Bubble on edge of bonnet

[Surfer]

It is a 2018 Grand Cherokee overland with 42k on the clock.  I am the third owner and it was bought last August from a Jeep dealership and it came with a full Jeep service history.  I check the Jeep regularly, but today I noticed a bubble on the edge of the bonnet which I know was not there previously.

 

There is no sign of chip damage and the paint has not broken yet.  The vehicle was checked previously and no accident damage noted.  I am suer that I read on this forum that some others had an issue with paint bubbling.  My concern is cost of repair as they will probably need to respray the whole bonnet once the cause has been removed.  If this was a manufacturing defect then I may be able to claim from the dealer?

 

Can any one please advise?

 

[V]

There is often no need to respray an entire panel. Modern at-home/work chip repair firms can do an excellent job with spot repairs. I have used them on a few vehicles and I have not been able to see the difference between the repair paint and the original paint.

[Surfer]

Thanks but my bigger concern is why has it occurred?  Cost of repair is a worry as we also have a small chip almost down to metal, probably from a supermarket trolley, on the driver's door and Chipsaway are quoting over £300 stating that for a proper repair the whole door needs to be re-sprayed and then get a lifetime warranty on the repair.

 

The other alternative was a £40 repair on chip only and no warranty.  As much as I love my Jeep we are not in a position to be throwing hundreds at the car at this time.

Edited August 23 by Surfer

[Fireman Iain]

It's a known problem on these. It's bimetallic corrosion because it's an aluminium alloy bonnet with steel supporting framework underneath. And supposedly they weren't primed properly from new. 

 

On a 2018 with fsh you should be well within your corrosion warranty and your Jeep dealer should be able to sort it. As I understand it, early examples of the problem in the States were getting replacement hoods, but they now have a way of correcting it. How on the ball Jeep UK are might be another matter.....

 

I've spent most of today cutting and polishing the paint on mine to very successfully get rid of a load of tree stripes after my coast to coast JeepTrek with V a couple of weeks ago. And I've noticed a rough patch of paint on my bonnet under the windscreen. I'm gonna watch it and see what develops as it is only rough paint at this stage, not bubbling up.

 

[Surfer]

Thanks.  The Jeep dealer from whom we bought is in Kent so about 175 miles away from us.   They have advised me to take the Jeep to the nearest Jeep dealer to get a report.  Although I would normally use Unity who are 65 miles away, there are closer Jeep dealers in Birmingham like Wolverhampton, AC and Johnsons.  The branch in Wolverhampton is the longest running Jeep dealer and the other two are virtual newbies on the block so a bit unsure.  Maybe Johnsons would be okay for the report?

 

For some strange reason I am not getting notifications of new posts to a thread although "Follow topic" is on?

[Surfer]

The Jeep dealer from whom I purchased the vehicle told me to take it to a Jeep dealership for evaluation.  However on contacting local Jeep dealerships in Birmingham area I was advised that they do ot have the expertise and the Jeep needs to go to an approved FCA bodyshop.

 

I contacted my dealer and advised them of this outcome and asked for them to supply details of an approved FCA bodyshop.  No reply so sent another email.  No reply so sent another email advising that I would be speaking with the finance house as technically they own the vehicle.  Now waiting a response.

 

No wonder Jeep sales are falling?

Edited August 11 by Surfer

[MGomes]

1 hour ago, Surfer said:

The Jeep dealer from whom I purchased the vehicle told me to take it to a Jeep dealership for evaluation.  However on contacting local Jeep dealerships in Birmingham area I was advised that they do ot have the expertise and the Jeep needs to go to an approved FCA bodyshop.

 

I contacted my dealer and advised them of this outcome and asked for them to supply details of an approved FCA bodyshop.  No reply so sent another email.  No reply so sent another email advising that I would be speaking with the finance house as technically they own the vehicle.  Now waiting a response.

 

No wonder Jeep sales are falling?

I'm still struggling with this issue - I did go to an FCA approved workshop - but then Jeep CS stated we did things "the wrong way" and they stated the dealership needed to keep the car  (providing me a replacement vehicle) for the evaluation time. Waiting on the dealership again...

[V]

Internet SMTP email is a non guaranteed electronic mail delivery technology*. Email delivery reports are meaningless if message policy filters (SPAM) are in use between sender and recipient. It is so easy for the recipient to just ignore you and hope that you will lose interest and go away. The majority of people do give up which is why you will find email is often ignored. As the technology is non-guaranteed delivery, the recipient can always claim that they never received or read the email up until the point that they sent a reply.

 

If you are making a complaint that does not progress acceptably following the first email, switch to letter writing and Royal Mail recorded delivery. If you get three ignored recorded delivery letters then you have to consider if it is worth engaging a solicitor to pursue the matter for you in court.

