[MsNomer]

I've been moving some 1/4" Luan around in the cargo area and notice it doesn't take much to scrape the paint. No inbetween--one swipe and it's bare metal. It took months of scraping heavy boxes to wear the Tundra bed this bad. Is this normal? Is the outside the same?

 

[Dwight]

I noticed the same. I don't recall scraping past primer into bare metal though. My thoughts when it happened, maybe no clear coat on the interior paint?

 

[GrassHopper]

POS. I agree with above, Also that shiny ram symbol on the steering wheel, well the silver shiny paint peeled off and not its just raw gray plastic.....Mexicans didn't put primer on anything..Mine has 50k miles on it and the back door has rust on it!!

I should have waited for the ford transit to come out. Or would have been better off importing fiat ducato.

 

[KilWerBzz]

POS. I agree with above, Also that shiny ram symbol on the steering wheel, well the silver shiny paint peeled off and not its just raw gray plastic.....Mexicans didn't put primer on anything..Mine has 50k miles on it and the back door has rust on it!!

I should have waited for the ford transit to come out. Or would have been better off importing fiat ducato.

Are you sure?
Transits have a new paint process that skips a step or two it reportedly saves time, the environment and of course money. The question is will it hold up out of the lab and on the open road.

 

[GuyT]

.Mine has 50k miles on it and the back door has rust on it!! ... Or would have been better off importing fiat ducato.

Can't agree more, me too, I would have preferred a Fiat Ducato as it sold in Europe.

Regarding the rust on the back door, is it specifically the door hinges? Because I had a bit of rust on them from day 1. Dealer told me there's not much to do about it, since it's metal on metal, but the use a grease seams to stop the rust from getting worst.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

Yea don't buy a vehicle from Mexico in fact avoid these:
Here’s a list of automotive assembly facilities in Mexico, including ones that have already broken ground but aren’t ready yet for production.

BMW AG
Bayerische Motoren Werke de México S.A. de C.V.
Toluca, State of Mexico
BMW 3 Series compact sedan
BMW 5 Series mid-sized sedan
BMW 7 Series full-sized sedan
BMW X5 mid-sized luxury SUV

DAIMLER AG
Mercedes-Benz México S. de R.L. de C.V.
Santiago Tianguistenco, State of Mexico
Freightliner trucks

Monterrey, Nuevo León state
Urban and touring buses

Saltillo, Coahuila state
Freightliner trucks

FIAT CHRYSLER AUTOMOBILES
Saltillo Truck Assembly
Saltillo, Coahuila state
Ram pickup truck

Toluca Car Assembly
Dodge Journey mid-sized crossover
Fiat 500 city car

FORD MOTOR COMPANY
Cuautitlán Stamping and Assembly Plant
Cuautitlán Izcalli, state of Mexico
Ford Fiesta supermini

Hermosillo Stamping and Assembly
Hermosillo, Sonora state
Ford Fusion mid-sized sedan
Lincoln MKZ mid-sized luxury car

GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY
San Luis Potosí Assembly
San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí state
Chevrolet Aveo subcompact cars

Silao Assembly
Silao, Guanajuato state
Chevrolet Silverado
GMC Sierra

Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila state
Opel Corsa
Chevrolet HHR station wagon
Cadillac SRX crossover (production will move to Tennessee)

HONDA MOTOR COMPANY
Honda De México S.A. de C.V.
El Salto, Jalisco state
Honda CR-V compact crossover

Celaya, Guanajuato state
Honda Fit five-door subcompact
Honda HR-V subcompact crossover

NISSAN MOTOR COMPANY
Nissan Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes, Agusacalientes state
Nissan March supermini
Nissan Versa subcompact sedan
Nissan Sentra compact car
Nissan Frontier pickup truck

Nissan Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca, Morelos state
Nissan Sentra
Nissan Versa
Nissan Frontier pickup truck
Nissan NV1200 light commercial vehicle
Nissan NV200 taxi for New York City

TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
Toyota Motor Manufacturing de Baja California S. de RL de C.V
Tijuana, Baja California Norte state
Tacoma pickup truck

VOLKSWAGEN AG
Volkswagen de México, S.A. de C.V.
Puebla, Puebla state
Jetta sedan
Golf compact five door

The list above excludes plants that make car components, like engines and chassis used by other assembly plants to build passenger vehicles.

They obviously don't know how to make cars! Chuckle!

 

[GuyT]

RDinNHandAZ, I have no doubt that the Mexican workers are skilled and well trained, but I still would have preferred a fully "debugged" Ducato instead of the adaption for the North American market. Assembled in Mexico? I wouldn't have had a problem with that.

But I guess it's the same for the Transit, I doubt that the North American version is identical to the one sold in Europe.

