The Gen III and Gen IV inside door trim contains a "surround" around the door latch used to open the door. It has been reported by many that over time that the very thin layer of what seems like an almost rubberized paint starts to peel.
Good news! It is not necessary to replace the whole door panel to fix this problem. Find a local high end auto upholsterer. PPG makes a product that produces the same coating ( probably what was used originally since PPG makes products for OEM parts). So all the upholsterer, who should have this product, has to do is carefully remove whatever has not peeled off and then resurface the surround with the PPG. I had this done today to my driver side latch surround and it looks identical to the right side which had no peeling. Cost? $85.00. Savings? The panel itself is $600 or more if you can locate one ( The price from Chrysler is much,much higher) and the labor to take off the old panel and put on a new one would probably be more than $200 since it is a tough job to do without breaking the panel.
Good news! It is not necessary to replace the whole door panel to fix this problem. Find a local high end auto upholsterer. PPG makes a product that produces the same coating ( probably what was used originally since PPG makes products for OEM parts). So all the upholsterer, who should have this product, has to do is carefully remove whatever has not peeled off and then resurface the surround with the PPG. I had this done today to my driver side latch surround and it looks identical to the right side which had no peeling. Cost? $85.00. Savings? The panel itself is $600 or more if you can locate one ( The price from Chrysler is much,much higher) and the labor to take off the old panel and put on a new one would probably be more than $200 since it is a tough job to do without breaking the panel.