 

*X.400 email is the only guaranteed electronic mail delivery technology but it is now mostly only used by EDI systems.

SMS text is also non-guaranteed delivery technology with an automatic 48hr delivery expiry that often destroys undelivered messages. People that live in built-up areas consider texting as instantaneous, but in rural areas messages can be lost and never delivered. A reply from the recipient is an acknowledgment of delivery.

[Gerald F]

My 'bonnet bubbles' are beginning to crack open (2015 WK2), so I'll have to do some work on it.

I did contact FCA when they first appeared and they said it could be fixed under the paintwork warranty, but would need assessment. Since I live 200miles by sea from the nearest dealer, this needed an opportunity to fit it into another journey; then came Covid! The warranty has now expired, but I may just try to fix it myself, since I hope to keep the car for another couple of years, by which time it will be well over 100,000 miles, and no-one expects perfect appearance at that age – rather like its owner!

If yours is 2018, get some photographs and send them to FCA by post; at least then you have proof that there was a problem within the warranty period.

[Surfer]

Thanks both the dealer and FCA have photos of the bubble, but no reply from FCA yet. I am told it can be an expensive repair if tackled by a bodyshop due to having to strip the paint, prime it and then respray as the whole bonnet will need to be done.

[digger]

On 03/08/2023 at 14:36, Surfer said:

Thanks but my bigger concern is why has it occurred?  Cost of repair is a worry as we have a small chip almost down to metal, probably from a supermarket trolley, on the driver's door and Chipsaway are quoting over £300 stating that for a proper repair the whole door needs to be re-sprayed and then get a lifetime warranty on the repair.

 

The other alternative was a £40 repair on chip only and no warranty.  As much as I love my Jeep we are not in a position to be throwing hundreds at the car at this time.

I'm  near Gloucester. Chips away are quite expensive round here. I use a local 'one man band' who does a super job for a lot less. There's probably one near you,look for someone who does work for the trade they are usually good.

[Surfer]

Eventually got authorisation from dealer and name of Jeep approved body shop nearest to us and took it there this morning.  The gentleman that examined the bonnet mentioned that he was familiar with the problem as they have had a few Jeeps through with the same issue.

 

The issue on the bonnet was a lot worse than I had anticipated and he pointed out that a repair had been attempted at some time in the past but it obviously had not been very successful.  His conclusion that the only way forward was for the whole bonnet to be replaced at a cost of £3 110.90. 

 

I don't think the dealer is going to be very happy if they have to pay although it should be Jeep UK that takes responsibility as the vehicle as a 7 year rust warranty and corrosion is a form of rust.  The dealer has been good to us and hope that they do not have to cough up as it would not be fair on them.

 

I think the dealer may try and kick it back to the finance company to put pressure on Jeep Italy to pay for a new bonnet?  I now wait with bated breath. 

Edited September 12 by Surfer

[BLUE STAR]

If the body shop knows that it will be a big corporate company footing the bill, you'll be getting the Rolls Royce option repair done. 'This is the way' 

[JimC]

Have the same problem with my WK2 but mine is out of warranty 

 

 

[Surfer]

15 hours ago, BLUE STAR said:

If the body shop knows that it will be a big corporate company footing the bill, you'll be getting the Rolls Royce option repair done. 'This is the way' 

They are an approved Jeep body shop and I think they would have a fixed Jeep labour costs?

[Fireman Iain]

As I said earlier on this thread, it's a known problem. Here's the US bulletin that refers. But only within N America.

 

Might be useful just for info, but they appear to have a fix that is just try and sand it out and repaint, unless the corrosion is deeper, in which case, its replace the hood.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://rts.i-car.com/images/pdf/oem-info/chrysler/service-bulletins/36282.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiJsdjenKWBAxVCWEEAHbkvBN4QFnoECCgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1wEA2t_fn16-ZGg69Jdwuo

 

 

Edited September 12 by Fireman Iain

[Surfer]

On 12/09/2023 at 15:00, Fireman Iain said:

As I said earlier on this thread, it's a known problem. Here's the US bulletin that refers. But only within N America.

 

Might be useful just for info, but they appear to have a fix that is just try and sand it out and repaint, unless the corrosion is deeper, in which case, its replace the hood.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://rts.i-car.com/images/pdf/oem-info/chrysler/service-bulletins/36282.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiJsdjenKWBAxVCWEEAHbkvBN4QFnoECCgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1wEA2t_fn16-ZGg69Jdwuo

 

 

 

The gentleman who examined my vehicle pointed out that a repair has previously been attempted which hid the fault, but the bonnet was now too far gone for an effective repair as it was now corroded all along the seam.