 

[GapRunr]

RDinNHandAZ, I have no doubt that the Mexican workers are skilled and well trained, but I still would have preferred a fully "debugged" Ducato instead of the adaption for the North American market.

Unfortunately the emissions and safety requirements of this country are stricter than in Europe, so getting a stock Ducato here was never going to happen. It was going to need a new engine, new emissions, new ECU, new exhaust, new airbags. The Promaster we get is the closest thing to a stock Ducato as you could ever get. I think that while any plant can make decent cars, the plant in Mexico was a new plant so there was probably a learning curve or two for everyone.

But I guess it's the same for the Transit, I doubt that the North American version is identical to the one sold in Europe.

Far from it. The Euro version is front wheel drive with transverse mounted engines. We get rear wheel drive with longitudinally mounted engines.

 

[stryks50]

I have a cherry red van. The paint is holding up well so far. In one place where I did get a small scratch, the paint underneath is white. I do not think it is primer but it appears they painted the red over a while van. The paint does have too much orange peel which is usually caused by a viscosity problem. Maybe not enough thinner to help the paint dry properly. I am glad I got rid of my Sprinter and bought the Promaster. I have had it for 6 months and it is great. I converted it to a camper van and have completed the job except for a couple of windows to be installed. It is the 159 inch wheelbase. I had also converted the sprinter van and it gave pretty good service. My biggest complaint was with the dealers and lack of service places.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

I still would have preferred a fully "debugged" Ducato instead of the adaption for the North American market.

I agree with you on that! Too bad it couldn't happen. BTW I have tried to find out if the engine/transmission on the diesel is shipped in from Europe? If so how different are the emissions equipment really? The current diesel standard in the EU sounds much like ours but I haven't seen information on out how much had to be done. To keep on thread interior paint is often low on the priority list for manufacturers. My maroon '83 M-B 300D had grey (primer?) in the trunk, it never was painted at all!

 

[GapRunr]

BTW I have tried to find out if the engine/transmission on the diesel is shipped in from Europe? If so how different are the emissions equipment really?

Regardless of where it was manufactured, it would have been manufactured for the specifications of the destination country. Engines made in Poland for VW's assembled in Mexico and sold in the US have US spec engines.

 

[fosterf]

I carry surfboards and wetsuits and was worried about scratching the floor and then getting rust I coated my floor with bed liner paint and now plan to put in a wood/insulation floor.

 

[MsNomer]

I'm not worried about the inside cargo area. It will be covered soon enough. I'm concerned about the outside.

 

[GuyT]

I'm not worried about the inside cargo area. It will be covered soon enough. I'm concerned about the outside.

I wouldn't worry about that. It would be quite unbelievable that Chrysler completely forgot their bad experience with the Dodge Sprinter rust problems.

Didn't we get " Fully Galvanized Steel Panels" ?

 

[uncubed]

Does the outside scratch easy? I have not tried yet.

 

[makevx73]

I carry surfboards and wetsuits and was worried about scratching the floor and then getting rust I coated my floor with bed liner paint and now plan to put in a wood/insulation floor.

Smart move with the bed liner! I thought about it but decided not to take the time after I got mine.

 

[MsNomer]

Does the outside scratch easy? I have not tried yet.

No scratches outside yet. I'm not anxious to test it.

 

[Pete's PM Plumbing]

I have a bunch of light swirls that showed up after I took it to the self wash. The bozo before me must have used the wash broom to get the mud off of his 4x4. That'll teach me for going to the car wash. My body shop manager buddy who's going to paint my gray cladding granite crystal said he'd buff it out for me. Also noticed the factory granite crystal paint job leaves a lot to be desired. From a good size run in the middle of the driver's side to the orange peel and uneven metallic all over. My buddy was laughing saying that he thought the factory's robotic paint process was supposed to be "perfect". Guess robots make mistakes too! The dealer has offered to fix the flaws, but I'm afraid the cure might be uglier than the disease if you know what I mean. I'm picturing masking lines and not quite a perfect color match.

 

[RDinNHandAZ]

It seems the early non-white vans had paint irregularities (polite term for $H1TIE) your build date might be one. I hope that issue is gone by summer at least for the Dark Cherry color or perhaps the sandtone one (color of dirt so no need to ever wash it)

 

[Pete's PM Plumbing]

It seems the early non-white vans had paint irregularities (polite term for $H1TIE) your build date might be one. I hope that issue is gone by summer at least for the Dark Cherry color or perhaps the sandtone one (color of dirt so no need to ever wash it)

Mine was ordered in May, delivered in August. Was hoping after almost a year, all of the painting and panel fitment problems would have been ironed out. It's not as bad as some of the earliest ones, but there's still much room for improvement.