Issue with warranty repairs

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rojo_143

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Alright guys I will try to keep this somewhat short, but i am looking for advice on how to approach the current situation I am in with my truck. When I purchased my truck earlier this year it had some flaws from the factory. The paint had some minor defects (bottom of 3 of the 4 doors had a bubble of clear coat form which popped during final assembly debris in the paint in a few spots and some minor scratches on the cab), my rear passenger window tint was scratched, the stitching on the steering wheel was already frayed and coming undone and the vinyl decals on the door posts were different lengths. My purchasing dealership sent the info out FCA for warranty approval. The request was approved and covered repair/correction of all the paint issues, replacement of the steering wheel, windows tint and vinyl decals. I dropped my truck off at the dealership August 6th. I am in the military and was on a ship since the 19th of August. My wife went yesterday to pick up my truck finally after a month of waiting and the dealership tried scamming us out of the new steering wheel by attempting to repair the original. My wife called them out on it so they agreed to replace the steering wheel like originally agreed upon and have my truck ready for me today. I went today to attempt to pick it up and they ended up having to repaint all four doors due to not being able to blend the paint. There are now more defects in the paint than before including where they attempted to tape above the vinyl on the door post leaving behind a new paint and clear edge. They did not touch the vinyl decals or the window at all and the scratches that I pointed out are still there. There were no service department personnel around today so I was not able to speak with anyone about the current status of my truck. All the paint work was out sourced to a local body shop due to my purchasing dealer not having their own collision shop. At this point I am getting ready to make my 3rd payment on a truck I have not seen or driven since the end of July. What are my options? I plan on refusing to take the truck on Monday but at what point can I request for them to either replace the truck or just give me my money back? I love my ram but this will be the last interaction I have with this particular dealership.
 

NoveskeFan

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First, thanks for your service. Second, damn that sucks!

Sorry you’re having issues. Hopefully @ramcares can help you out. Maybe FCA will let you take it to another shop.

Being in VA myself, I’m curious what dealer you dealt with?
 

huntergreen

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I never take delivery of a new vehicle unless it is perfect. However at this point, I agree refuse the as it is not acceptable. I would ask for a different truck or your money back. When I was in the Navy, legal old always help us out. Is this still an option ?
 
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rojo_143

rojo_143

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Most legal O's now will not touch anything non-military service related. I want to hold off on disclosing which dealership it is in the event they go the extra mile to make this situation right. Is requesting a new truck altogether out of the question? I have never had to deal with a situation like this before.
 
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Pull Ya

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Tell the dealership the work is unsatisfactory and ask them to do it again, and complete everything that was pre approved by the factory. If they can't or won't I'd contact RamCares here on the forum and see if they can help. If they can't get it resolved then I'd contact the factory and let them know what has happened at the dealerships level. If the dealer wants another crack at it, I'd tell them you want a loaner to drive during the process.
Jay
 

huntergreen

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Most legal O's now will not touch anything non-military service related. I want to hold off on disclosing which dealership it is in the event they go the extra mile to make this situation right. Is requesting a new truck altogether out of the question? I have never had to deal with a situation like this before.

Seems things have changed. Legal would get involved in this years ago and would also send memos out concerning buinesses for military personnel to avoid.
 

McBroom

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Seems things have changed. Legal would get involved in this years ago and would also send memos out concerning buinesses for military personnel to avoid.

That’s right DOD would definitely put that dealership on the banned no fly list.


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road
 

McBroom

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Alright guys I will try to keep this somewhat short, but i am looking for advice on how to approach the current situation I am in with my truck. When I purchased my truck earlier this year it had some flaws from the factory. The paint had some minor defects (bottom of 3 of the 4 doors had a bubble of clear coat form which popped during final assembly debris in the paint in a few spots and some minor scratches on the cab), my rear passenger window tint was scratched, the stitching on the steering wheel was already frayed and coming undone and the vinyl decals on the door posts were different lengths. My purchasing dealership sent the info out FCA for warranty approval. The request was approved and covered repair/correction of all the paint issues, replacement of the steering wheel, windows tint and vinyl decals. I dropped my truck off at the dealership August 6th. I am in the military and was on a ship since the 19th of August. My wife went yesterday to pick up my truck finally after a month of waiting and the dealership tried scamming us out of the new steering wheel by attempting to repair the original. My wife called them out on it so they agreed to replace the steering wheel like originally agreed upon and have my truck ready for me today. I went today to attempt to pick it up and they ended up having to repaint all four doors due to not being able to blend the paint. There are now more defects in the paint than before including where they attempted to tape above the vinyl on the door post leaving behind a new paint and clear edge. They did not touch the vinyl decals or the window at all and the scratches that I pointed out are still there. There were no service department personnel around today so I was not able to speak with anyone about the current status of my truck. All the paint work was out sourced to a local body shop due to my purchasing dealer not having their own collision shop. At this point I am getting ready to make my 3rd payment on a truck I have not seen or driven since the end of July. What are my options? I plan on refusing to take the truck on Monday but at what point can I request for them to either replace the truck or just give me my money back? I love my ram but this will be the last interaction I have with this particular dealership.

