I took my "new" GCSRT8 to a body shop to have my newly smoked taillights put in. They walked out to look at what they were swapping and immediately noticed that both rear quarter panels and the roof had been painted.
I'm shaking right now, because I don't know what to do. I called the dealership and the guy said they didn't do any paint and hung up on me.
Do I call Chrysler, or go straight to a lawyer? How do I find a lawyer that does stuff like this??

I thought I bought a new car!!!!!!

Not questioning the paintshop, but let me ask you if this is a possibility....

When I went to have my tails smoked I pulled the lenses from the vehicle. In doing so, I saw that the fit tollerance for the lenses was really a bit tighter than it should have been, and the lenses themselves were pushed so tightly up agains the rear quarter panels, that in one tiny area on each side, the factory paint had actually been 'pushed up' (kinda folded or wrinkled up) by the lens. It was easily fixable, but shouldn't have been that way at all. Is it at all possible that this is what your shop saw?

Not questioning the paintshop, but let me ask you if this is a possibility....

When I went to have my tails smoked I pulled the lenses from the vehicle. In doing so, I saw that the fit tollerance for the lenses was really a bit tighter than it should have been, and the lenses themselves were pushed so tightly up agains the rear quarter panels, that in one tiny area on each side, the factory paint had actually been 'pushed up' (kinda folded or wrinkled up) by the lens. It was easily fixable, but shouldn't have been that way at all. Is it at all possible that this is what your shop saw?

I wish!!
The paint on both quarter panels has "sags, runs and junk" By junk he was showing me spots that looked like dust trapped in the paint.
He saw the first paint sag, on a dirty vehicle from 10 feet away, when all he was doing was walking up to look at the taillights.
He's providing documentation that the roof and both rear quarters have had paint work after the paint job from the factory. He had no qualms about "sticking his neck out" because he said it's a 100% certainty.

Wow-- that just sucks. I'm really sorry to hear it. I have no idea how to recommend handling it, but I certainly wish you luck!

Most states don't require repair disclosure if the repairs are less then 5-15% of the value of the vehicle (percentage depends on state, I think). It sucks, but the law seems to be on the side of the car company in this case.

I go to dodge and jeep auctions every week. If the vehicle was damaged at plant or in transit, Jeep would have taken the car back, repaired it and sold at a factory auction. These cars are new, on mso, but have disclosures. A carfax will show that. I doubt a delaership would sell one of those as new.
However, if the damaged appeared on their lot, they could have very easily had it repaired and never disclosed it.
I spend all day around cars and bodyshops. I must say that the paint quality from JEEP SUCKS! Every time I stop by a bodyshop someone else comments on how bad the paint is. It is the worst I have seen on any new car. Is there a chance that he wrong?
The paint on my 6 month old charger looks 10 times better than the 1 month old jeep.
As far as retaining a lawyer, you are in for a long uphill battle. If the paint drips and fisheyes, bring it into the dealership. Show the service department the issues and ask for them to call out a jeep rep to look at your car.

It's got sags, runs and something they called "junk" where it looks like dust got into the paint. He said if I need to he'll document his findings and there was something that tests the thickness of the paint (micrometer? or something) that he could use.

What an awful discovery :( Surely this will not improve your opinions of dealerships.

Sorry to hear about your trouble and I don’t think you’ll like what I have to tell you. I ship a lot of equipment cross country (US) and overseas (Europe). My semis and tractors go on the same ships and trains, henceforth go through the same hubs as cars do on their way to the dealerships. Almost every location has a body shop on premises. I’ve seen a ton of cars that are smashed up during the transportation process. Unfortunately for all of us car guys, there is nothing we can do to find out before hand if the car has been repaired by one of these facilities. I’m not even talking about shady dealers themselves!!!:mad:

What you should try is two valiums chased by a couple of beers, to put it out of your mind ….

Check with your states Better Business Bureau. Find out if your state has a lemon law. If you can not get any recourse from the dealership file a complaint. In some states the dealership could be forced to take the vehicle back.

I had a Bonneville GXP before the jeep. It had terrible paint issues. THe paint was thin in some areas and it had severe orange peal. I took it to the dealer and they refused to do anything. Took it to another dealer across town. They scheduled the regional service manager to look at it. He agreed the paint was not proper and pontiac had the entire car painted for free. The place that did the work did a first class job on it. Good luck getting it resolved.

When I went to my local Jeep dealership to have mine serviced I went to the showroom to take a looksee. I started looking at a silver one to see if I liked it more than my black. When I really started examining the paint job I noticed defects all the over the place door handle, door panel, etc. I called one of the not to friendly sales people over and showed him. He immediately picked up on what I saw and was amazed that no one had said anything before (also because it was the only Jeep SRT8 on the floor good publicity.) Well anways I'm not sure if that helps at all but I can attest to the fact that the Jeep "factory" paint was defective.

