Dodge Challenger Forum banner

Dealer fixed a little scratch and made it a lot worst

13K views 53 replies 27 participants last post by  mySXT 
#1 · (Edited)
I bought this brand new 2019 Challenger AWD, when i was picking the car up from the dealer i noticed scratch around 2 inches long right behind the driver side door. I pointed to them and they said they will take care of it and they asked me to leave the car for a few days, which i did. I thought they were going to touch up or something where the scratch was, easy fix right?
When car was done in a few days later for me to pick it up i saw no signs of scratch at all and i was very happy for it, i was just looking at the point where the scratch was not the whole thing. Problem started a few days after i start realizing different shade of color on whole panel where the scratch was, further inspecting it and i started looking same place every day in every angles and looked it was definitely darker color paint or shade right where the scratch was, whole panel. I never knew they were going to paint the whole panel and could end up bad job like this (picture under), if i knew this would be the result, i would absolutely stopped them.

Every time i go to my car now this huge problem right front of my eyes and always first thing i see and it bothers me (please see pictures), looks like car was in an accident or huge hit and fixing was terrible, it was obvious.
When i went back to dealer for this, they told me they can never guarantee exact color match they always try to get closer to original they can but sometimes can't be done.
What do i have to do, how bad these color codes or whatever system they use and they can't match the color or body shop screwed something somewhere.
Please advise what should i do, it really bothers me.

This is the worst angle, shows really bad
986256


=============================================================================

FEW WEEKS AFTER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay guys these pictures (under not above pictures) after they fixed the car again and i just picked the car up last evening.
Yes, i feel much better now. Dealership manager apologized and he was very professional and gave me a good confidence about the dealership and dealing with them in the future.
He said he never saw the car when they fixed first time before they giving me the car.

FIXED, THANK GOD LOOKS MUCH BETTER
987324


I love this car again!

987325


987326


DodgeCares
 
See less See more
4
#2 ·
This one is tough.

I boil it down to this. You made a deal for a new car but you didn't say if this was an ORDERED car or one that was on the lot and you picked it out as a purchase.

Seems to me that if you "ORDERED" it......and it was scratched you have reason to expect PERFECT.

On the flip side of this is a new car on the lot that the dealer ordered and it's been sitting around waiting for a willing buyer. It's not a used car because it's never been titled but ultimately it's not an ordered car either. It's been around waiting and when you or I buy it...... it might just already have a scratch or ding on it from it's time "waiting".

It you made a deal and agreed to a fix without saying SPECIFICALLY that an exact color match will be part of the agreement to buy......you might be stuck in a way I'd never accept if I'd ordered the car and they attempted to deliver it to me in need of a "touch up".

I guess what I worry about here is found in how you mentioned it, they said they'd fix it and it sounds like you may not have expressed to them that the only acceptable "fix" will be an absolutely undetectable repair or at least one that only required painting the very small area rather than the whole panel.

Don't get me wrong......I completely sympathize with you. This would bug the crap out of me too but I'm left to wonder if there is a whole lot you'll be able to do about it without a too expensive effort vs the problem if the dealer digs in for a fight.

I don't know if having company will make you feel any better but my car was on the showroom floor at a local dealer for 4 months before I bought it. It's pretty clear that ham handed idiot sales people opened the hood more than a few time to show potential customers the engine bay......I have really small rub marks in the matt finish in the area just ahead of the hood ..... I live with them and just accept them as part of the reason I was able to talk the dealer into a better deal on the car than I might have gotten had I insisted on the "fix".
 
#3 ·
Dealer bring this car from another dealer and we (me and dealership) found the scratch when i signed the papers (thinking that i was buying a brand new nothing is wrong vehicle).
They said of course we will fix it and they did or they thought they did.
If i only knew they were going to paint the whole panel or if i knew paint job would be this bad, i would have them do absolutely nothing and keep the car with that scratch.
Especially this color doesn't show scratches like some other colors instead now i have a whole panel very noticeable different shade color.
 
#4 ·
GENTLE PRESSURE........ for sure. Be nice and don't lose your cool. It might be worth it to ask 'em to try again. I'd explain it to 'em EXACTLY as you've told us here. They took a small scratch and made a much larger issue out of an entire panel. Most paint guys know tricks to lighten up or darken up a color. How-ever not every paint guy in a shop is equally qualified or experienced. If you can get them to try again........I have to believe the behind the scenes conversation in the body shop goes like this,

"hey we f*d this one up first time around.......let's take the time required to really match this one up to perfect"
The right guy and right procedure to get the paint matched perfectly happens.

I'm not a painter with skill.......and I'm not even gonna pretend I could do it but I've painted a few cars and I know enough about it to know that they can MATCH paint up if they're willing to to the effort required. My guess is they just ordered the correct code and sprayed.......but had they checked as shown in the video and been willing to do just that little extra effort required......you wouldn't be looking at different colored panel on your BRAN NEW CAR.

