My 2013 R/T went to the body shop for the replacement of the black tail light panel. When the rear bumper section was completely removed to do this & then reinstalled, however not as strait as it was from the factory. My body line on driver side does not line up & I see other challengers in the lot that they don't either but they should have been more careful. I DID notice that the seams that are made when the plastic bumper/facia joins the metal quarter panels there is now an open space that water can get into and I want to know if your challengers have a seal from the factory that closes this small gap as I don't remember if mine did. I see on other panels & part of the rear section join tightly & other sections have a tiny gap. IS this normal or did the body shop do a sloppy job and do these small gap lines need to be sealed ? Bert
Sloppy job. They probably broke the retaining clips when removing it and didnt replace them with properly working clips. It lines up for about a minute then a gap forms for the rest of its life. Take it back and complain. The clips hold the seam tight like DODGE intended. My 2009 Mustang had the clips and after a bumper replacement, the broken clips were not replaced and a gap formed the first time it was driven off the body shop lot. I fought and fought with them over the broken/missing clips and the gap that formed on the way home. They finally said "that is the best we can do" and sent me on my way. Its fully sealed under the bumper covers. The bumper covers do not perform any body sealing functions. No worry there. Now for the sloppy work look...
I was sent a survey from dodge & I said what I have said in some of my posts & got a call from Dodge corporate 30 minutes later. She said she had seen the pictures the dealer took and said my hood does not look right gap wise especially the front hood to bumper gao. she said corporate WILL be calling both the dealer AND the body shop who did the work I will post any news I hear. I said the body shop told me that's the best they can do & with the large rolls at the edges of the bumper nose from too much paint/clearcoat running down & gathering at the edges when they took the front bumper off and painted it face up and that is why the edges have a thick "line" that runs along the edge where it meets the fenders. She asked if I wanted another body shop to give it a try and I said the body shop who did the work said if they tried to remove the thick paint rolls along the edge of the plastic it would severly damage the plastic so she is seeing WHAT she wants to do, when I said compensation is what I want for a new car having both the front AND rear bumper sections removed & re installed will severly impact my cars value & some one "if they were buying it" would be very suspicious of WHY both front & rear sections had to be removed & re installed, it looks wrong period. I said I wanted the Mopar cat back exhaust and cold air intake installed FREE, she said if the parts are aftermarket from someone other than Chrysler she couldn't do it BUT, I told her that these WERE MOPAR PARTS & she said well that's different then. So maybe she will arrange that for me as it sounds like they want to keep me happy. corporate tells the dealers what to do and id chrylser wants to pay for it then the dealer must do what they are told is my understanding.
They gave me 5 years of free oil filter & lube & they said 2 per year or how many you want to do per year but the oil change deal allows for a total of 10 oil changes. I don't drive the challenger that much & I keep it in the garage. I make sure I drive it at least once a week & start it every 2 days & let it idle for 5 minutes. Bert
Oil changes cost them nothing. You got screwed in a nice way. I would want my bumpers fixed to OEM standards.
