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factory paint issues

8K views 42 replies 25 participants last post by  Limeybastard 
#1 ·
Is anyone else having to have their new truck painted due to factory paint problem? I have a 2014 Limited in silver, the roof had bubbled and passenger side had 5 areas about 6 in round where it looked like the spray gun shot too much metallic flake.
 
#2 ·
Yes, the paint on my first order limited was so bad, I refused it. My second order was also bad, they wet sanded half my truck. I can't believe I ordered a second truck. Guess I didn't want a rusted Ford or a Chevy with square wheel wells. Now I have a Limited with a Clunky transmission they refuse to fix. Guess I never learn...
 
#8 ·
I special ordered every ram truck i`ve ever bought, these 4th gen trucks have really sucked on paint quality. (i`ve had 3 of the 4th gen`s so far) My latest 14 looks like it has sand under the paint... can not be buffed out either. I`m finding paint flaws all over the truck. Damn things look like they spray them on a windy beach...!!! Dealership told me to wait until next summer to get it re-painted. WTF...???? Just another mistake in many times i`ve returned to chrysler for their NEW vehicles, thinking they would get better... i guess not. This is the last chrysler product though, t-h-a-t, i can tell ya for sure.

End of rant.... on the paint issues anyway
 
#9 · (Edited)
Is this a case of not inspecting the truck at delivery? Are you guys finding these paint defects right away??? I have gone over my truck carefully before taking delivery. I went over all the paint and panel gaps.
After several wax and detail jobs in the first few weeks, I did find a paint run on the inside of the door jam. Other than that, I have not found any exterior paint defects that would jump out as sub standard. No paint contamination or varying paint thicknesses. I have seen bad production paint jobs so it does happen.

Paint runs on the edge of doors or body panels can easily be wet sanded down. Its a 5 minute job. It is not uncommon to see these but easily erased.

My neighbor and I had a new car purchase arms race this year buying 7 new cars between us.

He won with 4 new cars. Anyway, he is older and likes to have me set up his new cars for him and go over them. I dont mind and like the exposure and seat time. I have had a unique opportunity to be surrounded with so many new cars from various manufactures. Here is what I discovered... I had to do several paint touch-ups and wet sanding on paint runs on my neighbors new Z51 Stingray. Hood latch was misaligned and wouldnt close properly. That cars build quality was significantly worse than my Ram. It had poor panel gaps and plastic trim pieces misaligned. Bad for a $30K car but deplorable for a $70k "halo" car.

Same neighbor with a 2015 Mini Cooper. Had significant windshield scratches on the inside. So obvious it should never have passed even the most basic quality control. It was a $37K pocket rocket car.

Same neighbor, new 2015 Audi S4 ($60k) while leaving the dealership, the entire mirror guts on the drivers side fell out! Had to turn around and have it replaced with another mirror from another new car on the lot.

Same neighbor, 2015 Audi Q5 ($55k) looked it over and it looked damn near flawless other than a small leak from a hose clamp. 5 days later and his wife hit the garage with the front end while backing out and scraped the paint off to bare metal. ..:i_rolleyes:... Its not flawless any more.


You will not get guaranteed perfection out of any make or price point you are buying in. I dont care if its German, Japanese, or Domestic. If you pay $30k or $110K, you are not immune to a manufacturing defect. Its just a car, and not a infallible piece of art. Trucks today are built better than they ever had in history of the pickup. It was significantly worse 20 years ago with domestic trucks build quality. They had less equipment, less refined, and we were less picky as a consumer. Paint issues and improper panel gaps were the norm. Some of the minor issues today's car buyers find appalling would have been laughed out of the dealership for bringing them up.


FYI.... I am OCD being a regional Porsche Club of America concurs judge. Paint jobs come in many levels but as a production line paint job, my Ram is very good.
 
#11 ·
I will have to slightly disagree with you mystro, 20 years ago, we didnt pay 50 to 60 thousand dollars for a truck. I would expect a decent paint job out of michigan for what we pay. The ******* plant dosent seem to have NEAR the paint issues that the USA plant has. Maybe the USA plant has better drugs than the mex plant has...lol.

just sayin...
 
