Severe Bubbling Paint and Out of Warranty

[Idratherbeinmoab]

Hi All. New guy here, with my first post. Been a member since Last November when I took delivery of my '21 JTM. Not new to Jeeping however. Have had a CJ-7, XJs, a JKU sport, a JKW 2dr and now my JT. So I'm back in the fold after a six year "vacation" driving a Ram 1500. Loved it, but hey - I'm a Jeep guy and always have been. Before I bore you all with the details of my plight let me say a huge thanks to to the group for the invaluable help you've been since November. You're threads have guided me through ESS aux battery issues; getting and installing a Tazer Mini and many minor details that never used to be issues with my JK and older units. anyway, THANK YOU!!
So here's my dilemma. As I said, I bought my '21 JTM in November of 2025. The paint was pristine! Snazzberry I believe I've seen the color referred to. Nary a blemish save the odd scratch and wear typical of a 4+ year old truck that has seen off road use. Absolutely NO bubbling paint however. To my horror, a small patch developed around one door hinge January this year. Now its everywhere, with new bubbles appearing almost daily. (Except the hood, which I suspect was replaced by the PO cuz its a 392 hood - I have the 3.6 Pentstar.) I have been to the selling CDJR dealer, my local CDJR dealer whom I trust as they've always been straight shooters. I have called Jeep Cares. Alas, I'm out of luck. Too far out of warranty. The Jeep Cares peeps were the least helpful, by the way. My questions: Is there anything I can do to stop/slow the corrosion process? Will changing out the hinges to aluminum and painting behind them help? My quote to repair the whole truck is $6,000ish. Does anyone have any experience and suggestions with less expensive solutions? All of this said, I LOVE my JT and cant wait to get it out to Moab next year! Thanks for humoring me folks! Sorry to be so windy.

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[Hootbro]

Is the $6K quote the dealership body shop estimate? I would be shopping around getting other quotes regardless.

 

[Idratherbeinmoab]

Yes, and shopping around is my plan for sure.

 

[agoldxj]

I dealt with this same scenario on my 21, luckily at the time the dealer I worked for had a good body shop so I got everything for cost. I put on new hinges which were painted on both sides, the doors were repaired, sealed and repainted, they also did the tailgate as there was some starting on the bottom lip. I was out like 1400 bucks employee cost. Kicker is my a Jeep is originally from Canada so no warranty applies here.

 

[Idratherbeinmoab]

Quite the rocket scientist at FCA in 2017 who said "Let's put magnesium hinges on bare aluminum. Shouldn't be a problem." I'm no metallurgist, but mixing metals is a recipe for trouble.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Sand it down and bedline it yourself. Kit costs about $300 and extra materials might be another $300 if you get pricey stuff.

 

[Idratherbeinmoab]

Have you got a link for the kit? Guessing it has replacement hinges included?

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

Have you got a link for the kit? Guessing it has replacement hinges included?

Nah no hinges. What would happen if you POR15 that whole area? Basically creat a barrier between the parts.

 

[Lost1wing]

Hi All. New guy here, with my first post. Been a member since Last November when I took delivery of my '21 JTM. Not new to Jeeping however. Have had a CJ-7, XJs, a JKU sport, a JKW 2dr and now my JT. So I'm back in the fold after a six year "vacation" driving a Ram 1500. Loved it, but hey - I'm a Jeep guy and always have been. Before I bore you all with the details of my plight let me say a huge thanks to to the group for the invaluable help you've been since November. You're threads have guided me through ESS aux battery issues; getting and installing a Tazer Mini and many minor details that never used to be issues with my JK and older units. anyway, THANK YOU!!
So here's my dilemma. As I said, I bought my '21 JTM in November of 2025. The paint was pristine! Snazzberry I believe I've seen the color referred to. Nary a blemish save the odd scratch and wear typical of a 4+ year old truck that has seen off road use. Absolutely NO bubbling paint however. To my horror, a small patch developed around one door hinge January this year. Now its everywhere, with new bubbles appearing almost daily. (Except the hood, which I suspect was replaced by the PO cuz its a 392 hood - I have the 3.6 Pentstar.) I have been to the selling CDJR dealer, my local CDJR dealer whom I trust as they've always been straight shooters. I have called Jeep Cares. Alas, I'm out of luck. Too far out of warranty. The Jeep Cares peeps were the least helpful, by the way. My questions: Is there anything I can do to stop/slow the corrosion process? Will changing out the hinges to aluminum and painting behind them help? My quote to repair the whole truck is $6,000ish. Does anyone have any experience and suggestions with less expensive solutions? All of this said, I LOVE my JT and cant wait to get it out to Moab next year! Thanks for humoring me folks! Sorry to be so windy.

Did you confirm the the corrosion warranty has expired? My understanding is the it starts when the vehicle is first sold and not when manufactured. So it depends on when the vehicle was purchased by the original owner. Carfax could potentially show when it was first registered/ sold. The dealer will not tell you this information!

5 year

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

Did you confirm the the corrosion warranty has expired? My understanding is the it starts when the vehicle is first sold and not when manufactured. So it depends on when the vehicle was purchased by the original owner. Carfax could potentially show when it was first registered/ sold. The dealer will not tell you this information!

5 year

Correct, 5 years and unlimited mileage from the original date is was sold.

My 2021 has until May this year to get fixed. I have to get it in ASAP.

 

[agoldxj]

The new hinges are updated and have a coating on the back, we painted over them anyways so this crap doesn’t happen again.

 

[Idratherbeinmoab]

Correct, 5 years and unlimited mileage from the original date is was sold.

My 2021 has until May this year to get fixed. I have to get it in ASAP.

Thanks for this. I've got more research to do.

 

[Idratherbeinmoab]

So I'm circling back to let folks know what my research turned up and what my plan is moving forward. Hopefully this info will be of use to someone down the road in my situation. I'm in pretty much the same boat as agoldxj except that instead of being of Canadian origin, my waraanty was voided last year by the PO for doing a "modification" that Stellantis didn't like. So. My short term plan is to replace the hinges with aluminum ones. But i'm going to POR15 (or similar) the bare metal and paint it first. Thanks, Bandit's Lair. Second I'm going to hang the doors in the garage and run with the soft doors until November when the snow flies again. In the meantime, I'll shop the job around for estimates. Thanks for the input, folks. I miss my CJ.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

So I'm circling back to let folks know what my research turned up and what my plan is moving forward. Hopefully this info will be of use to someone down the road in my situation. I'm in pretty much the same boat as agoldxj except that instead of being of Canadian origin, my waraanty was voided last year by the PO for doing a "modification" that Stellantis didn't like. So. My short term plan is to replace the hinges with aluminum ones. But i'm going to POR15 (or similar) the bare metal and paint it first. Thanks, Bandit's Lair. Second I'm going to hang the doors in the garage and run with the soft doors until November when the snow flies again. In the meantime, I'll shop the job around for estimates. Thanks for the input, folks. I miss my CJ.

Was it wrecked with body damage? Wondering what would void the paint warranty.

 

[Idratherbeinmoab]

Was it wrecked with body damage? Wondering what would void the paint warranty.

No not wrecked. The PO must have taken it to a dealer for something with a Tazer insstalled and the aux battery deleted. I argued until I was blue in the face with Jeep Cares that a mechanical/electrical modification shouldn't void the entire warranty. But the dude was not giving in. I think Stellantis just doesn't give a crap. BTW, my JTM is the same color as yours. You have excellent taste! LOL!

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