FCA rejected warranty claim

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RPG4U

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20200410_182417.jpg 20200410_182417.jpg 20200410_182417.jpg 20200410_183634.jpg 20200410_183543.jpg 20200410_182456.jpg I'm the proud owner of a 2019 CC SLT 3.6 and i have been very happy with it except that i started to notice paint curling on a quarter size spot on the roof. The primer can be seen and i noticed other spots forming on the hood too. Took it to the Dealer and the Service Advisor immediately said it was due to "something" landing on the paint and eating it. I told him that was a very stupid, baseless assertion since the truck is always washed, waxed and garaged beside being my secondary vehicle.
I showed him righteous indignation and he said he would submit it to FCA but he doubt it would get approved. They sent me to an independent body shop to get an estimatate since they don't have a body shop.
Yesterday the same clown called me to tell me that the claim was denied. I'm not going to take NO for an answer i paid too much money for this one-year old truck with paint that is peeling off and degrading by the week. I have a 2014 Toyota that is park outside and its paint is not damaged even after being exposed to the harsh Southwest sun and elements.
Have anybody else experienced the same royal treatment from FCA? Anybody have problems with sub-par paint and clear coat? What are my possible options to deal with this non-sense?
Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

20200410_183554.jpg
 
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Brandon-w

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Go to three or four different paint shops, reputable ones and get them to see why it happened and get it in writing. They cant refuse that once it's compiled.

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Warranty would cover it if you came into the dealer I used to work for ....

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Ohio5pt7

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Never had the issue with my truck but in 13 bought a new zl1 that had something similar. Gm covered it infact they painted it 3 times because it kept happening less than 800 miles btw. Needless to say the last time they painted it happened to drive by the dealer one night because it was next to my work (2nds at the time) and it was sitting outside in the rain stripped down to bare metal. In the end I ended up buying a new 13 f150 after I finally got them to eat that pos.

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I will let you in on a trade secret . ... This might not be true any longer but up until 2014 the dealership body shop I worked for it was still valid.
The dealership gets an allowance from the factory every year for warranty repairs, this account is how they pay their employees when they have no cash coming in from said repairs. The dealership decides on what is acceptable under warranty 90% of the time, the other 10% usually involves a representative from the factory to actually come out and look at the repair to authorize it. As far as them submitting something to FCA it would have had to include pictures and documentation ... Honestly sounds more like they did not want to do anything for you because they do not have a body shop in-house and do not have a good relationship with a independent one either.
Take it to a FCA dealer that has a body shop and bypass the service writer and go to the body shop manager ....
The proper test for pealing paint involves gaffers tape applied with a strong rubbing pressure and the removed quickly like you would remove a band-aid .... If paint is pealing in that area then the rest of the vehicle is to also be tested.
I spend 35 years in the refinishing and collision industry, 7 years a a Chrysler body shop, 12 years in a Cadillac dealership body shop, and 5 more at Mercedes Benz authorized repair facility .... All had almost identical procedures for paint warranty repairs.

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mtofell

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Keep in mind there is always a chance the dealer is right. Just because the truck is in the garage doesn't mean it couldn't have been hit with something when it's out of the garage. Going at any business with the attitude that you are absolutely 1000% right will never produce the best results. As a business owner I'll do anything to help nice people but when words like, "very stupid" start flying my direction, I'm done.
 

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I try honey first then let it fly as I do not take no well
 
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View attachment 201944 View attachment 201944 View attachment 201944 View attachment 201948 View attachment 201946 View attachment 201945 I'm the proud owner of a 2019 CC SLT 3.6 and i have been very happy with it except that i started to notice paint curling on a quarter size spot on the roof. The primer can be seen and i noticed other spots forming on the hood too. Took it to the Dealer and the Service Advisor immediately said it was due to "something" landing on the paint and eating it. I told him that was a very stupid, baseless assertion since the truck is always washed, waxed and garaged beside being my secondary vehicle.
I showed him righteous indignation and he said he would submit it to FCA but he doubt it would get approved. They sent me to an independent body shop to get an estimatate since they don't have a body shop.
Yesterday the same clown called me to tell me that the claim was denied. I'm not going to take NO for an answer i paid too much money for this one-year old truck with paint that is peeling off and degrading by the week. I have a 2014 Toyota that is park outside and its paint is not damaged even after being exposed to the harsh Southwest sun and elements.
Have anybody else experienced the same royal treatment from FCA? Anybody have problems with sub-par paint and clear coat? What are my possible options to deal with this non-sense?
Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

View attachment 201947
After reviewing the photos you attached ... My professional opinion and experiences talking here ..... At some point your truck was "egged"
There are impact marks and scratches from the shell hitting the paint ... Those marks are identical to that kind of vandalism .... In the late 90's early 00 I was in Omaha Nebraska and that was a very typical thing to happen at least one a week into the shop.
Regardless of how nice you keep your truck or anything else for that matter there is always something that is out of your control and no one's fault. This is a claim for your insurance at best. The paint is not pealing by any means. The first 3 pictures are the same photo according to the time stamp and the next ones are taken later one looks like it is a rock abrasion on the hood .... there is no fault of the factory paint in these pictures.

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tron67j

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Back in 1994 Dodge had a problem with one variation of its maroon color and it lifted just like that. I knew a person who had the color and tried to get it fixed but heard same thing. Flash forward a year or so, I was driving for a used auto dealer, went to far back lot at auction while waiting, there was a field of dozens of brand new maroon trucks. Worker told me Dodge contracted with a local shop to repaint them as problem with contamination in paint or primer.