#15 ·
From what I was told, the issue is the primer.......it is either not sitting long enough or too long. I thought I was finding debris under the paint but it was the primer bubbling. Either way, it was on every panel so my entire truck was repainted and now I have a lifetime warrenty thru the bodyshop on THEIR paint job.
 
#19 ·
I find it astonishing that someone would drive something of the lot that showed flaws in the paint.

We have had 4 Rams in our family, 3 of which we still own. All 4 of them had have near flawless paint. My 13 express was near flawless, and my 14 sport had one imperfection when I drove it off the lot. After a wax, I found one paint run along one of the edges on the bottom side of the bed. I am a paint snob and when it comes to Ram, I have been pretty impressed. They have one of the best finishes when it comes to orange peel compared to the other brands, IMO.
 
#21 ·
Didn't see any flaws when I bought the truck and in all honasty they were hard to see Except the one spot that was really bad. The regional rep had to see my truck in person because the hi-res pics wouldn't show the flaws.
 
#27 ·
I have read complaints on other forums and many attribute bad paint to newer EPA regs causing the paint to be more watered down. In terms of over spray and dirt I do not understand why Ram cannot get a state of the art painting facility with trucks going out that are $50k
and more.
 
#29 ·
I had front left fender repainted due to a major flaw in the paint. Long story short but the dealership did not have faith in their body shop to repaint the fender to match the truck properly, they were having issues with their painters. I had the truck into a Toyota dealership for a few hail damage repairs sent there by my insurance. The shop foreman saw the fender and asked me why this had not been repaired by Ram. I told him the story. He then offered to repaint the fender for FREE. He said that it was BS that Ram had not repaired this already and he could not stand to let a brand new truck leave the shop in that condition. The next day Country Hills Toyota in Calgary repainted the fender to a perfect match. That was the best customer service that I had received in years. Quite unbelievable actually. I went to my dealer ship to get a "Hemi" emblem for the front fender to be put back on after the repaint. They were embarrassed and shocked that the Toyota dealership repainted the fender. This was in August and so far so good, it's a perfect match.
 
#30 ·
I just received a 2015 special ordered Laramie in Dec 2014. I waxed it right away and noticed few pieces of dirt under the paint on the hood. Then on roof as well. Black spot on chrome on rear bumper, leather messed up after 1k miles on driver and pass seat and steering wheel. Then after I bring in for pictures from service dept I notice more and more dirt in the paint(16 areas to be exact. Hard to see in white paint. But Literally on 75% of the truck and door jambs. Then add a 3/4-1" piece by wheel well flaked off and now rusting. This al documented from mile 15-1200. Along with all the other parts that they approved in 5 mins to replace. I am refusing to have them spray a brand new $55k truck. I work hard and bought new to NOT have any bs or scratches or other BS. One or two things I get. But this is Obv that quality control was an issue with this truck. Def built on a Mon or Friday LOL. So far there is no fight along the lines of a new truck. Blisters all over the paint is a sign of a bad prep job. A lease maybe I would just say F it, buy buting it with 8k in cash put down. It is unacceptable. The best part is they say any paint work will be on Carfax. Even if I wanted to sell the ruck repaired. Who would ever buy a truck for 30-35k in 2-3 years with body work ue to defects???? Not only am I screwed from the get go, it messes up any private resale down the road. HOPEFULLY they do the right thing. Salesman, Service director etc all agree NEw Truck is the right fix. Hoping the Chrysler rep is on the same page. Any Advice Guys????
 
