Paint Defect?

[Fuxton]

Hey guys,

Does this look like a factory defect? Truck is a 16 with 33k on it. I’ve only owned it for about a month and a half and noticed while washing the other day.

I brought it to the dealer and they took pictures and a week and a half later they tell me Ram is denying it due to the fact that “it was a rental vehicle and sometimes rental companies do repairs that don’t show up on car fax”. There’s no signs of it being repainted or damaged. Dealer pretty much left it at that. Trying to escalate it but they suck.

Excuse the dirt lol.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Addicted2fishing]

I would say that they repainted that. It looks like someone got lint from a rag on it and just painted over it anyways.

The dealer clearly won’t help. So go straight to FCA


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chrisbh17]

My truck has similar spots on the passenger rocker panel. I don't think it's been repainted... Rather it's some gunk that got caught in the robotic sprayer then ended up on the truck.

I didn't want my dealer touching paint on my truck so I lived with it for now... Eventually will very carefully try to sand down the high spots then base and clear over just the spots.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Fuxton]

Honestly can’t even get the dealer to open a repair order to start the escalation process. I was told they don’t open repair orders unless digital imaging is approved.

I’m getting the run around but my work schedule is rough and this dealer is across the street.

I guess I’ll give them a few more days lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mohemipar]

Could very well have been a screw up from the factory. Warren has been building Dodge trucks since the late 30’s. The paint facility it has now is the oldest in the country. Not uncommon for paint defects on the half tons coming out of there. It is being upgraded pretty much as we speak. Looks like it wouldn’t be too hard to fix that yourself if you have a little bit of skill. You might even be able to get that out with some sanding and buffing, hard to tell from the pics. It depends also on if that is corrosion under there or just particles of crap under the paint. If it was a rental you may be SOL with Chrysler.

 

[chrisbh17]

If its like mine (looks like it is), its not corrosion....one of the "points" I found on my rocker panel was sharp enough to pick off with my finger, after I did that it revealed a glob of black material (paint, primer? dunno) which came out from under the point and left a divot which I then filled in with white touch up paint.

Once it gets warm out, I plan on using very fine (1500,2000,3000,4000) wet/dry sandpaper to take the white (factory color) paint off the high spots and get the crap out from below, then layer some touch up paint over each to level out the divots.

 

[Jeepwalker]

I wouldn't worry about it, just some crap on the surface before it got painted like some above have suggested. Or it could have been some crud inside the paint lines that became unpredictably dislodged as the paint was flowing and then it 'spits' out when it gets to the paint gun nozzle. That happens too, even with paint shops. It's not that uncommon. I've had it happen before ...several times. You just hope it happens down low, not when yer painting the hood! There are some paint flaws on my truck too, some like this, and other areas where the paint was sprayed thin (see a hint of primer through it!). This isn't likely to lead to any problems down the road as the debris is now encapsulated within the paint.

The cardinal rule in the paint and autobody circles is that anything above waist or belly height needs to be as absolutely as good as possible as that's what the customer will tend to notice. And that's pretty much how it works. So flaws and paint imperfections in the upper areas, especially the hood and upper fenders/doors are corrected as needed to make those areas look their best. Below that level there is some give and take and small flaws which aren't as noticable and won't lead to accelerated corrosion or other problems may be left alone. You have to remember that sometimes correcting flaws creates a bigger problem than leaving them alone (e.g. buffing off too much clearcoat).

That said, everyone wishes their vehicle didn't have any paint flaws and to some people, minor paint flaws can literally drive them NUTS!! That's probably because they have their expectations set too high. There are just so many factors that have to go perfectly to achieve a great paint job and a minor hic-up with any one of them can lead to a small (maybe imperceptible) paint blemish. We live in an imperfect world. Could be just a big piece of dust even. Painters and autobody guys know that there is no such thing as a truly flawless paint job ...but you can get very close! If you ever saw a car and said, "That's flawless" then you just didn't look hard enough or through a painter's eye.

 

[Jeepwalker]

One other note:

One of the issues facing the Ram truck, as I understand it, their increasing popularity and sales means the factory has had to pump them out as fast as they can, even faster than (possibly) the design production flow was intended. That can lead to compromises in a number of areas. Fans of 2nd Gen Firebird/Camaro's would know what I mean. They were building almost 3x more than the factories were originally set up to produce. If a car had a tan interior but the steering column that came to the assembly line worker was black ...in it went, move onto the next car. Only a certain amount of tie could be given to each car's panel alignment. Quality control suffered with increasing cars being pumped out. People still loved their cars, but quality took a hit. And factories can't be retrofitted overnight. That takes time. Eventually GM evolved the factories to handle greater numbers, but that didn't help the thousands of owners who shelled out good money and had to live with any number of issues. So, sometimes a company having a 'hit' can lead to negative repercussions in other areas.

Overall I think Chrysler has done a pretty good job from what I've seen. However, I believe I read that the 2019's would be built in a different factory, which (if true) should allow them handle higher production numbers with newer equipment and get a better handle on quality control issues like minor paint problems such as yours (which I know aren't minor to any new buyer and you as well).