I would recommend finding top body shop or two, get estimates including possible causes. Then turn into FCA with copy of your dealer's denial. Take the time you need to see it through, you don't want to fix prematurely and then find another spot soon afterwards. Sorry to hear about this, it is a terrible thing to see your truck like that, but like another poster said, sometimes attitude can affect a decision. You have every right to be upset, but I hope that you ultimately get help. RAM Cares, help this person out, those pictures look like more investigation on FCA's part is needed.
 
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RPG4U

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Keep in mind there is always a chance the dealer is right. Just because the truck is in the garage doesn't mean it couldn't have been hit with something when it's out of the garage. Going at any business with the attitude that you are absolutely 1000% right will never produce the best results. As a business owner I'll do anything to help nice people but when words like, "very stupid" start flying my direction, I'm done.

I agree with you 100% however, when the first words coming out of the Service Advisor are affirmations that the faulty paint was caused by "something" of unknown origin within the first 10 seconds after seeing it made mad as hell. I know the vehicle better than him or anyone for that matter, i care for it, drive it and i know under what conditions, he does not.
For him to affirm something like that and insisting on it is an insult to my intelligence. He is not more of an expert on paint quality than i am, all he does is make service tickets for oil changes and repairs. The shop manager turn out to be more reasonable, he told me to go to a shop that does body and paint work for them and get an estimate. The body shop recommended to repaint the hood and part of the roof.

I talked to the Foreman at the body shop and he agreed that all the spots could not have been caused by a single event like what the Service Advisor said (maybe acid, bird poop, road salt?) some of the spots on the hood are discoloring like the spots on the roof. It is clear they are appearing at different rates and revealing more and more damaged with time. For a truck that is just a year old this is unacceptable.
 

chri5k

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It is really hard to tell from a few low res pictures, glare and different lighting conditions what is going on with the paint. The best bet would be to get WRITTEN opinions from several different body shops on what they believe is going on with the paint. Contact RAM cares and see if they can open a case for you and present some clear high resolution photos with good lighting and the paperwork from the shops. As others have mentioned, it is upsetting to have a new vehicle look like that but try to control your emotions and stick to the facts.
 
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It is really hard to tell from the few low res pictures, glare and different lighting conditions what is going on with the paint. The best bet would be to get WRITTEN opinions from several different body shops on what they believe is going on with the paint. Contact RAM cares and see if they can open a case for you and present some clear high resolution photos with good lighting and the paperwork from the shops. As others have mentioned, it is upsetting to have a new vehicle look like that but try to control your emotions and stick to the facts.
Nothing wrong with the resolution .... Click the picture and zoom in very easy to see the details.

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RPG4U

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After reviewing the photos you attached ... My professional opinion and experiences talking here ..... At some point your truck was "egged"
There are impact marks and scratches from the shell hitting the paint ... Those marks are identical to that kind of vandalism .... In the late 90's early 00 I was in Omaha Nebraska and that was a very typical thing to happen at least one a week into the shop.
Regardless of how nice you keep your truck or anything else for that matter there is always something that is out of your control and no one's fault. This is a claim for your insurance at best. The paint is not pealing by any means. The first 3 pictures are the same photo according to the time stamp and the next ones are taken later one looks like it is a rock abrasion on the hood .... there is no fault of the factory paint in these pictures.

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Egged? impossible unless someone entered my garage and did it. The truck is my secondary vehicle so it is not driven daily, when i do drive it its is for pleasure (although i have not taken it off road yet) when i put it back in the garage i use a handheld mop that picks up fine dust so i would know if something was not right with it especially if it was egged. If it happens to rain that day or something like a dust storm (we get lots of those here) then i would hand wash it that day or the next day either way i would have noticed something that significant.
Furthermore, there are new spots forming where there was nothing there before and they look exactly like the big spot on the roof when the damage started.

The paint is not pealing by any means
Look at the last big picture there you could see clearly all the way to the gray primer.
 

chri5k

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Nothing wrong with the resolution .... Click the picture and zoom in very easy to see the details.

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Did that. At 5x or 500% even the close up is pixelated and blurry to my eyes. The photos look like they were taken with a phone because you can see the reflection of it in one of them. The lighting different in the 3 sets and the depth of field is pretty shallow.
 
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RPG4U

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I apologize for the bad pics my phone doesn't take the best pics, It seems like the best thing to do is what some of you suggested; getting several body shops to do a determination/estimate and re-submit it to FCA.
Thanks to every one of you who commented and gave input on this situation I greatly appreciated!
 

Dave2018

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Could it be a bird splat? They are hard to detect on the roof unless you get up there regularly.
 

mtofell

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Egged? impossible

I'm really not trying to be a PITA but am just pointing out facts the way they would/will be by a court of law or similar. When this is your approach you give up a lot of options that may have been available had you kept an open mind and tried to be reasonable.

Impossible? Really? Do you have video surveillance on the truck every time it's out of your garage and you are not with it? I know it may seem ridiculous but the burden of proof is most likely going to fall on you here.

As someone else mentioned, the best you can do to bolster your case is get some expert opinions. Even with that, FCA will have a pretty strong case denying it. Sometimes **** just happens and it's no one's fault.
 

LugsLeadOut84

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We get you're annoyed - maybe rightly so. But just from reading your few posts I sense your attitude and it would turn anyone off. If you're asking someone for help and maybe that person is the gatekeeper to helping you, I'd tone it down a little. I wouldn't want to help someone being dicky to me.

So let me ask...If it was not your vehicle and not knowing the history, if you were shown those pictures wouldn't your first inclination be that something external was eating it? Mine would be. If a reasonable guy heard my answer but disagreed and politely insisted I look into this a bit more, it would go much further. Your approach was wrong and it's obvious just by reading.

We get you took them with your phone, but most of the pictures look like those of bigfoot or the loch ness monster. We see "something" but they don't offer real proof.

You were given some good advice. I'd go that route. Good luck.
 
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