#31 ·
I just received a 2015 special ordered Laramie in Dec 2014. I waxed it right away and noticed few pieces of dirt under the paint on the hood. Then on roof as well. Black spot on chrome on rear bumper, leather messed up after 1k miles on driver and pass seat and steering wheel. Then after I bring in for pictures from service dept I notice more and more dirt in the paint(16 areas to be exact. Hard to see in white paint. But Literally on 75% of the truck and door jambs. Then add a 3/4-1" piece by wheel well flaked off and now rusting. This al documented from mile 15-1200. Along with all the other parts that they approved in 5 mins to replace. I am refusing to have them spray a brand new $55k truck. I work hard and bought new to NOT have any bs or scratches or other BS. One or two things I get. But this is Obv that quality control was an issue with this truck. Def built on a Mon or Friday LOL. So far there is no fight along the lines of a new truck. Blisters all over the paint is a sign of a bad prep job. A lease maybe I would just say F it, buy buting it with 8k in cash put down. It is unacceptable. The best part is they say any paint work will be on Carfax. Even if I wanted to sell the ruck repaired. Who would ever buy a truck for 30-35k in 2-3 years with body work ue to defects???? Not only am I screwed from the get go, it messes up any private resale down the road. HOPEFULLY they do the right thing. Salesman, Service director etc all agree NEw Truck is the right fix. Hoping the Chrysler rep is on the same page. Any Advice Guys????
If I had those issues I would demand a new truck. Having one repainted will hurt the value if you're only keeping it a few years. My Ram was made in Mexico and does have a few minor paint issues. I went over the truck good at dealership but sometimes you just can't see the flaws unless you hand wash the truck.
 
#33 ·
My 2012 had a bunch of dirt nibs in the paint...89 of them. Nibs in every body panel except the tailgate. The dealer's paintshop manager said that if they tried to correct the the problem, it might be worse. I leveled each of them one-at-a-time...wetsanding followed by polishing. I've had three Rams. Two with bad paint, one was OK. I'm thinking Toyota next time around.
 
#37 ·
Love those few individual smug posters that keep stating that one should have noticed the flaws before signing on the dotted line, DUH. Its normally the same folk that claim to have a "flawless" paint job - if one ever exisited.

In relation to signing on the dotted line,
Firstly, I wasnt expecting or preparing to deal with a second hand vehicle purchase from a craigslist ad, secondly, I wasnt having visions of granduer either, as I did inspect for the usual suspects, EG color differences panel gaps and dents. The issues of dust and metal particles under paint show their ugly face when the vehicle is properly detailed, and not by the monkey that uses a bucket of sand with a rag to wash the vehicles at the dealership. Also please educate me about the general laws of this country in respect of a new car. Are they basically " sold as seen " / " As is"? Meaning once you sign for the new vehicle thats it, you take ownership of all faults and so forth? Same as if I was buying a second hand car?

Of all the cars and vehicles Ive owned during my lifetime ( and Im effin old), I have never seen such a mess. But a little tid bit, I wont be asking for them to " repair" it either. All I will be getting is a note to say on record that their paintwork is fubared and should an issue arise from it, then they will at their expense repair it. A very reasonable request, dont you think?:smileup:
 
#38 ·
I also had multiple paint nibs on every panel except the tailgate, both side edges of my hood were not completely painted, and other paint issues ("Fish eye" on the hood). When I took delivery of the truck, it was raining and difficult to see all the defects. I made the mistake of letting the dealership's body shop attempt to remove the nibs and they ended up wet sanding through the clear coat on 6 panels and had to re-shoot those panels with clear. The clear wasn't applied evenly (heavy in some spots and thin in other spots) and the finish doesn't match the factory panels that were not repaired. If I had it to do again, I wouldn't allow them to touch the truck. I've heard painters say if it's done right, you'll never know it's been re-painted. Problem is, I 've NEVER seen it done right and the guy working on your truck doesn't care about it as much as you do. Be careful what you allow them to do and be ready to live with the repair good or not. The last thing you want to do is keep adding layers of paint trying to get it fixed right.
 
#42 ·
My paint is still pathetic. They repainted the tailgate 6 times and simply could not match the white. I finally gave in and it eats at me every time I look at the back of my truck. I would also agree that I have found nibs, runs, bumps, etc on every panel of my truck. The paint is simply pathetic. It's also peeling off the front plastic bumper where the plastic meets the metal fender on both sides at only 6k miles. Showed the Service Adviser and he agrees it's not right but I cringe at the thought of them having to repaint it and go through the whole color matching ordeal again. I will never buy another Chrysler after this mess. It's a shame too because I really like the truck otherwise. The paint however is just simply unacceptable.
 
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