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eddy
Dodge Dakota
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12/25/2003
22:19:46
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 Subject: This paint just wont cut it
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Mostly so far so good with my 04 Quad Cab 4x4. Truck corners as well as many sedans I've driven, has a ride like a sports sedan, taut but smooth, and accelerates and drives very strong and smooth. Overall I am a very satisfied customer.
Not so much as one single hickup in three thousand miles, except for the paint, which is the one single pain in my ass on this truck. It never scuffs, or scratches, or nicks. This paint only seems to know one way to get damaged... chips all the day down to the primer. My old truck was a 95 Ranger and I KNOW the paint was not this fragile. Plenty of times I had mis-haps carrying heavy items close to my Ford and panicked, thinking I left a mark, but then I would find the paint completely undisturbed.
On the Dakota anything touches it, and it chips. YOu guys who are anal about keeping a vehicle new must be going insane. Things that really shouldn't even leave a mark on a vehicle are removing tiny flecks of paint from my truck. Theres a hundred foot long driveway at my parents' house with shrubbery on either side and Im so scared of what a weak ass twig might do to my finish Ive been going at the stuff with hedge trimmers to make sure no twigs or skinny branches stick far enough into the driveway to touch the truck.
Ive already had to do a few touch ups, but seeing as how chips of paint seem to come off the truck if you look at it wrong, Im ready to give up fixing it for now. From now on I think I might just leave it be and do my best to avoid parking lot scrapes by parkin strategically. And maybe in 5-6 years when the paint has deteriorated enough that I can't stand it anymore Ill put something a litte more durable on it.
One thing I had thought of was to just layer the wax as thick as I possibly could, like a whole ton of coats all at once. I say this because when I was putting on my tonneau and a piece of the frame hit the side of the truck, I thought I had a scratch but then I put spit on my finger and rubbed at it it disappeared, indicating it was only a scratch in the wax instead of the clear coat. So Im figuring if I layer the stuff on think that may help me to at least avoid alot of surface scratches. Anybody had luck in paint protection with just going as heavy as possible with the wax?
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get over it
Dodge Dakota
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12/26/2003
02:52:32
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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Its just a truck! Sh@t happens so live with it. I just spent 45 grand on a new Ram less than 3 mos. ago and some as$hole loaded a pallet of tile into the bed and slightly dinged the top of my tailgate with the electric forklift. Was I pi$$ed? Sure, but its a truck and unless you keep it in a garage under a cover they are going to get beat up, just give it time.
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cough
Dodge Dakota
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12/26/2003
02:55:13
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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uh-bullshlt-cough
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John Holmes
Dodge Dakota
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12/26/2003
04:18:58
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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eddy,
Dodge has never been known for their paint quality. It seem Bright Silver has the best longevity while colors like green and red, especially the pearl coats like garnet red, chip off if you look at them the wrong way.
I've had 3 coats of wax on my truck at one time and it still scuffs if you drag a light box over the bed side. My other Dak was moss green pearlcoat and it was just awful for noticibly shedding paint.
I too am going to get an after market paint job in a few years. I love my truck but the coating does suck.
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Matt03DAK
Dodge Dakota
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12/26/2003
08:04:15
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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eddy:
Actually, you accomplish nothing by putting wax on heavier. You just make it harder to polish off. When you repeat a wax job, you just remove the original coat of wax, and replace it with another. Advice, Maguire's Gold Class liquid wax. Best shine there is. My two cents...
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eddy
Dodge Dakota
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12/26/2003
11:58:14
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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I understand a truck's gonna get scratches. I do use my Dakota like a truck frequently, just like I did with my Ranger. A scratch here and there is fine, But ID also like to have a vehicle that isn't gonna look like total crap in a few short years.
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teamfast
Dodge Dakota
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12/26/2003
12:11:26
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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Some things we will just have to accept. Its permanent until you get it resprayed. Im sure lots of people are having the same issues as yourself. Me i had thin paint in a few areas but the wouldn't repaint it since i never filed a complaint in time. From what I have been told, once you take delivery your screwed. Unless there is a recall, like the GM paint issues in the early 90's. If its chipping that bad consider getting a bug guard for the front , mudflaps and such to cut down on wear. But from an ownership stand point there is nothing much else that can be done. What are the worst areas?
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sj34
Dodge Dakota
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12/27/2003
08:12:52
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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just wait a while...then the areas that got knicked down to the metal will start to rust. lmao. i hope you bought one with rust colored paint
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Rob454
Dodge Dakota
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12/27/2003
12:42:38
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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Wait till someone hits you than youll get a paint job with the repair. at that time ask the body shop how much more it would cost to do the whole truck. Ask this BEFORE any work is done to the truck. Ive done that before and the guy ended up charging a extra 3-400$ to repaint the whole truck. if they give me soem hge amount I jsut say thanx Ill have someone pick up the car and go down the street.