It goes like this:

 
#5 ·
I have a brand new 2019 Triple Nickel Exterior Paint, when i was picking the car from the dealer as of brand new vehicle i noticed scratch around 2 inches long right behind the passenger door, they said they will fix it and i thought they were going to touch up or something simple to fix it. When car was done in a few days for me to pick up i saw no signs of scratch at all and i was very happy for it, i was just looking at the point where the scratch was not the whole thing. Problem started a few days after i start realizing different shade of color on whole panel behind the passenger door, further inspecting in every angles and looks it's definitely darker color paint right where the scratch was, whole panel. I never knew they were going to paint the whole panel and do a very bad job, if i knew i absolutely would have left it alone.
When i go to my car now every time that bothers me now and looks like car has being in a body shop and it's obvious.
Went back to dealer and they told me they can't guarantee exact color match they always try to get closer to original they can.
What do i have to do, how bad these color codes or whatever system they use and they can't match the color or body shop screwed something somewhere.
Please advise what should i do, it really bothers me.
When they paint a section of the car if they don't get an exact match they are supposed to blend it into the surrounding areas. Actually they blend it even if they do get an exact match. If it's a Dodge dealership they are required to meet certain criteria. You should be able to get that corrected. You don't have to accept a poor repair job like that.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys, i'll try again with dealer and let me see what they are going to say or think.
My another point or question is; what is this paint code is if it's no good anyway, i don't understand how badly they monitor this.
I understand also that shades or tone can be different on different surfaces like bumper to body with different materials but here we are talking about specific code for the car exterior color code, how this can be this much off
Anyway thanks again, great forum to learn things.
 
#8 ·
If the scratch was behind the door, they should have blended the door and refinished the 1/4.

I can almost guarantee they did some crap spot repair with clear blends everywhere. In short, they further damaged the vehicle. To paint a 1/4 correctly without any clear blends your rear bumper, windshield, back glass, door, rocker molding and associated components in the door jamb should have been removed.

I would be fighting for a buy back because they did a repair that did not follow FCA requirements.
 
#10 · (Edited)
If the scratch was behind the door, they should have blended the door and refinished the 1/4.

I can almost guarantee they did some crap spot repair with clear blends everywhere. In short, they further damaged the vehicle. To paint a 1/4 correctly without any clear blends your rear bumper, windshield, back glass, door, rocker molding and associated components in the door jamb should have been removed.

I would be fighting for a buy back because they did a repair that did not follow FCA requirements.
Ok, i don't know what was i thinking to say passenger side, it's on drivers side and here two pictures, first one i took today, this is the best i can show the differences i don't know because of the angle you look at or cloudy / sunny day reason, whatever might be some days shows much nicer than others.
But you get the idea what these guys did and after all these dealer telling me that they can't promise exact match is unacceptable to me.
Now this thing bothers me more than EVER!
986254


986255
 
#9 ·
Sounds like the scratch was below the clear? that would be the only reason to repaint! But what's done is done and now the best bet is they'll have to redo the repaint. I know that can look god awful and contrast like a mother%#*$&@ ...isn't it unbelievable how a tiny scratch can turn into a nightmare when in the wrong hands! they should of sent it out to a pro not a rookie
 
#29 ·
I'm not sure blending would help much......those two shades are just too far apart to ever look right. A harsh line between the color of the door vs the fender makes it worse for sure but even where they did blend between the roof and fender......the color difference is super noticeable.

I'd definitely make an argument to just do it over again and this time have the painter "tweak" the paint as required to match. This can be done as shown in the video. The other way to go would be to paint the whole car but ultimately that shouldn't be necessary and if gentle persuasion can't get the job done.......it's time to get more aggressive and send those Pictures to Dodge. It really is pretty incredible that this dealer would even have the STONES to deliver a new car that looks this bad. I'd expect better from a body shop repair on a 10 year old collision repaired car with paint faded as a color to match.
 
#13 ·
Yes, that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Totally unacceptable. Hard to believe they would even return the car to you like that.They obviously knew the paint didn't match.

Best of luck getting that taken care of.
 
#14 ·
I guess like my second picture, didn't look bad for them and even for me, but i wasn't looking the whole panel anyway.
Seems like they felt body shop did best they could.
Like i said this thing bothers me so much that it has to be fixed, every time i look for it and i know it's there.
Nobody answered my questions about this paint and codes and all those things.
Is this problem specific to Dodge because they don't know what the heck is going on? How is the paint color with the codes can come out this bad or mismatch like this?
It's not like after a few years use, under a sun and all the different environment caused color to be faded or something, it's a brand new car.
 
#19 ·
Be honest i never thought they can screw things up like this, after all this is their business and they should be professional what they do, i don't blame the dealer much here because they were very nice and wanted to fix. Problem is who they use to do these jobs, this should be a huge red flag and they should never use these people in any circumstances.
What kind of body shop can paint a car like this

Here is again, god sake
986253
 
#22 ·
To answer your question on paint codes, there is never an absolute 100%, just spray it match with anything. Batches of base can vary a little from lot to lot and any decent shop will do a spray out and tint to match as best as possible, then blend. It's tough because reds and silvers are notoriously hard to match. The shop did an absolutely horrible job and for that, I feel for you.
 
#23 ·
I would open up a case with Dodge directly & see if they can help you get this panel properly resprayed & color matched. If not, take it to a reputable body shop & have them respray & color match the panel to your satisfaction and ask the dealership to recompense you.
 
#28 ·
The Super Bowl halftime show is supposed to be a "family friendly" show. Not so sure that "show" was very family-friendly. :) It was more about half-dressed women shaking their booty - with stripper poles and everything.... Yes, that may be nice to look at, but I don't think that the Super Bowl halftime show is the proper place or time for it. I truly think that the actual singing part was secondary - hell some of it wasn't even in English. :)

To each their own, but definitely was not my cup of tea... A good old American Rock & Roll band would have been nice.
 
#31 ·
If the paint looks good but only the color is off then maybe there is hope so good luck with that.

Yeah some of these dealer body shops can cause a real mess, I mean it's so obvious yet they deliver the car back to you anyway.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
#36 ·
Great to hear they are going to do something to correct that horrible job. I would not except the car back til it looks perfect, like a new car is supposed to look. When I looked at the pics you posted I thought they put a white door on a silver car.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top