2016 challenger paint pitting on the hood.

[Alain]

Just like the title states.

15,000 miles on my car. Clear bra and ceramic coated in 2018. Car gets stored over the winter and washed by me at least twice a week during the warm months. never driven in the rain. I don’t have a garage so it does sit in my driveway during the warm months.

Every year before it gets stored for the winter it gets a wash, wax and polish by the top detail shop in my area.

Washing it today and I see this on the leading edge of the hood, on the passenger side.

At first I thought it was the clear bra peeling but when I looked at the underside of the hood in that same area, I saw the same thing (second photo) in an area where there is no clear bra.

My car is a 2016, I know the power train warranty won’t cover this and I believe the bumper to bumper warranty only lasts 3 years (I have to check).

Questions i have.
1- is this a common issue with our cars? I’ve never seen a complaint about this before.

2- what’s the best way to deal with this thing? Repaint the entire hood?

3- should I get a new hood to repaint?
I always thought these pitting issues were a result of bad aluminum metal used to build the hood.

thank you for the advice fellers.

 

[ChargerChallenger]

Damn that sucks and have to believe it was from day one of the Painting at the plant. I am sure someone who is more the Paint Expert here will weigh in their thoughts and ideas. But yeh looks like underlying rust IMO.

 

[Whatknot]

That really sucks.

I hope you get it fixed up okay.

But if you do have to replace it, consider going carbon fiber.
When I get my redeye eventually, I plan to get a carbon fiber hood, and trunk lid for it.

 

[AeroF16]

I'm no expert either but would the corrosion warranty cover it? Because that's what it looks like is happening.

 

[Alain]

I'm no expert either but would the corrosion warranty cover it? Because that's what it looks like is happening.

This is what I was wondering.
Can someone chime in with the specifics of the corrosion warranty?

it is obviously a defect in either the metal or the paint process went wrong somehow.
I want to be educated before I go to the dealership to ask questions about warranting this.

no way a 5 year old car that’s taken care of the way I take care of mine should have this issue.

 

[Alain]

By the way, that literally appeared within the last few days.

Earlier this spring I replaced the rubber seal between the front fascia and the leadi edge of the hood and that blemish wasn’t there.

last week I washed the car and that wasn’t there. Sucks that as soon as the warranty expires, this starts to happen.

 

[AeroF16]

This is what I was wondering.
Can someone chime in with the specifics of the corrosion warranty?

it is obviously a defect in either the metal or the paint process went wrong somehow.
I want to be educated before I go to the dealership to ask questions about warranting this.

no way a 5 year old car that’s taken care of the way I take care of mine should have this issue.

I'm not smart on the corrosion warranty but it might be worth taking in and at least getting documented before it gets worse.

Right now, like you say, it's pretty obvious that it's either a problem with the metal or likely some impurities under the paint that are causing corrosion. I think it'd be difficult for the dealer to deny that it's something under the paint.

However, if you wait and this gets worse and starts chipping off, then I think it's possible they could blame it on something else like rock chips or whatever.

 

[John G.]

You describe it as pitting, but it looks to me like it's bubbling. It's not rust, because aluminum doesn't rust. From a quick search of the internet the most likely cause of bubbling is excessive moisture in the air lines during the painting process.

 

[Alain]

You describe it as pitting, but it looks to me like it's bubbling. It's not rust, because aluminum doesn't rust. From a quick search of the internet the most likely cause of bubbling is excessive moisture in the air lines during the painting process.

Bubbling is definitely a better term for it than pitting, thank you for helping me clarify it.

i can’t believe I didnt realize that it can’t be rust since aluminum doesn’t rust hahahaha.

its Definitely an issue with the manufacturing process.........either the paint or the aluminum.

I have to find out about this corrosion warranty if there is such a thing.

I wonder if I should take the clear bra off before I bring the car to the dealership.

 

[AeroF16]

It's not rust, because aluminum doesn't rust.

The aluminum itself won't rust but any impurities in the metal or on the surface prior to painting the hood will rust.

 

[Alain]

The aluminum itself won't rust but any impurities in the metal or on the surface prior to painting the hood will rust.

I think the issue most likely is impurities in the metal.
over at the GT350R forum some guys have reported similar issues with their paint.
the general consensus over there is that it’s impurities in the metal.

 

[Magnified]

That's rust under the paint. I haven't seen that on my car (before I sold it). Wasn't at one time rust covered for the life of the car? By law because of all the rust buckets that were being foisted off on people in the 70s and 80s?

