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2,626 Posts
Wow, looks like a little more than an 1/8 of an inch to me. On a new truck I would definitely make them fix it.
Door Misalignment on brand new Laramie!!! pics**
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When one purchases a 50k+ vehicle, one would expect perfection right? Afterall, components are manufactured and assembled using sofisticated robotics, and fully automated computerized systems...the body and doors should line up perfect right!!?!?!
Well, a few days ago, my husband was inspecting the truck as I just got it undercoated and he noticed something strange with the passenger front door as the bottom of the door did not seem to align perfectly with the rest of the body (or the rear passsenger door) in the closed position...he actually thought it was not closed properly but it was !!
Has any else ever seen or expericenced this?? We have never seen this on any vehicle (unless perhaps on a beat up rust bucket). And now, I find myself looking at truck doors to see if it's just my door!! So far, just mine.
We sure are planning on bringing it to the attention of the dealer and see if perhaps it can be re-adjusted on the hinges. Acutally, we are not sure if the problem is with the bottom of the front door being slightly outwards or the front of the rear door being pushed in... but there is a definite 1/8th inch difference which may not seem much to some but it is quite noticeable and annoying given the fact the price we paid for the truck!
Maybe we are being overlly critical?? I doubt it will cause any problems other than aesthetics but our truck apparently was selected for the so called "quality control" inspection and we waited an extra week to get our truck because of that delay. Someone must have not been doing his/her job or figured it was not important, but I am sure it was noticed!!
The first pic is of the perfectly aligned driver door for comparison.
Well, a few days ago, my husband was inspecting the truck as I just got it undercoated and he noticed something strange with the passenger front door as the bottom of the door did not seem to align perfectly with the rest of the body (or the rear passsenger door) in the closed position...he actually thought it was not closed properly but it was !!
Has any else ever seen or expericenced this?? We have never seen this on any vehicle (unless perhaps on a beat up rust bucket). And now, I find myself looking at truck doors to see if it's just my door!! So far, just mine.
We sure are planning on bringing it to the attention of the dealer and see if perhaps it can be re-adjusted on the hinges. Acutally, we are not sure if the problem is with the bottom of the front door being slightly outwards or the front of the rear door being pushed in... but there is a definite 1/8th inch difference which may not seem much to some but it is quite noticeable and annoying given the fact the price we paid for the truck!
Maybe we are being overlly critical?? I doubt it will cause any problems other than aesthetics but our truck apparently was selected for the so called "quality control" inspection and we waited an extra week to get our truck because of that delay. Someone must have not been doing his/her job or figured it was not important, but I am sure it was noticed!!
The first pic is of the perfectly aligned driver door for comparison.
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21,474 Posts
Not a big deal . I'm sure the dealership will correct it . Besides , whats a $50,000.00 truck doing that dirty ?
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1,701 Posts
Nothing is perfect. but it can be fixed.
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45 Posts
Well, that's just dandy then! Thanks for calming my nerves...I hate over reacting but I was hopeing it could be fixed.
Hubby used to work for Honda many moons ago and he said that a door like that would have not passed the inspection but then, times have changed. Still love the RAM despite his minor imperfect door though and would not trade for ANYTHING ELSE!
Sorry for the *dirty* truck pics...gotta put my husband back in line and get him to clean my tuck! Thanks for making him feel bad, he said he'll do it first thing tomorrow. he he he.
GTYankee, the big nickel is still here as are the black flies. The giant penny is gone however!
Hubby used to work for Honda many moons ago and he said that a door like that would have not passed the inspection but then, times have changed. Still love the RAM despite his minor imperfect door though and would not trade for ANYTHING ELSE!
Sorry for the *dirty* truck pics...gotta put my husband back in line and get him to clean my tuck! Thanks for making him feel bad, he said he'll do it first thing tomorrow. he he he.
GTYankee, the big nickel is still here as are the black flies. The giant penny is gone however!
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25,088 Posts
That door was a little out of line however the dealer will look after you. I have to tell you that after owning fords all my life, I have had a fantastic experience with the customer service at dodge. I initally purchased my truck somewhere else due to the other dealer near me not having the truck available. I find that I am getting better customer service close to home.
Good luck and this will issue will be addressed and looked after. Welcome to the Dodge Club......