I was really concerned that the same thing was happening with my Jeep. The rear 1/4 panels looks badly orange peeled. I then started looking around dealerships with BLACK on the lot, and then at the SRT Track Experience I noticed the same thing on all the vehicles. It's just a really ****ty factory paint job. Unfortunatly, I may just pay to have it wet-sanded and detailed.

A friend of mine has a 300C and he had a door repainted to fix a scratch... when it was done it didn't match the factory paint because it was too smooth! The factory paint had so much orange peel that the bodyshop ended up repainting the door again without wetsanding, just so it could look like the rest of the car. I wouldn't be surprised if your jeep came from the factory just as you described it, especially considering the lack of overall quality control that a lot of people have been complaining about.
________
Dominatorqueen (http://www.girlcamfriend.com/cam/Dominatorqueen/)

Strangely enough, I would really prefer that it came from the factory like this rather than have some unknown damage repaired. I'm going to take it to several paint shops and get confirmation.

Thanks guys.

Hey ideal, can I borrow your Shepherd to convince the dealership to see things my way!! :)

Ken, how many miles were on your car when purchased? Was it still wrapped in all plastic? In all honesty I believe that you will find this to be a factory paint issue, hopefully. Did the bodyshop use one of these?

http://www.promotorcarproducts.com/etgmini.htm

the paint on my black srt8 looks like doodoo to. I have found 4 or 5 pieces of trash in it. but then again i dont really care its good enough for a jeep and i didnt buy for paint quailty i bought it for whats under the hood.

even if the paint is not perfect, you can make it brilliant. I keep my srt8 clean with a nice coat of Zaino. Like a mirror

UPDATE:

I'm meeting with the GM and Owner of the dealership next week. I called the body shop to ask specifically if there's any way in his mind that this could just have the crappiest factory paint job he's seen. He said that anything's possible, but the fact that all the flaws were limited to just the rear quarters and the roof lead him to believe that something's been done.

Ron, it had 400 miles on it and was originally sent to San Antonio. I asked about the 400 miles and he said a customer was desperate for one and they rushed it from San Antonio by driving it. I'm not really worried about whether it was drag raced for 400 miles or driven from San Antonio. But, I want something done if they repainted that much of a brand new car!!
I feel that they need to make it right. I'm going to insist on a visit from the Jeep rep if they continue with the "we didn't do anything, you're on your own" attitude. Haven't heard back from DCX yet.
Hopefully they'll do something to make it right in my mind. Cash, extended warranty plus cash, new vehicle, something...

the body shop should have a paint gauge... factory chrysler is around 6-8 mils thick.. if its repainted you will see a big defference in mils.. thats a foolproof way to show it was repainted.. it should not be any higher than 8.. repainted the number will be in the teens

Sorry, I should have updated this thread.
We used a paint gauge and found that all of the paint was in fact from the factory. So, then I met with the GM and owner of the dealership and they agreed that this is a crappy paint job. They offered to either repaint the entire vehicle, or wet sand and buff it. I'm not sure I want either of those things from them, but I do want to meet with the Chrysler-Jeep rep so he can see exactly what is going out on their vehicles. If it bugs me down the road, I'll have my body shop wet sand and buff, I know their work.

Mainly, I'm thrilled that nothing was covered up, and I didn't buy a damaged vehicle. That's the main thing I was concerned about.

ha yea that was an important update.. good thing with the paint gauge.. but yea i would do it at ur own bodyshop that you know the work.. the dealer will try to rush it out usually.

Delegate the work to the factory/dealership. Then the rear will match the orange peel throughout the vehicle.

Delegate the work to the factory/dealership. Then the rear will match the orange peel throughout the vehicle.


:)

Actually, I plan on having them wetsand and buff the entire vehicle.

i have a guy that can actually save a paint job with a wet sand/buff. you will be amazed at how nice your car looks when done.

CAN WE GET PICS OF THE TAILS NOW?

i have a guy that can actually save a paint job with a wet sand/buff. you will be amazed at how nice your car looks when done.

CAN WE GET PICS OF THE TAILS NOW?

:) :)

I'm still waiting on the Jeep rep to make his turtle way to me, so he can see the lovely work they are putting out.

I'll have him put all the lights in when they wetsand/buff.

Then, I'll get some great pics for ya!!! ;)

even if the paint is not perfect, you can make it brilliant. I keep my srt8 clean with a nice coat of Zaino. Like a mirror

Where do you buy Zaino, I have looked in all the auto shops around and nobody has heard of it, not unexpeded around here. thx.

Where do you buy Zaino, I have looked in all the auto shops around and nobody has heard of it, not unexpeded around here. thx.

Below link:

read the faqs and tips....

http://www.zainostore.com/