Question regarding Dent/rust

[hunterdan]

I purchased my truck about a month ago, looks like it was a lease return, 2016 1500 Outdoorsman. Washing it today, I got in the bed to do the roof and noticed a nasty looking dent near the passenger rear door. On closer inspection, the paint is cracked and I can see rust. This is right on the outside edge of the roof, near the gutter, completely out of sight from normal eyesight. Should I try to get the dealer to repair this since it wasn't disclosed, or am I basically SOL? They still owe me new flares since mine are coming loose. If it were just a dent, I'd be ok with it, what is concerning is the rust. I know that to at least correct the rust it's probably a days worth of shop time, let alone the dent.

 

[mohemipar]

Post a pic if you could. I don’t think you will get anything from the dealer. I don’t think there’s any way you could hold them responsible. Maybe you could make an argument if you bought the truck CPO. Factory rust warranty would not apply because whatever time frame the rust warranty covers it is only for rust that eats completely through a panel. Not surface rust.

If the rust isn’t too severe I would say just repair it yourself to avoid the head ache. It’s really not too difficult to do it right. Especially if it is in an out of site inconspicuous area like the roof. It wouldn’t be as much pressure as say blending the paint right in the middle of a door or fender.

It is fairly common for debris to fall on the roof of vehicles and cause dents/rust. It happened to one of my old Chevy’s. It’s easy to miss on trucks because you can’t see the roof easily. I now climb up and inspect my Ram's roof every month.

 

[hunterdan]

Thanks, it was a cpo truck. So far the dealer has been pretty good with stuff.

 

[MADDOG]

During the sale do you remember signing a paper that says "We Owe" across the top?

If you did, and you have something that wasn't visible during the initial inspection prior to purchase, the dealer may rely on that to disclaim any responsibility for repairing the truck. It is a used truck after all.

However, there are dealers that will help out on something like this. Given that this is a CPO vehicle, they may be even more inclined. I'd talk to the sales manager or general manager about it vs. the sales person that sold you the truck or the service manager.

Good luck.

 

[hunterdan]

Here is a picture of the area in question. Truck goes in next Friday for the fender flares, so we'll see what they say.

 

[hunterdan]

So I dropped the truck off on Thursday for the Fender flare replacement, all 4 were peeling off). I mentioned the dent, they said there was nothing they could do as far as warranty was concerned, but checked with sales to see if they would foot the bill. Sales manager denied it. So looks like I'm going to have a body shop get me some quotes on it. Flares look good, for the most part. They didn't was the truck down before doing the work and left it all dusty. Dealer didn't do the work, they farmed it out to an independent shop. But, dropped it off on Thursday and didn't get it back til today. They sure took their time.