Steve McBeath 
srm@pacificcoast.net
I Won My "Peeling Paint" Lawsuit Against Chrysler Canada

My year-long "peeling paint" dispute with Chrysler Canada is over. About
two months ago, I got my truck back from a local shop where the entire body
was stripped down to bare metal and repainted -- paid for entirely by
Chrysler Canada.  Last week, they repaid my court costs.  The following
article outlines my fight with them.  The bottom line is -- they won't take
you seriously until you sue.

My truck is a metallic silver-gray 1992 Dodge 3/4 ton 4X4 with the Cummins
Diesel -- a limited edition with every option except sunroof and bucket
seats. It has been used strictly for recreation -- never as a work vehicle.
It has been well maintained -- washed and waxed on a regular basis. I've
hauled an 8' camper, towed a light boat trailer, a light utility trailer,
and hauled the occasional load of firewood.  The great majority of its
125,000 kilometers are "highway kilometers".  If not for the failing paint,
this truck would still have appeared to be in "like new" condition.
  
Over the past five years, I did manage to get a few minor marks on the body
as follows:

· There were a number of small rock chips along the front rim of the
hood. Only one penetrated the undercoat, exposing bare metal and causing a
"dime-sized" dent 1 - 2 mm in depth.  At most of the "chip sites", the
colour coat was peeling away, exposing the primer.  Estimators at local
shops believed that most of these chips were due to the failing paint.
Healthy paint would not have resulted in the inordinate number of chips.
Similar chips were apparent in all body panels -- even where impact with
rock chips was nil.  There was no corresponding rock chip damage to the
front bumper or grill work. 

· On the cab roof, directly above the driver's head, there was a scuff mark
(approximately 10cm X 25cm) where the roof was chafed by an underground
parking sign.  This scuff was difficult to see, with slight marking only of
the outer colour coat.  There was no dent. 

· On the passenger-side door, there was a slight dent perhaps 5 - 10 mm deep
and 6 - 7 cm in diameter just below the window.  The was no paintdamage at
this dent. · There were two tiny dents -- difficult to see -- (less than 5 cm in
diameter -- 2 - 3 mm deep) along the top edge of the right front fender that
appear to have been made by "elbows" of people working in the engine
compartment.  There was no paint damage at these, either. 

· Along both sides of the box were numerous (several hundred) small "spots"
of missing paint, with the primer exposed.  Most of these were approximately
the size of a pin head -- less than 2 or 3 mm in diameter.  At several of
them, more paint was easily scraped away when rubbed lightly with a
fingernail.  Experts examining the truck told me they have seen this type of
paint failure in numerous Chrysler vehicles of this age and colour. 
I eventually asked the estimators from several body-shops for anestimate to
repair this damage, caused by *anything other than failing paint*.  Each
estimate suggested approximately 30 minutes of work was required.

I first noticed the failing paint while waxing the truck about 1 1/2 years
ago -- there was a strange wrinkling of the paint on the hood.  Close
examination with a magnifying glass revealed the paint was actually cracking
and starting to come loose from the undercoat.  A friend remarked that
Chrysler was having a lot of problems with peeling paint -- I found
alled an "800-number" customer service line here in Canada, for
Chrysler clients.  It took several hours to get through.  Finally, I got a
representative, and explained the situation.  She put me on hold, and called
the Service Manager in Victoria.  After several minutes, when she came back
on-line, she repeated his exact phrase -- there would be no further
assistance due to the "considerable body damage" noted on the truck. I asked
if my only recourse was to sue?  The representative said that would be up to
me, or something to that effect.  End of conversation.

So you can see what they were doing -- hoping that at this point, I'd simply
give up and go away.  I guess most people do.  The thing that was really
driving me in this whole affair, was the insufferable service manager at
Willie Dodge Chrysler, and his lofty, arrogant, holier-than-thou attitude.
I paid a visit to the local Court house and obtained a large envelope full
of information about launching a lawsuit in a Canadian Small Claims Court.

It's easy and inexpensive -- the whole process cost less than $200
(recoverable when you win).  Anyone can do it, and you don't need a lawyer.
The clerk was extremely helpful -- I could tell that she had helped a lot of
people through the process.  She explained precisely how to do a company
search, how much it would cost, how to serve the papers by registered mail,
and so forth.  I filed my suit.

A week or so later, along came a letter from Chrysler Canada's lawyer. In
this letter, they again used the Willie Dodge Chrysler Service Manager's
precise phrase "considerable damage" to the affected panels, but allowed
that "without admitting liability in any way" they may be willing to discuss
negotiating the matter.  The letter suggested I contact their western
representative.  This is what I'd asked for several months ago, in letters
and telephone calls to their customer service number.  You see how it works?
They simply won't talk to you, until you sue them.  

Finally, in their "official" response to my claim, sent off to small claims
court, they said:

· they were not liable to assist in any way

· there was insinuation the damage may be due to exposure to the elements --
airborne fallout, chemicals, tree sap, insects, etc.