Thank you for your service. Being active duty is a hard job. My new son in law is active duty Army. 3 Calvary Artillery.
I retired from the Marine Corps in 2000
Again thank you for keeping us safe here at home


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road
 

Kap1

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Thank you for your service!

As far as returning the truck, there has to be a clear reason and law backing you up. For example, lemon law.... Which is something like taking your truck back to dealer for repairs of exact same thing multiple times. I don't know if that applies to you or not.

Contact a Lemon law lawyer for advise if you're serious about not wanting the truck anymore. I don't think that you have a chance with them on your own as it's your truck now.

Of course this sucks as it's a new truck, but the issues you described are fairly minor, and dealer agreed to fix them. Even though they're doing a poor job fixing it, it doesn't really matter and they can have another try at it... Maybe give you a loaner ... But it's your truck now. Again, sorry you're dealing with this crap but maybe just suck it up and eventually they'll make it right.

Definitely ask for help from ramcares

Ask them for details on the paint job and warranty for paint job as depending on quality of the work it could go south in a couple years and you'll need receipts and all info to get them to fix it again. Usually post paint jobs could be worse than the factory ones .

Good luck and keep us posted
 

huntergreen

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Thank you for your service. Being active duty is a hard job. My new son in law is active duty Army. 3 Calvary Artillery.
I retired from the Marine Corps in 2000
Again thank you for keeping us safe here at home


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC .

Blue Streak Pearl off-road
.



Semper Fi from anold fmf Navy doc.
 
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rojo_143

rojo_143

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Thanks for all the input guys I currently have a dealership provided rental, so I am not completely out a vehicle as I may have led on. As far as getting Legal O's involved they are still able to but it has to be along the lines of taking advantage of a military member or bird *******. As far as I have been informed so far they body shop originally attempted to blend the bottom of the doors in with the factory painted and it did not turn out very well. The dealership then requested approval from FCA to repaint all 4 doors to the tune of $3600. Qhen I looked at the doors on Saturday there were many imperfections, debris and fish eyes all over in the paint. The original debris that i pointed out to be correct is still there it was just painted over making in more prominent. I am structural mechanic in the navy and have painted a lot throughout out my career. So those kind of imperfections stand out like dents do to most other people. I may be nit picking but now there are more issues with the paint then before I took it in. At this point I am getting ready to make my 3rd payment on the vehicle is it worth asking the dealership for a mopar credit or some sort of comp from them due to having my truck so long?
 

NoveskeFan

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Maybe ask for a Mopar Max Care service plan if you just went with the 3/36 manufacturer warranty?
 

RamCares

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Alright guys I will try to keep this somewhat short, but i am looking for advice on how to approach the current situation I am in with my truck. When I purchased my truck earlier this year it had some flaws from the factory. The paint had some minor defects (bottom of 3 of the 4 doors had a bubble of clear coat form which popped during final assembly debris in the paint in a few spots and some minor scratches on the cab), my rear passenger window tint was scratched, the stitching on the steering wheel was already frayed and coming undone and the vinyl decals on the door posts were different lengths. My purchasing dealership sent the info out FCA for warranty approval. The request was approved and covered repair/correction of all the paint issues, replacement of the steering wheel, windows tint and vinyl decals. I dropped my truck off at the dealership August 6th. I am in the military and was on a ship since the 19th of August. My wife went yesterday to pick up my truck finally after a month of waiting and the dealership tried scamming us out of the new steering wheel by attempting to repair the original. My wife called them out on it so they agreed to replace the steering wheel like originally agreed upon and have my truck ready for me today. I went today to attempt to pick it up and they ended up having to repaint all four doors due to not being able to blend the paint. There are now more defects in the paint than before including where they attempted to tape above the vinyl on the door post leaving behind a new paint and clear edge. They did not touch the vinyl decals or the window at all and the scratches that I pointed out are still there. There were no service department personnel around today so I was not able to speak with anyone about the current status of my truck. All the paint work was out sourced to a local body shop due to my purchasing dealer not having their own collision shop. At this point I am getting ready to make my 3rd payment on a truck I have not seen or driven since the end of July. What are my options? I plan on refusing to take the truck on Monday but at what point can I request for them to either replace the truck or just give me my money back? I love my ram but this will be the last interaction I have with this particular dealership.