As for impurities, unless it is sulphur rich I believe that should have limited effect. Localized pockets of high sulphur content can absolutely allow corrosion over time (I never looked into other impurities impacts). It's the shitty steel we buy from the chinese (because we're willing to support authoritarian Communism to save a few bucks).

 

[HWDan]

https://rts.i-car.com/images/pdf/oem-info/chrysler/service-bulletins/36282.pdf

(this came from a similar thread over at lxforums.com)

 

[Alain]

That's rust under the paint. I haven't seen that on my car (before I sold it). Wasn't at one time rust covered for the life of the car? By law because of all the rust buckets that were being foisted off on people in the 70s and 80s?

As for impurities, unless it is sulphur rich I believe that should have limited effect. Localized pockets of high sulphur content can absolutely allow corrosion over time (I never looked into other impurities impacts). It's the shitty steel we buy from the chinese (because we're willing to support authoritarian Communism to save a few bucks).

I brought the owners manual in the house to read over night/tomorrow morning before I go to the dealership. Going to look for any mention of rust warranty coverage.

https://rts.i-car.com/images/pdf/oem-info/chrysler/service-bulletins/36282.pdf

(this came from a similar thread over at lxforums.com)

I can’t thank you enough for posting that link !!!!!!!
That bulletin Addresses my issue to the letter !!

going to print that out and bring it with me to the dealership.
thank you so much !!

one last thing Relevant to my issue.

do I have a leg to stand on if I request the dealership to use a body shop of my choice for the warranty repair?
or
am I stuck with whatever body shop they use ?

 

[Magnified]

Warranty repair is, I believe, on them (i.e. they get to do it however they wish). When a dealer damaged my car, I had them repair at the body shop of my choice - but this is different than warranty work. And god did the GM get pissed off.

 

[Alain]

Warranty repair is, I believe, on them (i.e. they get to do it however they wish). When a dealer damaged my car, I had them repair at the body shop of my choice - but this is different than warranty work. And god did the GM get pissed off.

View attachment 44324

So you’re saying I may be able to get my own body shop to do the work since this is not a “warranty” repair ?

 

[Magnified]

no. I think they'll get to do what they want, farm it out, or keep it in house. When they damaged my car, I could have raked them over the coals so they said take it where you want, we'll pay them. They don't like that. If they send it out, it'll be to some place they've cut a deal with. But I don't understand, this would be a warranty repair it would seem to me. If it's not, just take it whereever you prefer. Why go to the dealer?

 

[Alain]

no. I think they'll get to do what they want, farm it out, or keep it in house. When they damaged my car, I could have raked them over the coals so they said take it where you want, we'll pay them. They don't like that. If they send it out, it'll be to some place they've cut a deal with. But I don't understand, this would be a warranty repair it would seem to me. If it's not, just take it whereever you prefer. Why go to the dealer?

I see what you are saying now.

If they are going to cover the repairs because of issues with the metal or during paint process at the factory than i have to let them do it.

if they tell me they are not responsible for fixing it than I’ll take it to my body shop guy.

 

[Alain]

Well, went down to the dealership first thing today.

I walked in, spoke to the service advisor I always deal with. Right off the bat, I showed him the service bulletin (linked earlier in this thread).
He punched in my information into the computer .......... long story short. The repair will be covered under my 5 year warranty.

he told me he is not going through the repair bulletin linked earlier in this thread. He’s just going to put it through my 5 year warranty which is actually set to expire at the end of this month. I bought the car back in May of 2016.

He asked me to peal off the expel paint protection film and drop off the car at the dealership as soon as possible. I ran home, peeled off the PPF and dropped the car back at the dealership this afternoon. Should be ready by the end of the week he said.

Im still nervous that the car is going to be sitting at the dealership and back and forth to their body shop, which is about 15 miles from the dealership.

I know of some of the horror stories that stem from dealerships having a car over an extended period of time.

I asked my service guy to take good care of the car and I gave him a little something as an incentive. I know the car won’t be under his watch the entire time but it still made me feel better about the situation.

stay tuned for results.

Hopefully this will help others who come across this issue with their paint..........it’s covered under the 5 year warranty.

 

[Slowpoke387]

Looks to me like water got in under the paint somehow and caused it to separate from the hood. This is becoming an issue for sure as I’ve started to see a trend in threads about this exact situation lately. My guess is poor paint prep allowing this to happen. I’m sure we’re going to see more and more threads like this as time passes.