Good luck and this will issue will be addressed and looked after. Welcome to the Dodge Club......
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128 Posts
I would also check the top of the door that is out of alignment. I had a similar experience, my passenger side rear door was out at the bottom and therefore in at the top. The bottom was out past the rear edge of the front door and I didn`t notice it until I noticed my paint was chipped off about 6 inches of the front edge. The dealership repainted the whole door but it took 3 visits for them to align it right.
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45 Posts
UPDATE>>> been to the dealer and they say there's nothing they can do! The misalignment is so minimal that he is sure nothing negative will result from it.
I may stop in at another dealer out of the area and see what they have to say about it....
I may stop in at another dealer out of the area and see what they have to say about it....
Wow, sorry to hear that. But you have the right idea - try another dealer and you might have much more luck.
Out of curiousity - did you look closely to see if there's evidence of the door being repaired, such as paint issues around bolts/washers at the hinges, or other telltale signs? Altho it doesn't happen often, sometimes in transit a vehicle can be damaged, and at least in CA, as long as the repairs cost less than X-dollars, they don't have to report it and you may never see any indication on paper that it happened. I know this because I've bought a brand-new vehicle (SOB - some other brand) that had been damaged - the selling dealer had gotten it from another dealer that went out of business, so didn't know - only when I looked at it in the right light could I see a slight paint difference. Since I got it from a dealer out of the area, I had to try a couple different dealers close to home to find one who would go to the trouble of submitting the necessary pics and request to the area rep in order to get authorization for warranty repaint.
A lot of trouble, and to this day I still don't like the paint job! So when I agreed to buy one of my Rams from a dealer out of state and have it shipped to my home dealer, I made it clear final acceptance of it was based upon an inspection by me in daylight hours!
Good luck getting that resolved - but don't give up as I'm sure you'll find a dealer who'll tweak it for you!
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453 Posts
that looks a little more than "so minimal" to me. if the second dealer says the same thing i think id be callin chrysler
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275 Posts
My driver's door looks pretty much the same.:doh:
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353 Posts
Based on your pix it looks like the door is not closing far enough. This is a simple striker adjustment. Latch striker just needs to go in a bit to pull door edge in a little further. Your dealer should have no problem doing this. I had the same problem and took care of it myself. All you need is a torx T45 bit and a wax crayon or whiteboard marker to mark current position of the striker. If the striker sticks after loosening the torx screws you tap it with a rubber hammer. Sometimes the cage nuts stick and need to be tapped a bit to move them.
I've never seen a new vehicle with a gap that bad from the factory. Even the 60's/70's Mopars were not that bad on door gaps except at the rocker. Also it is not acceptable for the dealer to tell you that it's not worth making right. If I had to guess, I would say it had been hit. I used to sell new cars, and I can tell you many people have bought brand new cars that had been wrecked/repaired, and the buyers were never told. A body guy should be able to look at the truck and tell you if it's been repaired. The dealer is not required by law in most states to tell the buyer if a vehicle has been repaired below a certain dollar figure, even on a new car. Plus, never being registered, carfax, or insurance/dmv database wouldn't show an accident if it was minor compared to the book value.
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1 Posts
Just wondering if you ever found a fix for your doors... Mine seem to be the same
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45 Posts
Nope, not yet...
the ultimate fix: CALL CHRYSLER CUSTOMER SERVICE
I had a couple of small warranty issues that the dealer refused to fix as they were "so minimal" I called customer service and the next day the dealership called me back and said they were sorry and fixed everything.
Personally to me it looks like an easy fix... but who knows... I would try calling and see what chrysler has to say
I had a couple of small warranty issues that the dealer refused to fix as they were "so minimal" I called customer service and the next day the dealership called me back and said they were sorry and fixed everything.
Personally to me it looks like an easy fix... but who knows... I would try calling and see what chrysler has to say
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32,816 Posts
yeppers, Customer Service Ca. email them pix even if they don't want them
http://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/dodge/index.jsp
http://www.dodge.com/webselfservice/dodge/index.jsp
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76 Posts
I would go back to the dealership and take the service manager out to the lot and compare how crappy yours is to a new one sitting on the lot. That can be adjusted and it is not that big of a deal. It should not be that bad I understand stuff is not perfect but that is far from being ok
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