First, thanks for your service. Second, damn that sucks!

Sorry you’re having issues. Hopefully @ramcares can help you out. Maybe FCA will let you take it to another shop.

Being in VA myself, I’m curious what dealer you dealt with?

Hi NoveskeFan,

Thank you for recommending that we assist with this situation.

Hi rojo_143,

We are terribly sorry to learn that you have had a poor experience with the dealer since taking delivery of your new Ram. We understand how frustrating it must be to have concerns regarding your new vehicle. Please send us a private message with your VIN and mileage so that we can document this experience on your behalf.

Darlene
Ram Social Care Specialist
 

markusaf81

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First off, yes...military legal seems to suck these days. They used to seem to be in the business of helping protect servicemen/women and now I have no idea what they do other then look confused when you walk through a deployment line.

Secondly, please don't take this the wrong way but did you find these items before you took the truck home the first time or did you start noticing after you brought the truck home? I feel like if you noticed them after the fact, you might be stuck with that truck. If it was noticed during the final inspections, I would say you've got a good case for a new truck. No matter what, I would not accept the painted truck until you are able to pick it up on a shiny day, take it somewhere you can do a really good walk around, and go from there.

The dealer I bought my truck from tried to sell me a used truck with a clear Carfax. When I was doing my walk around, at a distance I noticed the paint was off and found that a door was replaced and repainted. No thanks.

Hopefully Ramcares will help you out
 
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rojo_143

rojo_143

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I found these all the day I bought I hadn't even left the lot yet but due to my particular vehicle situation at the time I talked with the service department about them and since it had to get approval I kept the truck. Due to me being in the Navy and on sea duty I am constantly in and out which also did not help the matter any. **** the rental truck they gave me has the same issues with clear coat on the bottom of all its doors as well heading to the dealership now wish me luck
 

RammerHarder

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Dont feel bad rojo, i`m going thru the same issue with my dealership where i bought the truck brand new. Its a 2018, noticed before delivery, the clear-coat is gone off the bottoms of the doors. I bought the truck back in early may 2018, have yet to get the dealer to fix it, and i was told it was approved by FCA the following monday after i drove the truck home brand new. FCA approved to get the truck into the bodyshop, but i have yet to hear from the dealer when to drop it off to be re-clearcoated. I`ve called them, said they didnt have a loaner available yet, and now we`re headed into 5 months waiting for this truck to be fixed. Must be all there loaners are out due to so many problems with FCA vehicles. Talk about lame-ass dealerships. And they wonder why people get pissed off at them. So for once, which is unusual, FCA stepped up within a couple days with the approval to fix my truck, and here i sit waiting for the dealer to get their heads out of their pathetic asses. Now my worry is, they`ll get a call from FCA due to me complaining, they`ll get the truck in, do a ****** job just to get me out of their way. Very poor business practices if you ask me.
 
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rojo_143

rojo_143

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Dont feel bad rojo, i`m going thru the same issue with my dealership where i bought the truck brand new. Its a 2018, noticed before delivery, the clear-coat is gone off the bottoms of the doors. I bought the truck back in early may 2018, have yet to get the dealer to fix it, and i was told it was approved by FCA the following monday after i drove the truck home brand new. FCA approved to get the truck into the bodyshop, but i have yet to hear from the dealer when to drop it off to be re-clearcoated. I`ve called them, said they didnt have a loaner available yet, and now we`re headed into 5 months waiting for this truck to be fixed. Must be all there loaners are out due to so many problems with FCA vehicles. Talk about lame-ass dealerships. And they wonder why people get pissed off at them. So for once, which is unusual, FCA stepped up within a couple days with the approval to fix my truck, and here i sit waiting for the dealer to get their heads out of their pathetic asses. Now my worry is, they`ll get a call from FCA due to me complaining, they`ll get the truck in, do a ****** job just to get me out of their way. Very poor business practices if you ask me.