[UKTJ]

11 hours ago, Surfer said:

 

The gentleman who examined my vehicle pointed out that a repair has previously been attempted which hid the fault, but the bonnet was now too far gone for an effective repair as it was now corroded all along the seam.

Even so, north of £3k for a new bonnet is pretty eye watering.  For less than that money I could have a full set of replacement aluminium front and rear hi-line fenders shipped to the UK from the US, including all taxes.

[Surfer]

9 hours ago, UKTJ said:

Even so, north of £3k for a new bonnet is pretty eye watering.  For less than that money I could have a full set of replacement aluminium front and rear hi-line fenders shipped to the UK from the US, including all taxes.

I purchased the vehicle from a Jeep dealer in August last year and brought the issue to the dealer's attention within the first year.  Due to the extent of the damage it is obvious that the issue was there at time of purchase, but not obvious due to the attempted repair.  The Jeep which is supposed to be a 2018 model has a full Jeep service history so the 7 year corrosion warranty should still apply.  Unfortunately I have no idea who attempted the previous unsuccessful repair to the bonnet.

 

The body shop also pointed out to me that although the Jeep was registered in 2018 it is 2017 model and according to the VIN the Jeep was probably built in mid 2017.  On making inquiries with Which Legal Services I have been advised that Regulation 5 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUT), states that if a consumer enters into a transaction or makes a decision based on false or misleading information on a main characteristic of the product or service, then the consumer has been misled and the regulations have been breached.

 

In these circumstances, I relied on the information supplied to you by the dealer – that the vehicle I was purchasing was a “2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland”. It has now become evident that this information was incorrect, and my vehicle in fact has a 2017 registration. In addition to this, section 11 of the CRA states that any goods supplied must match the description given.

 

Based on the above, I have been advised that I you could consider raising an argument that there has been a breach of both CPUT and CRA. In terms of remedy, I would need to quantify my financial loss, this would be the difference in value between the amount I paid for a “2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland” against the value of a “2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland”. I can then request that this amount is reimbursed to you.

 

Seems interesting times are ahead for me if I pursue the 2017 -2018 issue?

 

 

 

[UKTJ]

9 minutes ago, Surfer said:

I purchased the vehicle from a Jeep dealer in August last year and brought the issue to the dealer's attention within the first year.  Due to the extent of the damage it is obvious that the issue was there at time of purchase, but not obvious due to the attempted repair.  The Jeep which is supposed to be a 2018 model has a full Jeep service history so the 7 year corrosion warranty should still apply.  Unfortunately I have no idea who attempted the previous unsuccessful repair to the bonnet.

 

The body shop also pointed out to me that although the Jeep was registered in 2018 it is 2017 model and according to the VIN the Jeep was probably built in mid 2017.  On making inquiries with Which Legal Services I have been advised that Regulation 5 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUT), states that if a consumer enters into a transaction or makes a decision based on false or misleading information on a main characteristic of the product or service, then the consumer has been misled and the regulations have been breached.

 

In these circumstances, I relied on the information supplied to you by the dealer – that the vehicle I was purchasing was a “2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland”. It has now become evident that this information was incorrect, and my vehicle in fact has a 2017 registration. In addition to this, section 11 of the CRA states that any goods supplied must match the description given.

 

Based on the above, I have been advised that I you could consider raising an argument that there has been a breach of both CPUT and CRA. In terms of remedy, I would need to quantify my financial loss, this would be the difference in value between the amount I paid for a “2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland” against the value of a “2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland”. I can then request that this amount is reimbursed to you.

 

Seems interesting times are ahead for me if I pursue the 2017 -2018 issue?

 

 

 

 

I think this was discussed on the forum before.  IIRC somebody looked up the 2017 and 2018 model years and there was little material difference, which might make the loss quantification more challenging.  My personal view is that there are three ways it would be possible to justify describing a Jeep as being from a particular year, the Model Year, the year it was physically manufactured and the year designation on the number plate.  In this case I guess it would come down to which a court concluded was being referred to and which is most important.  As you raise it again it is clearly something you feel you have been misled about and which you feel has disadvantaged you.  You have now had advise suggesting what basis you could bring a claim under, which I do not thijk was the case when it was raised previously.  Do you plan to take the dealer to court?  It would be interesting to see what happens, it can't be a unique case so maybe it would end up beihg a test case for a wider issue.

 

But irrespective, £3k still seems a heck of a lot of money for a new bonnet.

