Paint Defect in 2018s (maybe more Gen 4s?)

[Lamarsh]

When I first got my 2018 Ram at the beginning of this year I noticed there was a very small dimple (not a ton bigger than the tip of a knife point) in the paint job on one of the doors. It was so small I did not care too much about it, but kept an eye on it, and was mainly concerned it would later affect the integrity of the paint job and leave the door unduly vulnerable to rust. The dimple essentially looked like a tiny piece of dust was on the door before it was painted, and then it was painted over it.

A few months ago I noticed the dimple looked larger, and, despite not caring about how it looks now, I was concerned it would affect the truck over the long term, so I took it in to a dealership, who had to submit it to FCA to get such a warranty claim approved. That took some time. FCA eventually approved it as a warranty item, and I was able to schedule the dealership's body shop to fix it.

The plot thickens.

The dealership gave me a loaner--another 2018 Ram with 25 miles on it. As the lady and I were giving it a look over for damage (as you'd do with any rental car) I noticed this brand new truck had the same darn dimple paint defect my Ram has, just in a different spot. I pointed it out to the lady, and she said "what is that?" and I said laughing "that's the same darn thing my truck is being fixed for!"

Just wondering if anybody else has noticed any paint defects like this. It's really disappointing, especially when you live in a place like Michigan where we have lots of humidity and sloppy winters with tons of salt all over our roads.

I hope they have fixed this with the new Sterling Heights Assembly plant. It's already sort of known around Detroit that Rams are plagued with horrible paint jobs. If this perpetuates, I can see this really causing problems for the brand, which would be shame.

 

[chrisbh17]

I have a few (maybe 5 or 6?) "nibs" in my paint....its like something is under the paint. Not very noticeable, very tiny and havent "expanded" in the year Ive had the truck.

There is also a 3"x3" area where there looked to be paint blobs/splatter under the base coat. Almost like the paint was too thick and got flung thru the gun instead of atomized. The base coat went over those blobs so its covered, but if you are looking you can tell. Luckily its on the rocker panel so its really hard to see unless you know its there (like I do!). The only thing I did about it was try to knock down the sharp points, then touchup paint over it. A year later they are still fine.

 

[2966]

my 16 has a small run on front passenger fender ..my friend who has body shop noticed it .

 

[werdna1977]

My 15 and 18 both had defects. The 18 there was paint missing on the fender lip along the hood and seam sealer chunks under the paint around the rear window as well seam sealer missing inside the passenger side door. Mine has all been fixed so im happy with it now

 

[Allamer1719]

Ill take a photo of mine here in a couple hours. I did notice on mine several weeks ago at two spots. I have about 3k miles on it. Maybe you can confirm we have the same defect.

 

[Pull Ya]

This has been a well know problem among Ram owners for quite some time. Most of the trucks that come from the "Warren" plant have crappy paint jobs, with varying degrees of different problems. Sometimes the dealer steps up and sometimes not. The robots that do the paint don't seem to care much about quality and the quality assurance employees are visually impaired.
Jay

 

[McBroom]

My entire truck is wavy and fish eyed. Even the clear coat has orange peel in it. Clay bar doesn’t help on those areas much.
I wish there was a fix for it besides being repainted completely.


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

 

[Lamarsh]

My entire truck is wavy and fish eyed. Even the clear coat has orange peel in it. Clay bar doesn’t help on those areas much.
I wish there was a fix for it besides being repainted completely.


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

Mine entire paint job is also wavy and fish eyed. It's a horrible paint job. I generally beat my trucks up pretty good in the woods though, but it's still disappointing.

Good news is the talk around here is that the paint jobs are supposed to be much better at the new assembly plant in Sterling Heights. Too bad I will likely have my 2018 for at least 6 years, likely more!

 

[BWL]

I have pretty noticeable orange peel and had to get a fender painted that had peeling paint on my 17'

 

[werdna1977]

My entire truck is wavy and fish eyed. Even the clear coat has orange peel in it. Clay bar doesn’t help on those areas much.
I wish there was a fix for it besides being repainted completely.


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

You could do a light wet sand and polish with a 3 stage and it should help with some of it. Just be careful not to break through the clear because its pretty thin

 

[Pull Ya]

Measure the thickness of the paint before you sand.
Jay

 

[04hemiram]

2018 Sport , all 4 inside body edges of doors have bad paint in one corner or the other. And pass side lower cab has a dimple also.

 

[BWL]

That looks like a partly plugged paint nozzle splattering. No amount of polishing going to fix that. Have to send in pictures to fca and wait for approval to send it to a body shop.