That is the very thing that I had to deal with...hopefully you have better luck than I once they actually begin your process. As of today my truck will be going back to the body shop in an attempt to fix over 80 defects with the newly painted doors. The shop that painted the doors did a terrible job and it frustrates me more that the dealership attempted to give me my truck back in this condition. In the attached photos every piece of tape indicates a flaw or defect in the paint. Also at some point my truck got a 4 inch scratch in the passenger mirror.

20180924_113200.jpg
20180924_113105.jpg 20180924_113110.jpg
 

RammerHarder

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That is the very thing that I had to deal with...hopefully you have better luck than I once they actually begin your process. As of today my truck will be going back to the body shop in an attempt to fix over 80 defects with the newly painted doors. The shop that painted the doors did a terrible job and it frustrates me more that the dealership attempted to give me my truck back in this condition. In the attached photos every piece of tape indicates a flaw or defect in the paint. Also at some point my truck got a 4 inch scratch in the passenger mirror.

View attachment 141754
View attachment 141756 View attachment 141755

Damn shame my friend, just friggin ******** to have to put up with this kind of lame service. I have YET, to figure out W-H-Y, FCA dosent fix their lame ass dealerships. It just baffles me to no end. I guess they just dont care. They`re damn lucky that i dont have control over their lame dealerships, their doors would locked and shut down, and replaced with the proper people to run the business, and when i`m satisfied with the workers that replaced the lame ones, i would then re-open the doors for business. Quality has to come first... without THAT, you have no repeat customers...end of story. I visit alot of other chrysler/dodge/ram/jeep forums, lots of complaints everywhere, but the majority of complaints, ARE DEALERSHIPS with how they handle the customers! Its sad... its not just ram either... its all across the BIG 3 automotive industry. Mainly it is FAC, Ford, Chevy. All makes have their blunders, but in the end, its how the blunders are taken care of. FCA is lacking quality at (most of) their dealerships. I haven`t found a good one since i came back to the ram vehicles. So the saga continues. I guess they`d rather we drive another (japanese) brand rather than fix their dealerships. I drove toyota trucks for a number of years because dodge was building **** vehicles for a long time. I never had to go back to toyota dealers with problems & unresolved problems like i have had to for dodge/ram. Maybe i should go back to toyota`s again when i`m done with THIS ram truck. Its not what i wanna do, but repeat returns to get something fixed (or worse, screw your truck up worse than when you dropped it off) is just unacceptable. Never had THOSE issues all the years i drove toyota`s. My problem is, i like the ram trucks better, for their hemi engine, and how much better the ride and handling is with the ram`s. But it wouldn`t take much for me to jump ship again... and if i do, i wont ever come back to a FCA vehicle ever again.
 
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rojo_143

rojo_143

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Update to my current situation... My truck has now been at the dealership for 71 days in an attempt to correct the above listed issues. A 3rd party body shop has attempted to blend the clearcoat which failed and attempted 2 times to paint all 4 doors. All the attempts have resulted in debris in the paint or flaws that are not acceptable in fact there are now more issues with the truck than what was originally there. I was called today buy the dealership saying that the body shop who has produced a terrible final product on 3 attempts is refusing to touch my truck again and that I now have to come take custody of my still flawed vehicle. My question is does this situation constitue a dealership buy back? Or a truck replacement? I am not willing to accept this truck back with more flaws than what it had when I turned it into the dealership but that seems to be the route that the dealership is wanting me to take. Any advice from people have gone through a vehicle buy back or lemon law issues would be more than appreciated. I plan on talking with the service manager and possibly the dealership manager if availabole tomorrow about this whole ordeal and I would like some outsider input/ knowledge before than if possible.
 

lungs414

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Contact a lemon law attorney. Different rules apply via state. In NY you don't pay a dime the dealership of manufacturer pays. Usually the dealership will try to negotiate a buy back because they don't want the vehicle labeled lemon law. In NY if a vehicle is in shop for more than 30 days it qualifies. I had a problem with a Tesla. My attorney advised me to record conversations with my phone, which I did and was allowed to legally without consent from other party. Again this is where attorney advice helped a lot. Tesla eventually stepped up very fairly I might add. The buyback involved deductions for mileage which is fair. The boots line is if possible always check vehicle out BEFORE signing anything. I will never again take delivery before seeing and inspecting before hand.
Best of luck.
 
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