Dodge Demon Paint Issues have made owners angry enough to launch a class action
According to Car Complaints, Dodge should've recalled the Demon owing to several owners' claims that their cars' hood scoops are suffering from factory paint cracks and chips.
The Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, often simply called the Demon is quite the urban legend among enthusiasts. A factory-controlled top speed of 168 miles per hour and a quarter-mile sprint of just 9.65 seconds, is after all, not that easy to achieve. The power to pull this pony to across the finish comes from a massive, 840hp and 770lb-ft, 6.2 litre supercharged V8, but with great power comes great responsibility, eh Uncle Ben? So Dodge had to fit the Demon with a trademark 45-square-inch “functional AirGrabber hood scoop” to keep the engine from melting itself.
The demon then may seem to you that it’s invincible in a straight line and mostly it is, except for a potential factory defect. The limited-production muscle car is like any mainstream OEM vehicle in regards to recalls. However, at least in this case, Dodge has not issued one and that has made Demon owners very angry.
According to Car Complaints, Dodge should’ve recalled the Demon owing to several owners’ claims that their cars’ hood scoops are suffering from factory paint cracks and chips. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Demon owners and lessees in California, claims the problem is a result of a “flimsy insert that expands and contracts when the Class Vehicle is used, which results in a sagging, buckling, bulging, and vibrating insert.” This warps the insert and then causes the chipping and cracking.
FCA has issued service bulletin 23-033-19 for the said complaints even before the lawsuit was filed. The service calls for a “smaller, non-original hood scoop bezel, which is the only part of the Demon AirGrabber that is visible from the outside.” But this service bulletin is said to be inadequate, according to the complainants. Moreover, FCA allegedly denies the hood defects and fails to honour warranties. Owners, apart from obviously being pissed for having paint issues on a relatively new car in 2020, are also forced to shell out money for the repair costs- for repairs that shouldn’t have been needed in the first place.