Rob
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sj34
Dodge Dakota
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12/28/2003
16:58:49
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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" if they give me soem hge amount I jsut say thanx Ill have someone pick up the car and go down the street."
you know there is a reason a shop will charge you a "huge amount" to paint your ride...
paint costs in the ballpark of $100/PINT! thats right..$100. some reds, oranges, and yellows will cost ya even more. then add labor costs..it takes about 3 hours to decently wet sand a pickup. then remove trim, fender flares, mudflaps, and stuff like that, and theres another hour. then you gotta mask off the entire truck...windows, window trim, door lock levers, key holes, cover up the hubs/suspension...etc...etc...etc...theres another hour or two.
i work with a guy at an auto body repair shop, and he gets $40/hour labor. so say 7 hours labor to get to this point..thats $280.+about $200 for paint. now your up to $480. then take bout an hour to prime, an hour to lay a base coat, another hour to lay another coat of paint, then an hour of so to clear coat it. thats 4 hours. $160+ 480. now were up to $640. then you gotta unmask it, reapply decals, etc...that eats up yet another hour. so total cost would be around $680 to paint a smallish size truck. the price will of course vary depending on the size of the vehicle, labor rates, and paint costs/paint schemes.
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Rob454
Dodge Dakota
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12/28/2003
19:09:52
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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yeah but what I meant was when the insurance pays for the repairs its easy to have the shop paint the rest of the vehicle. Im not talking about the 199$ special hole in the wall places. I had my old work truck repainted. I got rearended. the total came out to 2400$ cause they had to reskin the bed and the dent in the cab. the guy told me he has to paint 3/4 of the truck so I asked him if hes willing to paint the whole truck for a extra 350$. He was cool with it
Rob
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waffle
Dodge Dakota
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12/29/2003
23:38:04
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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You should consider yourself lucky that your paint only scratches and chips easily. The clearcoat on my black 1999 was flaking off on the hood, bed rails, roof, top of the doors. My black truck was slowly turning white. Dodge would not cover anything because I am not the original owner. It would of been a small fortune to strip all the paint off of the truck then repaint.
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eddy
Dodge Dakota
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12/30/2003
19:26:54
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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The truck's only two months old. Lord only know what will be happening to the finish in five years.
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waffle
Dodge Dakota
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12/30/2003
22:00:42
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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The hood of my 99 starting peeling in 2001. I bought the truck when it was sill under the factory warranty. I took great care of it; waxed often. Dodge needs to work on their painting. I dont't think 4 years is to much to ask for a paint job to last before the clearcoat is flaking off.
The fact that the truck is only two months old emphasizes the point that if you are having problems now, who knows what your paint will look like in 3-4 years
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Jery
Dodge Dakota
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12/31/2003
14:52:44
|  RE: This paint just wont cut it
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What will it look like in a few years? I can tell you. Bought my Intense Blue Pearlcoat '98 4x4 new over five years ago, and haven't had ANY probs with the finish. And I haven't been babying it. I got sick of obsessing with my '91 5.0 Mustang LX that was still in showroom cond. when I sold it last year (sob), so I only put on a light coat of Liquid Glass (a polish, not a wax with silicones).I haul brush, drop my jetski into Lake Erie, and drive in the salty Ohio winters, and it still looks new. Go figure. Sorry about your problems, guys. Maybe I just lucked out with color choice.
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Lonnie
Dodge Dakota
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1/01/2004
09:44:39
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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if u r having problems with the paint and it s still under warrenty take the motherf---er back and demandthat they make it right they painted my 94 5.2 r/c sb 3 times before they got it right took alot of fit throwin but they did it
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TexasTodd
Dodge Dakota
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1/01/2004
10:28:48
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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Eddy, sorry bout your paint.
Mines a 01, Quad cab, two tone, white over silver. I wax it once or twice a year, and it still beads water when wet. No probs with my white truck. It shouldn't make a difference with cracking and such, but I'm able to keep in my garage at night, and I'm lucky enough to have covered parking at work. I think in the long run, that will really help my paint. But as you said, it's chips on a brand new truck!
I'd do like lonnie here did, beatch until they get it right-I understand, that sure is a hassle though, cause you got a new truck, that's a bummer, Good Luck!
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wildAKmoose
Dodge Dakota
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1/02/2004
18:04:45
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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Most of you are missing this guy's point. He doesn't expect it to stay totally perfect. What he does expect is paint that functions properly, and is put on right. These modern factory machine sprayed jobs are only 2 to 4 mils thick. Eddy, you have a legitimate gripe. In the long run you may never get a new job, but I would at least get your complaint documented for the future, because who knows, it may turn out in your favor later. It may get drastically worse later. Other people may also complain, therefore backing up your claim. If more people gripe, the better chance we have of the problem being addressed in the future. I would put the bug shield on, too. Flaps and running boards are great at preserving rocker paint. Just because it's a pickup doesn't mean you should put up with inadequate paint. If this was normal, they would ALL chip that easy. But they DON'T all chip that easily.
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Torch
Dodge Dakota
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1/03/2004
04:48:32
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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Light it up.
Collect the insurance.
Go to a Toyota dealer.
Tundra.
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Ha
Dodge Dakota
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1/03/2004
09:29:14
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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It's funny you should say that. I visited a Tundra board once to see what kind of problems they were having with their trucks... and the first post I read was about how awful the paint was because it chipped so easily.
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eddy
Dodge Dakota
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1/03/2004
09:36:53
| RE: This paint just wont cut it
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I guess I gotta try to be more philosophical about it. I was at the accessory shop having mud guards put on and asked another guy with a hemi Ram how he liked the durability of his paint. His response... something to the effect that it's a work truck, so he doesn't care too much, made me kinda feel like a fag actually. So I think Im just gonna try not to sweat the small stuff so much.
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