Mysterious Dents

[bkuz]

Hello Everyone,

This is BKuz and I live in Trinity, Florida. I own a 2011 Dodge Challenger SRT8. I bought the car in June 2011 and in July I noticed a dent above the driver door and further back on the roof there was a spot where the primer was showing through. I filed a claim online with Dodge and I took it to the dealer and got it fixed.

December 27, 2011 we had a cold snap here and it went below freezing for a few days. That day I noticed on the rear quarter panel passenger side above the rear tire and near the roof there were a series of three small dents. Also on the driver side quarter panel right past the driver door handle there was a indentation.

Both of these areas with dents must be looked at in the right light to see them but they are there! The Dodge dealer had a hard time photographing them.

I filed another claim with the Dodge dealer. Has anyone else gotten these mysterious dents from torque stress or temperature change? There are two other people here in the Tampa area that are also having this issue.

BKuz

[JS23V0B]

My car has seen -10F, no dents yet, but it never gets hot up here.

[deezlman]

Mine also had 3 soft dents that showed up on the left rear quarter panel just behind the area where it meets the roof. I had the dent man remove them for $50. Like yours, you had to be at just the right light and angle to see them.
This was just over two years ago and all is still perfectly smooth.

[bkuz]

Hi Deezlman,

This is the second time my car has gotten dents near the roof! It is frustrating! The last time I was at a car show and noticed them.

The first time I got one was in July, when it was very hot and humid. The second batch of dents came in the end of December when we had a cold snap down here in Florida. Is the body is flexing with temperature change?? I will leave to Dodge to figure it out!

BKuz

[Syko]

I feel your frustration bkuz. I've got similar dents. Mine are over both the drivers door and passenger door. They are very hard to see unless in the right light but once you see them you can't help but notice them. I took it to a paintless dent repair guy & he said he couldn't do anything because they are right at the reinforced area over the doors. I'm curious, did your dealer say what they did to fix them? I took some snap shots back when I first noticed them (almost 2 years ago) but they have worsened since and are a bit more noticeable now.





Here's what they look like today (excuse the dust, it's super windy here today):




I really baby this car but that didn't stop me from doubting myself and thinking maybe I caused the damage during a wash and wax or something. The dent guy said it was unlikely that I did the damage since that reinforced area would take quite a bit of pressure to create the dents. We even theorized that maybe the car hauler driver stood or kneeled on the car maybe to fasten a car above it for transport. Who knows? Your weather change theory makes more sense since I drove mine cross country from snowy Pennsylvania to sunny California when I purchased it.

Even though you can't see them unless you are looking for them, they still drive me crazy. Most people don't notice them but I do every time I look at her. These dents are the ONLY thing I hate about my car.

[bkuz]

Hi Syko,

The first dent they fixed in July on the driver side roof. They had to take the head liner down inside the car and managed to massage out the dent. The roof had to be repainted.

The second set of dents on the passenger side are a little further back on the section of the roof that comes down and meets the trunk. I also have one of the driver side quarter panel right near the door handle. I am sorry I do not have pictures. The Dodge dealer had a hard time taking pictures.

I am waiting to here back from Dodge to see what they are going to do about them.


BKuz

[Syko]

Originally Posted by bkuz

Hi Syko,

The first dent they fixed in July on the driver side roof. They had to take the head liner down inside the car and managed to massage out the dent. The roof had to be repainted.

Did it have to be repainted because of the primer showing?

Originally Posted by bkuz

The second set of dents on the passenger side are a little further back on the section of the roof that comes down and meets the trunk. I also have one of the driver side quarter panel right near the door handle. I am sorry I do not have pictures. The Dodge dealer had a hard time taking pictures.

I am waiting to here back from Dodge to see what they are going to do about them.


BKuz

Keep us posted. I'm curious what they have to say.

[bkuz]

Syko,

Dodge re-painted my whole roof. The place on the roof where the primer showed through was as long as my finger.

Did you go to the Dodge website and file a case? If you like I can give you my case number to reference if you want. The more people that do the better Dodge's quality control will be!

BKuz

[GmanNJ1033]

It's odd you should mention mysterious dents because I just noticed the slightest one in my roof. It's very hard to see and probably can't be photographed but I know it's there. I'll probably just let a paintless dent repair guy handle it if he can.

[waumo]

My 09 is on its 3rd year and no such dents that I can find. The temp here has varied between 95F+ and -5F or lower. The sheet metal is very thin though and if you have any kids around with even tennis balls, you got trouble.