Help! Rust on 1999 Stratus Hood

  • Thread starter Thread starter Keven
  • Start date Start date
K

Keven

Help!

I bought a new 1999 Dodge Stratus and now there are significant pockets of
rust on the leading edge of the hood near the grill. Evidently this is a
common problem. I took it back to my dealer last week and they told it's not
covered under the warranty and I'd have to buy a new hood for $900. My
Owner's manual say's that I'm covered for exterior rust on painted surfaces
for 5 years/100K miles, which ever occurs first. I preceed both conditions
but the dealer says that a "pinch weld" caused the rust and so I'm not
covered. The manuals contains no language about pinch welds. What's
concerning is that the rust is forming around the hood latch. If it
breaches, the hood is certain to fly open on the freeway one day.

Does anyone have any advise on how to resolve this problem or initiate
litigation before I cause an accident?

Thanks in advance,
[email protected]
Northeast Ohio
 
Does anyone have any advise on how to resolve this problem or initiate
litigation before I cause an accident?
Click to expand...

Well I have a pretty good idea of what you should do but I dare not
tell you or you will sue me as well if it doesn't work out for you.
Why don't you take your litigation and initiate sticking it up your
ass.

Steve B.
 
<< Why don't you take your litigation and initiate sticking it up your ass. >>

____Reply Separator_____

Thanks Steve B., I'm sure that's the intelligent reply that the OP was looking
for in answer to a perfectly OK question.
 
TOM KAN PA said:
<< Why don't you take your litigation and initiate sticking it up your ass. >>

____Reply Separator_____

Thanks Steve B., I'm sure that's the intelligent reply that the OP was looking
for in answer to a perfectly OK question.
Click to expand...

No, his question was: my hood is rusty, my dealer says he won't cover it,
who do I sue?

And my answer, FWIW, is: don't sue anyone. Buy a rust-free hood at a
salvage yard for $100, have it painted to match and installed for another
$100 (tops), and be happy that your biggest problem on a 5-year-old car is a
rusty hood. Take better care of the next hood -- buy a $4 bottle of touch
up paint, and inspect/apply carefully after having the car washed.

But that advice won't be followed. Why? Because the OP is trying to find
somebody other than himself who is responsible for repairing the problem.
And instead of just sucking it up and paying to have it fixed, he admits
that he'd rather put everyone else on the road in danger by continuing to
drive the thing with a latch that might fail. All over a matter of a couple
hundred bucks.

Sheesh. People will go to the ends of the earth to avoid paying for the
damage caused by their own negligence. Unfortunately, that's about every
third idiot that drives into a service department.

--Geoff
 
If it is on the leading edge of hood. It is caused by road rash! And since
the customer did not fix the paint chips it is rusting. SO guess what! DC is
not liable, PINHEAD!
 
I look at minor road rash like this as character for the
vehicle. :)

Wuss. Live with the few dents.
 
<< Why don't you take your litigation and initiate sticking it up your ass. >>

____Reply Separator_____

Thanks Steve B., I'm sure that's the intelligent reply that the OP was looking
for in answer to a perfectly OK question.
Click to expand...
So on Tuesday night the OP's car was fine and Wednesday morning he
came out to find the dang hood so rusted that he's afraid the hood
latch is going to fail? No...

The car's been rusting for a long time.. He ignored it. Now he wants
someone to sue. 'Course in the meantime he keeps driving the car
after stating that the rust is so bad the hood latch could fail. Why
should he be a bit inconvenienced? After all It's just your wife and
kids out there sharing the road with him.

You can continue to coddle the morons of the world if you wish but I'm
not going to pat him on the head and say "don't you worry about that
rusty hood you just go sue that big old meanie Chrysler". He didn't
take care of his car and now it has a rust problem. Tough poo (see I
tried to be nice that time)

Steve B.
 
Dear Steve B:

You sound like an asshole, but I'm going to give you a couple minutes of my
time anyway.

My gripe is that the pinch weld was never sealed at the factory and I don't
feel liable for paying for a defect that wasn't my fault, especially when
the Owner's Manual says that rust is covered under warranty if it's on a
painted surface. Those are the manufacturer's words, not mine. This isn't
road
rash, this is moisture trapped within the interior suface at the pinch weld
which has now rusted
through to the exterior surface. I'm not the first Stratus owner with this
problem and
would prefer not to re-invent the wheel if someone else has already
approached Chrysler
on this issue.

Initiating litigation does not mean to automatically progress to a lawsuit,
but I guess you wanted to sound cool and make me sound like someone who
would sue McDonald's for getting hot coffee dumped in their lap. I'm
guessing you have no legal experience or else you would have provided an
intelligent responce. So do me a favor and logoff, put down your Old
Milwalkee and go back to the bowling alley where you belong.

BTW, to the rest of you who provided me with helpfull responces, thank you.
Getting a used hood from the bone yard may be a good idea.

Keven
 
Dear Steve B:

You sound like an asshole, but I'm going to give you a couple minutes of my
time anyway.
Click to expand...

Yes I am an asshole when people come out of the gate talking about
litigation. I can't get a cup of hot coffee because some idiot will
spill it on their twat and sue. I have to pay extra thousands for my
new car because some idiot is going to sue in five years because the
car ran out of gas.

Yes I am an asshole when people continue to drive cars that by their
own admission are unsafe because they would rather put the life of my
loved ones at risk than be inconvenienced.

Thank you for the gift of a couple of your minutes. I will cherish
them forever.

Steve B.
 
Your owners manual has the process to resolve complaints such as this.

I don't know why the others responding to you are being the way they are, they
must be Chrysler Lemmings. You have the right under your warranty to get that
issue (as you described it) repaired under Chrysler's warranty.
 
First, this is a common rust area on the stratus (cloud cars).

Second,
here is the warranty statement from the dodge website for all models. You
need to waite for a hole from the back to the front.

A. Description of Coverage

This warranty covers the cost of all parts and labor

needed to repair or replace any sheet metal panels

that get holes from rust or other corrosion. If a

hole occurs because of something other than

corrosion, this warranty does not apply. Cosmetic

or surface corrosion - resulting, for example, from

stone chips or scratches in the paint - is not covered.

KS
 
There is arbitration information in the back of your instruction manual.
You should also ask to talk to the district rep. Regarding the McDonald's
coffee case, you might be interested in knowing that the judge was an
extremely conservative Nixon appointee who later wrote that McDonald's got
exactly what they deserved. The woman who was injured required multiple
skin graphs and wrote McDonalds asking for medical reimbursement. When that
did not work she sued. It came out that McDonald's had received thousands
of complaints of burns from their overly hot coffee. The machines were
designed that way so people would still have hot coffee after eating their
burgers and frieds. McDonald's did not want them to return to the order
desk to order coffee after eating their meal so they made their coffee super
hot. Not any more.
 
I learned my lesson after the 76 Aspen fiasco. The fenders rusted out
prematurely and I switched over to Japanese makes since that time and have
been elated with the quality!
 
THen why are you wasting evryones time in the Chrysler Group Wanker! Go to
the Japanese websites!
 
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