Cracks in roof at top of door....common?

[kcobean]

So my car seems to have some paint cracking going on right where the roof curves in to the window seal. Is this common? Here are a few pictures:

You must be registered for see images

.

You must be registered for see images

Is this symptomatic of a larger issue?

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

I havent heard of that being a problem, has the car been wrecked before?

 

[99 R/T 10]

Did you get a carfax and an inspection prior? Also, did your nissan sell? That was a very nice car

 

[DodgeViper01]

Wow. I have never seen that before.

 

[santo]

I actually produced these hair-line cracks (just under the headlights) on my front fascia when I stretched it a little too much during my re-installation once. I'm not sure if you have an RT/10 or GTS but perhaps someone stood on the roof at some point? If it's a removable hardtop, perhaps someone ran over it accidently?

Just a thought,
Santo

 

[plumcrazy]

was it ever in an accident maybe ?

 

[C O D Y]

I've never seen that on a viper! There has to be more to the story. Did you buy it used and was it inspected by a certified viper tech?

 

[androbud]

I've seen that on an old gen 2 camaro before. Maybe it's from some hard track launches or whipping it sideways. I would think the viper is more stiff than an old camaro though because it's frame.

???

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

Only my opinion, but I have painted a bunch of cars. Repaint with the paint put on too thick, a little vibation from door slamming or rough roads, railroad tracks and cracking occurs. Back off a bit and take another picture, I can't tell exactly where you are with that. Carfax done?

 

[Jeff Torrey]

My hardtop has a simliar condition. I agree with Lee, the body flexed from driving and the paint didn't. Doesn't mean the car has been abused.

I tightened my hardtop down to tight resulting in my problem.

 

[Big Medicine]

It's a GTS where the familiar weather stripping problems occur on the 96. You can see the black plastic part of the door in the pics.

 

[hemibeep]

yep, mine had it from the wreck I assume. Roof was nearly ripped off and this was the flex point.
I hope this wasn't your case

 

[kcobean]

The car has a clean carfax and is clean in the Dodge system (Per Chuck Tator). It's a GTS.

Lee, the cracks in that picture are taken right at the edge of the roof where the top of the windows are, about 3-6 inches up from the rear window guide.

Here's a picture...the red oval is the area where the cracks are located. The passengers side is worse than the driver side.

You must be registered for see images

 

[vipeuup]

well, I figured it this way. Gen2s are all hand prepped, and hand sprayed/painted. Process, looks the same as your local body shop. So theres bound to be flaws. making each car unique. Like on my 97 B&W GTS, you can see faint wet/sanding marks on the hood under flourescents. Or sometimes you will see tiny bubbles in the clear. Ect, ect.. Carfax checked out ok, and no reports from dealer records whatsoever. Thats just the way these cars are.

 

[BDZ1984]

those cracks are not from factory flaws... something has been flexed on that car to make the roof crack like that

 

[kcobean]

I guess the big question is, is the roof panel itself damaged, or is this just a paint issue? Since we'll never know what caused it, the only thing left is how to deal with it. Are there any other indicators of frame flexing that I can/should check for to make sure that the frame is true?

 

[BDZ1984]

the frame on our cars is very very hard to flex.... Did you say in a previous post that the car was not a factory striped car? If not then who ever did the stripes could have done a bad prep job causing the paint to flex with normal bumps and such... This would only be true if they cleared the whole panel when doing the stripes..
let me know if I can be of any help as I run a Collision Repair shop and we do alot of DFW Vipers
-Brian

 

[2MANYTOYS]

I guess the big question is, is the roof panel itself damaged, or is this just a paint issue? Since we'll never know what caused it, the only thing left is how to deal with it. Are there any other indicators of frame flexing that I can/should check for to make sure that the frame is true?

Have you called the place where you bought it from yet??? That would be the first thing I'd do. Make them take it back. You were real patient with them. Sorry your having to deal with this ********, I would be furious.

 

[kcobean]

the frame on our cars is very very hard to flex.... Did you say in a previous post that the car was not a factory striped car? If not then who ever did the stripes could have done a bad prep job causing the paint to flex with normal bumps and such... This would only be true if they cleared the whole panel when doing the stripes..
let me know if I can be of any help as I run a Collision Repair shop and we do alot of DFW Vipers
-Brian

Thanks Brian. Correct, the stripes are not factory. I can actually feel the cracks if I run a finger-nail over them, so they don't appear to be "under" the clear coat. Other than some overspray at the windshield, I think you'd be hard-pressed to tell that these stripes are not factory, but I couldn't imagine they'd re-paint the entire roof.

I'm thinking I'm going to be looking for a shop that can sand/repaint this area. These cracks are gonna get on my nerves. Not exactly what I expected out of a $65K car.

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Have you called the place where you bought it from yet??? That would be the first thing I'd do. Make them take it back. You were real patient with them. Sorry your having to deal with this ********, I would be furious.

I've gotta agree. You paid too much money for a car with flaws like this. I'd be concerned why the cracks are there in the 1st place. I wonder if maybe the stripes were added when the car was having to be totally repainted for some reason. Sorry dude, you've been so patient to have to still be dealing with crap like this

 

[twinturbo3150]

did you notice the cracks upon looking at the car before purchase, or was it a site unseen purchase?