[UKTJ]

57 minutes ago, Surfer said:

I purchased the vehicle from a Jeep dealer in August last year and brought the issue to the dealer's attention within the first year.  Due to the extent of the damage it is obvious that the issue was there at time of purchase, but not obvious due to the attempted repair.  The Jeep which is supposed to be a 2018 model has a full Jeep service history so the 7 year corrosion warranty should still apply.  Unfortunately I have no idea who attempted the previous unsuccessful repair to the bonnet.

 

The body shop also pointed out to me that although the Jeep was registered in 2018 it is 2017 model and according to the VIN the Jeep was probably built in mid 2017.  On making inquiries with Which Legal Services I have been advised that Regulation 5 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUT), states that if a consumer enters into a transaction or makes a decision based on false or misleading information on a main characteristic of the product or service, then the consumer has been misled and the regulations have been breached.

 

In these circumstances, I relied on the information supplied to you by the dealer – that the vehicle I was purchasing was a “2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland”. It has now become evident that this information was incorrect, and my vehicle in fact has a 2017 registration. In addition to this, section 11 of the CRA states that any goods supplied must match the description given.

 

Based on the above, I have been advised that I you could consider raising an argument that there has been a breach of both CPUT and CRA. In terms of remedy, I would need to quantify my financial loss, this would be the difference in value between the amount I paid for a “2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland” against the value of a “2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland”. I can then request that this amount is reimbursed to you.

 

Seems interesting times are ahead for me if I pursue the 2017 -2018 issue?

 

 

 

I just went back to the old thread to refresh my memory.  After a lot of discussion somebody dug out the full list of 2018 vs 2017 model year changes, one of the few that applied in the UK was a change to a screen size.  Near the end of the thread you confirmed you had the larger screen and also confirmed your Jeep is therefore a 2018 MY.  Do you now think it is a 2017 MY after all?  What has changed since that post last December?

Edited September 17 by UKTJ

[Surfer]

23 hours ago, UKTJ said:

I just went back to the old thread to refresh my memory.  After a lot of discussion somebody dug out the full list of 2018 vs 2017 model year changes, one of the few that applied in the UK was a change to a screen size.  Near the end of the thread you confirmed you had the larger screen and also confirmed your Jeep is therefore a 2018 MY.  Do you now think it is a 2017 MY after all?  What has changed since that post last December?

 

The body shop ran the VIN number and it came up as a 2017.  As you say subtle differences.  Jeep dealer in Oxford also picked up that it was a 2017 and when queried mentioned a few differences.  If I trade it in at another Jeep dealership, they will pick up the difference and obviously drop the trade in price, but unlikely we will be trading it in for quite awhile.

 

I am not overly bothered about it, but if absolutely necessary I may try and use it as leverage for the dealer to get the repair done.  As said otherwise I am quite happy with the Jeep even though I feel that I may have been misled.

[UKTJ]

40 minutes ago, Surfer said:

 

The body shop ran the VIN number and it came up as a 2017.  As you say subtle differences.  Jeep dealer in Oxford also picked up that it was a 2017 and when queried mentioned a few differences.  If I trade it in at another Jeep dealership, they will pick up the difference and obviously drop the trade in price, but unlikely we will be trading it in for quite awhile.

 

I am not overly bothered about it, but if absolutely necessary I may try and use it as leverage for the dealer to get the repair done.  As said otherwise I am quite happy with the Jeep even though I feel that I may have been misled.

This is all very strange.  I wonder how it can have the bigger screen and still have a VIN that says it is a 2017MY.  Are you saying the dealer has pointed out some 2017MY features, but there are others that are 2018MY like the screen?  Or, maybe it is the VIN coding that is wrong.  Could it be that they started running the new 2018MY version down the line but kept putting 2017MY coded VIN plates on them?

 

But, I suspect that is just of academic interest, as said in the thread from last year, the older the Jeep gets the less relevant it will be and the more the mileage and condition will determine value.  My TJ is a 2002, in 2003 there was a biggish refresh of the TJ, but I can’t see the differences between mine and a twelve month newer TJ having any impact on the respective value of the two Jeeps now.

 

Hopefully the bonnet will be sorted without any issues or leverage required.

[stewart]

The warranty period starts from when the Jeep Is Registered I brought a Cherokee that was sat around for 9 months! The warranty started from the rego date! 

 

The JK had well know door hinge corrosion issues I had the work eventually agreed to be done on a 2012 Rubicon within the warranty time after a little bit of agro! 

 

My view is Jeep should should pay up it's well document issue with the WK2 and most likely they will if you haven't already done so also raise a case with Jeep Customer service as you'll need a case number to start things rolling if it's not go the right way! 

 

 

[Surfer]

When I never got any update from the Jeep franchised dealer I contacted them this morning for an update.  Basically the response was your problem, you sort it out between the body shop and yourself.  I think they will have to do a BIG rethink on that statement.