I'm one of those guys whose grill has been afficted with that problem where the clear coating is peeling off the front grill. I'd like to just get mine painted the body color, but when I took it to the local body shop they were willing to paint the tooth portion but told me the side portions were too detailed...meaning they could not get in between the small pieces and sand it properly, plus they were worried about actually rounding off some the small pieces. I know some of you have had this done. Did they sand the entire grill for you prior to painting? or did they just paint over the chrome finish? Thanks.

 

u know this is a warranty item? if they deny you, then i would upgrade. painting will cause more peeling. unless you thoroughly prep (why they said detailed) and add a good flex agent.
some have painted but haven't commented recently on current status. look for the old threads.

 

Im planning on doing the same, this is what i did...

go on ebay, look for a used OEM grille.. $30-$40... do whatever you feel like doing to it and always have your original at home all shiney and clean

this way if anything goes wrong, its just a used grille. Im taking the grille and the lip spoiler i finally got in for a paint. Why did you choose to take it to a local body shop and not the dealer? Are they cheaper? What about the paint? Let me know...

 

I painted mine in a 4 step process that took days and it got so chipped up I took it off after a week.

 

it don't matter what you do in this case... paint the original for it to get chipped again or get a chrome aftermarket one and have that get chipped by rocks also...

there isn't a rock chip proof grille out there so no matter wich way you go you are still facing the prob..

so IMO to go the cheapest way.. if painting the oem is cheaper than a trenz or any chrome grill thats the way I would go..

my 02..

 

just got back from the dealer. took her in for a few minor things one including slightly peeling/chipped grille. Well she got a new smile. So if I need another one before 36k so be it. Once warranty is up then I'll prob. get black mesh if needed.

 

I'm going to paint it also, so i'll prob just look for a 3m plastic like the clear bra and put it over the middle part of the grill to avoid some damage...

 

wait, they warrantied it? I thought it fell under the 12k cosmetic warranty?

 

well i'm at 13,600. supposed to be under 36k as fas as i knew. but it was mentioned that the extended warranty does not cover items like interior trim.

 

Please clarify. My grille and front has the clear coat degradation that has been mentioned above. My 2005 SL has about 14,000 miles. If the clear coat issue is covered under warranty, what is the remedy? Do they just re-clear coat it or do they put a different, better clear coat on the grille? Also, is there a different warranty time/mileage range for issues such as this that is different than the otherwise 36 month/36K miles?

 

Hello all, n00b here. I would also like to know about how they remedy this at the dealership. Just this past weekend I traded my Jeep Grand Cherokee in for a '04 liquid silver Max SL for my wife, now I have taken over her 2002 SE. We took a short trip in the "new" car yesterday and I stopped by the local coin wash just to knock the bug blood off the grille hood and bumper before it made itself one with the paint. I did not think anything about it seeing as I frequented the pay'n'spray wash with my Jeep and never had a problem. This time though, I didn't even turn the full force of the pressure on the grill of the Max and a chunk of the black chrome clearcoat came off the "tooth" part in the middle! Lesson learned the hard way, I'll never do that again. Still, it seems like it wouldn't take much if anything to keep on chipping the grill. Is there an improved part you can get from the dealer or what would they do other than just keep replacing the grill each time it chips off? BTW, our "new" Max actually has 38K miles. Thanks.

 

They installed a new grille.
it's not hard to call a dealer and ask. My grille wasn't even bad. Maybe 3 or so small chips.

there is no smaller increment than 3yr/36k. otherwise don't you think they would mention it? brakes are not covered, but they offer a 16k courtesy service at the dealers' discretion.

 

I also got a new grille recently. I was at about 28k miles or so. I brought it up to them, and they said it was warrantied and would be taken care of.

 

Thanks for the definitive information.

 

I painted the teeth on my oem grill. After masking off the outline, I wet sanded with some 800 grit sand paper to rough it up a little. Sprayed on a little primer. Sprayed a little sealer. Then used some smi-gloss black spray. After about 4 light coats of paint, it's been holding up for almost 2 months now without any chips. The entire process only took about 2 hours.
Good luck on whatever you decide!

 

I do alot of highway driving, the Trenz chrome dosent have any chips and its been months. The little teeth on the painted one were no problem, it was thet big middle one that got messed up bad....I drive on the highway too much I guess, but my point is the rest of the cars front end stands up to chips alot better than my paintjob. I used primer, sanded it, and lots of clear. O well.

 

If you get a metal grill, powdercoat it.