 

[BDZ1984]

the frame on our cars is very very hard to flex.... Did you say in a previous post that the car was not a factory striped car? If not then who ever did the stripes could have done a bad prep job causing the paint to flex with normal bumps and such... This would only be true if they cleared the whole panel when doing the stripes..
let me know if I can be of any help as I run a Collision Repair shop and we do alot of DFW Vipers
-Brian

Thanks Brian. Correct, the stripes are not factory. I can actually feel the cracks if I run a finger-nail over them, so they don't appear to be "under" the clear coat. Other than some overspray at the windshield, I think you'd be hard-pressed to tell that these stripes are not factory, but I couldn't imagine they'd re-paint the entire roof.


the crack wouldnt be under the clear... What appears to be cracking is the clear it self.. if who ever did the stripes did them the correct way they would have laid down the stripes then recleard the entire panel.... this leaves me to think that they didnt do a good job preping the surface before the clear.. thus normal twists and bumps had a much wosre effect....
if you like call me tomorrow and I can explain more about the processes and such over the phone. much easier than typing all this
brian
2144971082
I'm thinking I'm going to be looking for a shop that can sand/repaint this area. These cracks are gonna get on my nerves. Not exactly what I expected out of a $65K car.

 

[kcobean]

I spoke with the dealer this morning about this, and as I would have expected (and maybe not unreasonably), they are regretful but unwilling to help, and of course laughed at the idea of taking the car back.

In their defense, they had to have Doug Levin do several thousand dollars worth of work on this car to make it run right. I know for sure that this sale cost them money between the work at DLM and the transport costs, which they paid.

So, it looks like I'm going to have a body shop take a look at the roof on this thing and see what we can figure out.

 

[EllowViper]

Interesting discussion/issue. I'll have to keep an eye on that area of mine since I just re-cleared the entire hood, roof, rear surround/bumpers after doing the stripes/roof scoop. I did add the flex agent however...

 

[Blue Pilot]

Did you talk to Doug Levin at all about your car? If you have not, then this would be my next step, as he knows his Vipers in and out, and would notice something not so obvious to the rest of us.

Good luck and sorry to hear about your troubles.

 

[99 R/T 10]

I spoke with the dealer this morning about this, and as I would have expected (and maybe not unreasonably), they are regretful but unwilling to help, and of course laughed at the idea of taking the car back.

In their defense, they had to have Doug Levin do several thousand dollars worth of work on this car to make it run right. I know for sure that this sale cost them money between the work at DLM and the transport costs, which they paid.

So, it looks like I'm going to have a body shop take a look at the roof on this thing and see what we can figure out.

It doesn't matter what it cost them, that is not your concern. It is their fidicuary duty as a business to make it right if the car was presented without any problems. I would file in small claims court with all the documentation (Assuming they are in your area). $65K! That car should have been perfect and I bet they made $8K on that deal. If they are out of state, get a lawyer.

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

It doesn't matter what it cost them, that is not your concern. It is their fidicuary duty as a business to make it right if the car was presented without any problems. I would file in small claims court with all the documentation (Assuming they are in your area). $65K! That car should have been perfect and I bet they made $8K on that deal. If they are out of state, get a lawyer.

I second all that!

 

[kcobean]

It doesn't matter what it cost them, that is not your concern. It is their fidicuary duty as a business to make it right if the car was presented without any problems. I would file in small claims court with all the documentation (Assuming they are in your area). $65K! That car should have been perfect and I bet they made $8K on that deal. If they are out of state, get a lawyer.

I second all that!

As do I. Not that the numbers matter (as stated, it's not my concern. I'm also not defending them, I'm trying to remain objective), but I can account for at least $6 or $7 K that a) they spent trying to make sure the car was right, and b) that I was compensated for the delays resulting from that work. At some point, I'd draw a line in the sand too.

Anyway, the salesman told me that nobody there noticed the cracks, which I don't know if I believe, but I can see how they'd be overlooked. If you weren't being an anal new Viper owner, you might not catch 'em.

I only have one course of action now anyway which is to deal with the problem, so I'm not going to let this ruin the Viper experience. The car may have a few minor flaws, but I'm enjoying it and all the ooh's and aah's it gets. The car has torque like I've never experienced, and corners beautifully. God, I almost sound like an optimist...

Anyway, I'm gonna see what the local shop has to say about this and go from there.

 

[Mr Hemi Head]

I had the pleasure of meeting Kelly, for the first time, the day after delivery and thought his car was very nice. The cracks were not noticed until he pointed them out to me. Based on it's previous life I did not expect it to be in the same condition as my yellow bee that was purchased new.

During the test drive his car felt strong, the driveline is quieter than my car with no whine or engine lifter noise. With it's stock exhaust this stuff would be easily detected.

Since returning the car is not an option spending money on fixing the problem instead of lawyer fees is a better option IMHO. From personal experience the route through the courts can be expensive and frustrating.

Kelly has an open invitation to put the car on my lift to throughly inspect the bottom side. Come on over Kelly.