Hey guys-

I went to a small claims case today with a fellow ram owner. He was suing dodge over the paint blisters on his 99 ram. He lost however Dodge is giving him half for a repaint. The judge basically said he would have won if he would have brought expert testimony by a body tech. stating that his truck has experianced paint delamination and an explanation on what paint delamination is and how chrysler knew it internally that it was a problem and still used the paint...

I'm going to be going through the same process, im not the original owner on my 96 and the paint is flaking off (white color) with 170k miles. I need some good hard evidence that DC was negligent. Does anyone have copies of internal DC letters proving faulty paint and their negligence in still using it. All the stuff from the infomanic website doesnt really show what the judges in the class action suit against found, i need that if anyone has it...

Erik

 

how about taking in pics of every dodge ram ever made. i've owned 3 and my brother and sister both owned 1. and they have all been rusted and bubbling on the bottom of the door.

 

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Flats/6183/main.html Check here for some great info. Goodluck,,,Rick

 

That page was last update 7-9-2001 is there any newer info? Will all Dodge trucks eventualy be affected? My paint looks great and no sign of rust, I'm pretty sure it's the factory paint too, I believe the previous owner took good care of it though

 

Go here and download where it says Supporting Documentation especially Explanation of the cause of delamination
http://www.theinfomaniac.net/infoman...ml#smallclaims

DC paid 100% to repaint my two trucks, I never had to show the judge anything as no rep from DC showed up, I automatically won. Helped that the DC state rep is a six hour drive away.
DC corrected the paint problem in '97, trucks made afterwards don't apply.

 

My 96 will wash but won't polish. The paint on the fenders is gone, on the top of the truck from the center out has turned white as has the hood. On a black truck that really ain't pretty. New, the paint job was not that good but over the years has really turned bad.

Those folks on the top don't care bout us little buyers. It's all a game and we lose.

..Preston..

 

How do you like this? It seems the Driftwood color is the worst for peeling. I waited until the cab started peeling before pursuing a new paint job so they wouldn't try for a partial paint job. By that time the hood was missing two thirds of it's paint...

 

Question: how many years can Dodge really be expected to warrant paint? '96 is nearly 9 years old. Have to be realistic about this IMHO. Everincreasing environmental demands has constantly affected the make-up of paint. Not everything can be a win/win.

That said...my '85Z still has good paint except for the salt effects from it's midwest days and road debris chips.

 

It's what is called a known defect, the problem occurred the instant the truck was painted with a proven inferior primer. Even though it took years to show up the initial problem occurred during the warranty period.

 

My '96 do the same thing on the roof & hood, guy's truck at work doing the same as mine

So do you file a case against DC or is there another way to go about it?

 

Come on you bought it used , 9 years old and 170,000 miles and you expect a judge to rule in your favor. i hate to be the one to tell you but your wasting your time and money filing the case plus it most likely will get laughed right out the door.

 

Not true at all.
The warranty is not really an issue. Although it may fall outside your warranty period, it has been documented in several court cases and class action suits that Chrysler was aware of the problem and continued to sell the vehicle, and that basically means it is a lifetime warranty. Additionally, since the problem typically takes slightly longer than the warranty period to manifest itself and the fact that the defect was created during the manufacturing process, the defect did occur during the warranty period. DC even admits they screwed up but doesn't want to make good until you jump though the hoops. DC paid over $10,000 to have my two trucks repainted, one last summer when it was eight years old. It cost me $40 court filing fee and about two hours of my time.
All of the big three automakers had the same paint problem, only Chrysler chose to ignore it and continued using inferior paint for six years. Ford and GM repainted the affected vehicles with no question, DC makes you take them to court.
All this to save an average of $6 per vehicle on paint.

Just follow the instructions here , you might get DC to pay half but if you want 100% take them to small claims court.
http://www.theinfomaniac.net/infoman...tepByStep.html

 

infidel,

Thanks! I give it a shot

 

Ok I was adjusting the rear brakes on my truck (reversing and hittin the brakes) when I noticed some blowing off the roof of the cab while I was reversing. So I get out and look, sure enough its the clearcoat. Looks like I have some work to do. I looked at the steps involved in trying to get DC to fix their mistake and my question is why even bother with them? Why not just take it directly to small claims court?

 

Infidel,
did you have a lawyer present when you went to court or were you prepared to present your case on your own?