[mlaukhuf]

I have a Ruby red Pacifica with close to 19K on it and am having a problem with the paint getting blasted off the rocker panels of the van. It is really bad under the driver/passenger door and then at the rear right in front of the rear wheels. It's also starting to get above the rockers and onto the doors a little. At this rate, there will be no paint left at 40k. I took it to the dealer and they took pictures and they are sending it to Chrysler to see what they say. It looks like the way they are designed, they are going to catch all the debris coming off the tires and there should have been some type of protective film used. I have had the flaps on since new, and that's not helping much. I am curious if anyone else has noticed this problem yet or not. I think I am going to have to look into the running boards to keep the paint on this van. So far, other than that, I have loved the van and have had very little problems with it.

 

[ezdays]

Sitting at over 8000 miles and not a nick or ding down there. Maybe it depends on what kind of debris there's on the roads. I've been driving though a number of local street projects daily ever since we've had our Pacifica, and there's lots of dirt and stones flying around and aside from some dirt, our rocker panels look good.

 

[generaltso]

Can you post some pics of the affected areas?

 

[Gohawks1224]

I have a Ruby red Pacifica with close to 19K on it and am having a problem with the paint getting blasted off the rocker panels of the van. It is really bad under the driver/passenger door and then at the rear right in front of the rear wheels. It's also starting to get above the rockers and onto the doors a little. At this rate, there will be no paint left at 40k. I took it to the dealer and they took pictures and they are sending it to Chrysler to see what they say. It looks like the way they are designed, they are going to catch all the debris coming off the tires and there should have been some type of protective film used. I have had the flaps on since new, and that's not helping much. I am curious if anyone else has noticed this problem yet or not. I think I am going to have to look into the running boards to keep the paint on this van. So far, other than that, I have loved the van and have had very little problems with it.

You know, I have been looking at these things for almost a year before I pulled the trigger. During that time, I have had a lot of up close and personal encounters with the body of the Pacifica. I have noticed on a few vans where the paint was flawed (clear coat bubble and dripping under the wheel well) and an occasional paint and clear coat completely removed (about 1/2" was the largest mark). This was found on joining panels.

I will be going over mine with a fine tooth comb and looking for any imperfections. Most likely, if I spot one, I will refuse delivery.

 

[mlaukhuf]

Here is the drivers side rear rocker.

 

[Gohawks1224]

note to self: buy mudflaps.

Did you by chance try to wash this? Wonder how much is actual chipped paint (or clearcoat) and how much is grime from something else.

 

[mlaukhuf]

Took to the dealer and they had the detail guy try and buff it, but it didn't help. It's definitely blasted and rough.

 

[Norbert]

Is that the leading edge of the wheel or trailing edge? I thought you had the mud flaps.

 

[mlaukhuf]

Is that the leading edge of the wheel or trailing edge? I thought you had the mud flaps.

It's the leading edge in front of the rear tires.

 

[Gohawks1224]

Now that's crazy. Are you the only driver?

 

[Mike17Pac]

Driver side rear rocker panel

Here is mine at 3000 miles, not a single blemish.

 

[Mike17Pac]

Whoops, I guess the pic didn't go through the first time

 

[Mike17Pac]

What am I doing wrong that my iPhone pictures get posted upside down?

 

[JPhi]

What am I doing wrong that my iPhone pictures get posted upside down?

Some email programs and forums have an issue with the way some phones encode the orientation of the picture. There's two ways to rotate an image: re write all the pixel data in a different order, or just set a flag on the original specifying how it should be displayed. The latter method is faster and more efficient overall but can lead to confusion in some applications.

 

[mlaukhuf]

Now that's crazy. Are you the only driver?

No, my wife gets to drive occasionally :grin2:, but she doesn't go anywhere that I don't go. Maybe they had a paint issue going on on the early production models. I think this was the 2nd Pacifica at my dealer and I bought it pretty much off the truck. Does anyone know if the running boards attach to the existing rocker or do they replace the whole existing rocker panels?

 

[mlaukhuf]

Well, the first reply from Chrysler is that it's not their fault and basically it's road rash. I agree that it's road rash, I just don't think it should be that bad that fast. Put a call into Chrysler and will see if that leads anywhere. I am hoping they will put a set of running boards on and take care of it, but we will see.

 

[JPhi]

Well, the first reply from Chrysler is that it's not their fault and basically it's road rash. I agree that it's road rash, I just don't think it should be that bad that fast. Put a call into Chrysler and will see if that leads anywhere. I am hoping they will put a set of running boards on and take care of it, but we will see.

Do you live on a gravel road or something? What do you believe is getting kicked up to do all that damage?

 

[hawkfan]

You might want to consider getting some flaps installed. I put the OEM ones on my van immediately after purchase and it seems to have survived the salt/sand beating of an (albeit mild) Iowa winter unblemished.

 

[mlaukhuf]

Do you live on a gravel road or something? What do you believe is getting kicked up to do all that damage?

No gravel roads, I will go around the square mile to avoid gravel roads. It's just normal road debris like salt a grit that they put down in the winter. I have had a touch of this on other vehicles, and consider some normal, but never like this. Kind of like on my 2012 Town and Country where the edge of the rear door kind of stuck out a fraction and the road debris blasted the edge of the door off. I could just use touch up paint on the edge and all was good, but the rocker panels never were blasted off. I think how they rounded the bottom of the van underneath is just going to be the nature of the beast up here. Maybe it will be a northern states problem with the salt and grime, I don't know.

 

[mlaukhuf]

You might want to consider getting some flaps installed. I put the OEM ones on my van immediately after purchase and it seems to have survived the salt/sand beating of an (albeit mild) Iowa winter unblemished.

Have had the flaps on since day one. I am starting to wonder if it was a paint problem if no one else is seeing this going on.