· a verbatim quote, "Chrysler states that all or some of the damage to the
paint has been caused by misuse and damage to the Vehicle caused by the
Claimant or others." Unquote.

· It concluded with a statement that I should immediately dismiss my claim,
and repay Chrysler Canada their costs to date.

If it was possible to piss me off even further, this letter had done it.

I replied to their lawyer with a letter.  In it, I described the
"considerable damage" to the truck (as above), the evidence collected from
local body shops and from the internet.  I said based upon the tone of their
counter-claim for costs, it would be a waste of time talking to Chrysler's
Vancouver representative.  He would likely continue with predictable
delaying tactics and insulting offers of partial assistance.  I suggested
that we immediately arrange a date to meet in small claims court where a
judge could review the matter.  I pointed out that to date, I had kept this
matter private, but if it went to court, I would likely "go public", and get
the media involved in some way.

A week or so later, I received a call from Chrysler's representative in
Vancouver.  I was prepared to immediately cut him off, and demand a court
date.  But he seemed quite conciliatory, saying that this matter should not
have progressed this far, and that after reviewing my letter, he was keen to
get it resolved.  He suggested that I take the truck back to the service
manager at Willie Dodge Chrysler .  I guess I "exploded" at this suggestion.
After calming me down, he asked me to go to the other dealer in town,Ensign
Dodge Chrysler, giving me the name of the Service Manager there.  Icalled
him, made an appointment, and a few days later, went to see him.

This guy was OK.  His demeanor was business-like and neutral.  I sensed he
was prepared to call this either way -- in my favour if my version of the
story was correct, or to tell me "no deal" if he decided I was a BS artist.
I had myself "psyched-up" for a fairly intense confrontation -- it never
came.  He called a guy over from a local body shop to look at the truck.  It
took less than ten minutes for them to decide that it should be repainted
under warranty.  The estimator reckoned the extra cost (that I would be
liable for) to fix the "considerable body damage" would be around fifty
bucks.  We set a date for it to go in.

Ensign Dodge contract their body and paint work to a local Victoria shop --
Craftsman Collision.  I'd made a decision, that I would not allow a Chrysler
owned shop to do the work -- I simply didn't trust them.  So I checked out
Craftsman a bit, and heard good things.  I agreed to the deal.  The truck
went in on April 17 and was ready a week later.  I paid a visit during the
work, curious to see how they were doing it, and was delighted to find they
had removed every piece of body trim except the windows to access thepaint.
They had even removed the truck's box, so they could redo the paint on the
back of the cab and the front of the box.

The truck looks fantastic -- as good as new.  The paint is guaranteed for as
long as I continue to own the truck.  I am an ultra happy camper! Again, my
share of the cost, to fix the "considerable damage", was $50 plus tax.

A few days after I got the truck back, I sent a letter off to Chrysler
Canada's lawyer, asking for a cheque for costs -- that is, what I'd paid to
launch the action in Small Claim's Court, the fee for the company search,
registered mail, and that sort of thing.  Four weeks went by, and I didn't
hear from them.  So I went back to small claims court and asked to set a
date for a hearing with a judge.  By the end of that week, the letter was
there from their lawyer, agreeing to pay court costs.

I can't understand why Chrysler treats their clients this way.  To be fair
to "Dale Carnegie", the service manager from Willie Dodge Chrysler, he was
probably trained to behave like the "butthead" he was with me.  

I'm an ordinary working guy who laid out a very large pile of dough for this
truck six years ago.  It has been a damn good truck -- the best of perhaps
six vehicles I've purchased brand new since 1970.  But during the year this
altercation evolved, I swore I would never own another Chrysler product in
my life.  I told a number of people in great detail about what total jerks
Chrysler were being, and I know that I caused people to purchase vehicles
made by other manufacturers, due to the way I was being treated, and due to
general information (downloaded from the net) about Chrysler problems and tactics.

Who are the "bad guys" in this story?  First are the Chrysler executives
responsible for trying to "brow-beat" the owners of problem vehicles into
giving up on their claims.  That is to say, telling them there is nothing
more that can be done, when in fact, there is plenty that can be done. The
next bad guy is the Service Manager from Willie Dodge Chrysler. Thanks to
his insulting, bumbling, incompetence, this story has now been told all over
the world via the internet.  If he had simply leveled with me, and
negotiated in some way, at that point I probably would have agreed to a
50/50 split for the work (something I'd suggested during our meeting).

So did my conscience bother me as I pushed the "send" button to postthis
article? After all, Chrysler Canada paid for everything I asked for--the
truck looks like the day it "rolled off the showroom floor".  A couple of
strangers have spontaneously complimented me on my "new truck".  No, it
didn't bother me a bit.  They tried to cheat me out of this paint-job, and
they are actively cheating others across North America out of theirs.
Chrysler executives are bottom-feeders in the corporate pool. 
 
Go after the bastards -- you'll probably win!
Steve
Victoria, B.C.