Paint Cracking at Edge of Hood

[scottmoyer]

2021 Rebel in mint condition. Nothing has ever hit the front end. In almost 40k miles, I have maybe 4 stone chips on the hood. Anybody else notice a crack on the leading edge of the hood? Mine is on the driver side, just offset from the center.

I was washing the truck tonight and saw this. I'm not happy as this will eventually flake off. Is this even covered under any warranty when the truck is 51 months old (just over 4 years) and has 39k miles on it?

 

[Paul B]

Just curious... did you buy it new?
Paul B

 

[RebelliousGt]

2021 Rebel in mint condition. Nothing has ever hit the front end. In almost 40k miles, I have maybe 4 stone chips on the hood. Anybody else notice a crack on the leading edge of the hood? Mine is on the driver side, just offset from the center.

I was washing the truck tonight and saw this. I'm not happy as this will eventually flake off. Is this even covered under any warranty when the truck is 51 months old (just over 4 years) and has 39k miles on it?View attachment 197368View attachment 197369

Probably an aluminum body panel thing. The hood and tailgate are aluminum.

 

[scottmoyer]

Yes, I bought it new. Had 25 miles on it when I picked it up. I just waxed the truck about a month ago and it wasn't there then. Saw this tonight after the first wash in weeks. Luckily, every time it rained, I didn't need to drive, so it stayed clean quite long after that last wax!!

 

[SD Rebel]

Paint is only covered for 3 ys / 36k miles, and it's never included on any Mopar extended warranty.

Luckily, spot fixing something like this from a good body shop is relatively easy, assuming no corrosion underneath.

It's possible this could be something from a spot repair prior to delivery, but this could very well be factory defect.

 

[Morenar]

2021 Rebel in mint condition. Nothing has ever hit the front end. In almost 40k miles, I have maybe 4 stone chips on the hood. Anybody else notice a crack on the leading edge of the hood? Mine is on the driver side, just offset from the center.

I was washing the truck tonight and saw this. I'm not happy as this will eventually flake off. Is this even covered under any warranty when the truck is 51 months old (just over 4 years) and has 39k miles on it?View attachment 197368View attachment 197369

Wonder if it’s starting to corrode like it states on this TSB https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2024/MC-11005320-0001.pdf

 

[1791]

my 2020 had the paint bubbling up on the front edge it was covered on the rust warranty 3 months ago with 62k miles but a crack i don't know

 

[snj1013]

The pic isn't the best, but it looks like the hood has been repainted to me. I worked in an automobile assembly plant for 5 years, mostly in the paint department. Paint has what is a called Distinctness of Image or DOI, which is basically how clear the reflection is. Your hood's reflection doesn't look very clear, and to me that is an indicator that the panel has been repainted. Like I said, the picture isn't the best, but that's my 2 cents.

 

[oe542bob]

That doesn’t appear to be bubbling under the paint so it isn’t the same issue as that TSB refers to. We had a hood replaced on our ‘18 JGC Summit because of the under the paint corrosion on the aluminum hood.

 

[mikeru82]

My daughter's 2019 Rebel (granite crystal metallic) had a crack in the paint close to the area where yours is cracked. She bought it new and noticed it the day after taking delivery. So it was repaired under warranty by the local dealership, which contracted the repair out to a local body shop. She kept that truck for three years and never had another paint issue on that truck. As already mentioned, any body shop can repair that. It shouldn't be too expensive, but you might want to hit up a few different shops for estimates.

 

[scottmoyer]

The pic isn't the best? It's zoomed in with a focus on the crack, not the rest of the hood for reflection purposes.

Here are some pics of before and after the decal, which have been on the truck for 4 years this week. I think there's plenty of reflection.

 

[snj1013]

You see how the paint toward the front of the hood is kind of blurry where the black trim is in focus. This could just be the pic, but i was assuming if the trim was in focus, the hood's edge should be in focus. If the reflection in the hoods paint is blurry, the hood may have been repainted.

 

[1791]

facts. i worked at a cadillac/pontiac dealer receiving new cars. many times when i inspected them for damage you could see the swirl marks from areas that the factory buffed out imperfections so it's possible his truck was "repaired" before it got shipped assuming RAM has the same fit and finish QC. either way i have come to the conclusion that so called RAM CARES don't really care. so it will be up to you to have it repaired. step in and and PLEASE make me a liar out of me RAM CARES. at this point trucks cost too much to have these kind of issues.

 

[Scram1500]

@RamCares

 

[snj1013]

facts. i worked at a cadillac/pontiac dealer receiving new cars. many times when i inspected them for damage you could see the swirl marks from areas that the factory buffed out imperfections so it's possible his truck was "repaired" before it got shipped assuming RAM has the same fit and finish QC. either way i have come to the conclusion that so called RAM CARES don't really care. so it will be up to you to have it repaired. step in and and PLEASE make me a liar out of me RAM CARES. at this point trucks cost too much to have these kind of issues.

I worked "Spill Out" for many years, where my group would inspect, spot sand/polish, perform spot repairs and determine which vehicles would need to be repainted. After looking at 70 vehicles/hour for years, your eyes become trained to find defects extremely quickly. The picture of the zoomed in edge of the hood might be misleading as the other photos of the vehicle look good, but something about that front edge doesn't look right to me.