Passenger Door and Fender Rubbing and Chipping Door Paint

[broncodream]

My passenger door does not make contact with the fender but it is very close to make contact when I open the door. It is much closer than the driver side. I missed it when I took delivery of the vehicle or I would have asked about it. Fortunately it does not make contact at the moment. I have not looked to see if the door or the fender could be adjusted to widen the clearance closer to what the driver side shows.

The shop owner who did my ceramic says he used to own a body shop. His theory is that the front passenger fender is too far back and not even with the drivers side fender by a mil or 2. It seems reasonable, but def not my area of expertise. I've been told by several people including a few on this thread that will be an easy job for a reputable body shop. I don't doubt it, but paying for this myself is tough bridge to cross. Not there yet.

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[broncodream]

I'd look at the fender bolts to see if there are witness marks from being adjusted or moved. Could've happened at the plant and they did a quick fix or might have arrived at the dealer like that and it's anyone's guess what went down.

Compare gap from side to side and around the door itself. I don't think there's a spec but they should be fairly equal. If it's still close to touching, may require both a fender and door adjustment depending on where the issue is. If it's not through the paint yet, the OE touch-up pen has color and clear. I would try to fix adjustment problem first then do everything possible to avoid repainting as there's a high probability, even with a good painter, it won't match the adjacent panels exactly and end up blending or doing the whole side.

So I've heard. You're echoing what some body people have told me. It's super disheartening to hear this about a brand new vehicle that hasn't been in accident. I'm sure I'll have to take to a body shop to ensure proper alignment. And I agree about the paint not matching. I'll have to get someone to touch it up as well. Too bad. I'm almost over it.

 

[Dan-O]

That's the mystery and yet another reason Ford will reject fixing it. I know how this sounds. Clear signs of rubbing, but not currently rubbing. Clear signs of touched up chips, but now there are newer untouched chips. I'm pretty sure there's no way the dealer will admit they touched it up (or the port maybe?) and def will not take responsibility due to mileage, how long I've had it and the mysterious on again off again issue. I'm working up to just dealing with it on my own, but not a good feeling considering how much these POS's cost to purchase.

Sorry to hear the detailed issues. That is mysterious. Just try to make sure you have a reputable body shop to get the alignment of panels correct before repairing chips. FYI body shop or a good mobile paint repair person can touch up those chips and wet sand and polish the area and will look new again. It’s very unfortunate you found this after taking delivery of vehicle. Best of luck!!

 

[Canyon Coolers]

This exact kind of damage can happen when you start jumping/sending your Bronco. Its not clear from the picture but the damage I have seen on some has the fender gaping and pushing outward from the seem toward the top of the fender. I assume down and inward toward the bottom of the fender.

Its from tires impacting the metal fender or in aftermarket cases metal fender flares.

I am not suggesting you went flying in your 8 week old Bronco, but you may have to defend yourself from that accusation or provide more context in your photography. Good luck, I'd just use touch up paint myself. Found a very small area on my door that had been touched up before purchase on mine.

 

[broncodream]

Kind of looks like someone (dealer?) may have already tried to touch those up:

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[broncodream]

afsdf

Hi All,

I'm hoping to get some advice on an issue I'm having with my new Bronco and of course the worthless dealership and Ford.

I purchased a brand new 2023 Ford Bronco 2 months ago. I'm am not an expert in auto manufacturing, but there appears to be either a manufacturer defect or some other issue that is causing the passenger side door to rub against the passenger side fender and chip the paint. So far the dealership has refused to help. Aside from refusing to help or call me back they've managed to refer me to their collision shop. I've just contacted @Ford this morning, but I hold out very little hope they'll do anything. I've attached some pics.

Have any of you experienced ill fitting panels that have rubbed together and chopped the paint? What would you do?

The options I've been given so far are:

1. have it touched up with basic tough up paint
2. bring it to the dealer owned collision shop and deal with (pay for it myself)
3. open a ticket with Ford if it's a manufacturer defect .. the dealer is claiming I have to deal with Ford

I've only just started to try to figure this out. I don't think that suing is the right move as It would cost much more in lawyer fees and heartache for me. Any constructive thoughts are welcome. Thanks.

UPDATE: Ford CS called the dealer and like magic the dealer called me immediately to set up a service appoint. I'm happy to say that as of this morning the dealer has taken responsibility (not sure if they are submitting it as a warranty claim or paying for it out of their pocket) but they are sending it the body shop for door/fender realignment and paint correction. I'm def shocked. And I'm in wait and see mode, but so far so good.

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