 

[Akonitony]

Just bought a 2018 Power Wagon new from the dealer in Inverness, FL. I am the first owner, it had 28 miles on it, was missing the spare tire and tailgate protector (they reluctantly replaced them, but tried to milk me $125 for the tailgate protector saying it was extra besides the liner that was installed. I called BS, and they admitted 'twas.

I took delivery in the dark, but looked the truck over with my phone's flashlight. All appeared well until the next morning when I noticed a very similar defect on the top, rear passenger side corner of the cab. It was made in Mehico in 10/18, and has the Mohave Sand color package. A white one I was looking at made the same month had a similar defect in the very same area of the cab as well, and all other corners were perfect. Evidently Juan or Pedro had a bad month. Perhaps Rosalita was not in love like she said she was, or the worm was a little more potent in that batch of tequila. I don't know, but it sucks to pay $50k for a truck and see a defect like that in the paint with today's coating technologies. Hell, it should all be powder coated for these prices.
Anyhow, I took it to one of my local dealers in Gainesville. They sent me to their body shop who prepared an estimate of $1130, and said they would call me in about a week. Been almost two now, and they have started giving me the runaround. I have nothing better to do than open a class-action law suit. Anyone else interested?
Another route is the lemon law. It's good up to 24 months from purchase date of a new vehicle in my state, and covers defects that lower the value of the vehicle, as long as it's under 10k pounds, not a strictly off-road vehicle, or been abused. I figure I can use this if push comes to shove. I expect a flawless paint job on a new vehicle these days, or darn near it. This defect is pretty noticeable, and as the estimate shows, lowers the vehicle's value over a grand. They expect us to accept inferior work for premium prices. I never was good at going with the flow, or not rocking the boat.

 

[6.7CumminsDrvr]

Paint was so bad they re-sprayed my entire truck. Every panel had a defect.......

 

[Scottly]

Another route is the lemon law. It's good up to 24 months from purchase date of a new vehicle in my state, and covers defects that lower the value of the vehicle, as long as it's under 10k pounds, not a strictly off-road vehicle, or been abused.

The Florida Lemon Law allows deductions for mileage and depreciation. It's really a last resort...Been there, done that. Take it back to CR and get it fixed.

 

[13ram1500crew]

To me It looks like an adhesive redeposit under the base coat, Happens when the vehicles travel through the phosphate dip tanks in the first stages of the paint process and the spray cannons in the tanks loosen up some adhesive squeeze out from some of the underbody/side aperture joints and it sprays and sticks to other parts of the exterior panels. If it feels hard (cant put your fingernail through it), then this is what it is, if its softer, it could be other types of sealers used in the build process. The robot sprayers do not look like manual guns, they spin to breakdown and atomize the paint during the application, they wont spray chunks. The filters are 150 microns for the base coat (where it looks like your defect is). Clear coat filters are 25-50 microns.

 

[QwikKota]

Just bought a 2018 Power Wagon new from the dealer in Inverness, FL. I am the first owner, it had 28 miles on it, was missing the spare tire and tailgate protector (they reluctantly replaced them, but tried to milk me $125 for the tailgate protector saying it was extra besides the liner that was installed. I called BS, and they admitted 'twas.

I took delivery in the dark, but looked the truck over with my phone's flashlight. All appeared well until the next morning when I noticed a very similar defect on the top, rear passenger side corner of the cab. It was made in Mehico in 10/18, and has the Mohave Sand color package. A white one I was looking at made the same month had a similar defect in the very same area of the cab as well, and all other corners were perfect. Evidently Juan or Pedro had a bad month. Perhaps Rosalita was not in love like she said she was, or the worm was a little more potent in that batch of tequila. I don't know, but it sucks to pay $50k for a truck and see a defect like that in the paint with today's coating technologies. Hell, it should all be powder coated for these prices.
Anyhow, I took it to one of my local dealers in Gainesville. They sent me to their body shop who prepared an estimate of $1130, and said they would call me in about a week. Been almost two now, and they have started giving me the runaround. I have nothing better to do than open a class-action law suit. Anyone else interested?
Another route is the lemon law. It's good up to 24 months from purchase date of a new vehicle in my state, and covers defects that lower the value of the vehicle, as long as it's under 10k pounds, not a strictly off-road vehicle, or been abused. I figure I can use this if push comes to shove. I expect a flawless paint job on a new vehicle these days, or darn near it. This defect is pretty noticeable, and as the estimate shows, lowers the vehicle's value over a grand. They expect us to accept inferior work for premium prices. I never was good at going with the flow, or not rocking the boat.

LMAO, poor Pedro. I think Rosalita is "in love" with both him and Juan.

Mine was built to order and only had 1 or 2 defects. The only one that bothers me is on the passengers side thankfully. In some angles it looks like a dent but it's a nearly 5 year old truck that has minimal scratches and no door dings. Knock on wood! My first Dodge Dakota I special ordered had worse paint, IMO. A few bubbly spots like the OP posted and then a bad scratch on the quarter panel. I was without a vehicle so I just excepted it on both occasions. I would let it go if it's not too bad and you want to keep your blood pressure down.