal with the dealership, would be worth the expense. Good luck with your decision-
Jay

I agree with this. This is what I was thinking when I read the OP's post.

 

[BossHogg]

What do you think guys? I'm starting to wonder if this is even worth all the hassle...

Dan

After reading the thread, realizing we are all different, this is what I would do.
New Painted to Match - Front Bumper Cover for 2013-2017 Ram 1500 Sport Truck | eBay

Then, for the few dollars it costs to file a small claim, I would go after the dealer for the costs since you have well documented your steps to unsuccessfully resolve the issue.

How much aggravation do you want?

 

[freefallin]

My dealer swapped my front bumper with a truck on the lot after I discovered a buffer burn the size of a half dollar on it. I understand this was not possible in your case, but maybe the dealer can order a truck in your color and swap your bumper with the new truck's bumper when it arrives.

 

[DanR]

Well, I've now escalated it with Ram Care Canada, but ultimately they told me that they can do their best but can't force the dealer to do anything. The last person I spoke to could not confirm whether a dealer could order factory painted pieces or not.

Stay tuned lol

Dan

 

[CrispyBacon]

Which dealership is it?

 

[MdMassey]

I'm an ex auto body painter. Since no one has chimed in here I will.

There is no reason the film should pull the clear unless it was applied incorrectly. I have sprayed paints from PPG, Dupont and Sikkens and they all have adheasion promoters for plastics, they all have flex additives for the base and clear to allow the flexing of the plastics. I can't imagine any other premium auto body paint brands being any different. There is too much money in refinishing to skimp on product... which leads me to what most likely happened in your case... a spot repair where they didn't scuff the factory clear and sprayed the new clear right over the old. With the factory glossy finish the new clear has nothing to bite into, and therefore no adherence. This would be why the film peeled up the new clear... I bet dollars to toonies that the paint under the peeling areas is still glossy.

The solution and fix for this is simple and easy. For cost and fewest chances for another comeback have a new bumper cover CORRECTLY painted factory color and follow the paint manufacturers directions when it applies to the type of plastic the bumper is made out of (different types of plastics have different paint methods). The other method is to sand ALL the new paint off the original cover get back to the factory finish and prep accordingly and spray once again following the paint manufacturers recommended procedures.

If everything is done right, depending on the paint used you should be able to film the bumper in 3-6 months (paint will take that long to out gas and harden fully) and in the future the new paint will be just as solid as the factory paint.

My neighbor has a car I repaired 20 years ago... the new paint I sprayed looks better than the factory paint and still shines... She wants me to paint the whole car but I can't paint any more due to chemical sensitivities.