what year is safe rust wise

have you spotted rust on your car ? click the year if YES.

  • I have no rust ! [please comment below with model & year]

    Votes: 315 21.6%
  • 2006

    Votes: 46 3.1%
  • 2005

    Votes: 70 4.8%
  • 2004

    Votes: 97 6.6%
  • 2003

    Votes: 123 8.4%
  • 2002

    Votes: 179 12.3%
  • 2001

    Votes: 227 15.5%
  • 2000

    Votes: 190 13.0%
  • 1999

    Votes: 149 10.2%
  • 1998

    Votes: 172 11.8%
  • 2007

    Votes: 18 1.2%
  • 2008

    Votes: 9 0.6%
  • 2009

    Votes: 6 0.4%
  • 2010

    Votes: 4 0.3%
  • 2011

    Votes: 5 0.3%
  • 2012

    Votes: 4 0.3%
  • 2013

    Votes: 3 0.2%
  • 2014

    Votes: 6 0.4%

  • Total voters
    1,461

M6AJJ

Senior Member
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Dec 6, 2004
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Location
Norfolk. UK
Your Mercedes
v222 2014 350
Just found the very first signs of rust around the wheel arches, and the leading edge of the front wings. Very minor as yet, but have taken it to the dealer (Robinsons Norwich) who have taken the usual photographs and submitted a claim to MB. Will let you know the outcome.
 

kooltrax

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Sep 4, 2007
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Still No Rust ....but lacquer peeling on bonnet

i am still driving my 254000 mile 1990 230 te and having previously lovingly looked after i am proud to say that there is still no sign of rust.....it is that golden era of w124's that shows quality counts...
 

Wezzel

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My 1999 W202 estate had a new tailgate last year under warranty but now three of the wheel arches are starting to bubble mostly at the bottom but one badly at the top/front.

I always keep the wheel arch lips cleaned out and free from muck so I am doubly miffed!
 

alans

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Jun 10, 2007
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Your Mercedes
w202 c200 1996 1997cc
Being paranoid and reading all these rust stories. I got the pressure washer out and blasted the whole of the underside of my '96 W202, even took the wheel arch covers out and blasted behind them and bumpers.
To my pleasant surprise I found the beginnings of bubbling at the front of the offside wheelarch. Apart fromthat I coudn't see any other signs of rust.
Just lucky or a Wednesday car??
 

alans

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Jun 10, 2007
Messages
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Your Mercedes
w202 c200 1996 1997cc
Being paranoid and reading all these rust stories. I got the pressure washer out and blasted the whole of the underside of my '96 W202, even took the wheel arch covers out and blasted behind them and bumpers.
To my pleasant surprise I found the beginnings of bubbling at the front of the offside wheelarch. Apart fromthat I coudn't see any other signs of rust.
Just lucky or a Wednesday car??
 

alans

Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2007
Messages
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0
Your Mercedes
w202 c200 1996 1997cc
Being paranoid and reading all these rust stories. I got the pressure washer out and blasted the whole of the underside of my '96 W202, even took the wheel arch covers out and blasted behind them and bumpers.
To my pleasant surprise I found the beginnings of bubbling at the front of the offside wheelarch. Apart fromthat I coudn't see any other signs of rust.
Just lucky or a Wednesday car??
 

JEZ.S320L

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Joined
Aug 18, 2007
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Location
Costa Calida, Spain
Website
www.latorreonline.es
Your Mercedes
Lincoln Navigator and a S320L Business Edition
Being paranoid and reading all these rust stories. I got the pressure washer out and blasted the whole of the underside of my '96 W202, even took the wheel arch covers out and blasted behind them and bumpers.
To my pleasant surprise I found the beginnings of bubbling at the front of the offside wheelarch. Apart fromthat I coudn't see any other signs of rust.
Just lucky or a Wednesday car??

Being SO pleased - worth posting 3 times..!! :p:D
 

cliveawn

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Oct 13, 2007
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Age
48
Location
Ystad,Sweden
rust problems easily solved!!

i have experience with rust from living in norway and sweden.the roads are heavily salted in these countries.
1.wash car or use high pressure hose once a week
2.use tectyl heavily around wheel arches,sills and bottoms of doors etc.
just wash it off at the end of winter and polish.
3.polish car twice a year

.my previous vehicle was a black c 180 95 model,driven 210000km with no rust at all!

i think it is all about keeping the car clean.and stay away from car washes as they are brutal to bodywork espicially side indicator lights,the machines seem to move them a bit causing the clips to rub against the bodywork.
spread this info as it is works!

good luck
 

rojak

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Oct 24, 2007
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I have had my W210 from new in November 1998. It has covered 160K miles and has a full MBSH at JR Weir Aberdeen. The following work has been paid for by MB so far:-
- both front wings replaced
- offside rear wheel arch corrosion repaired
- bonnet and boot corrosion repaired
- four new doors
- rear wheel arch corrosion (bubbling just above the sill cover)

The bodyshop (Kinghorn) told me that they actually replaced the bonnet but I'm sceptical about this because new rust is developing under the paint along the trailing edge and around the air vent.

The car has been booked in next week for the front subframe to be replaced and I'm going to ask the dealer to check for spring perch corrosion as well. I only realised the state of the subframe when I removed the undertray to clear out the accumulated mud.

MB have generally taken at least 6 weeks to approve the bodywork corrosion but the subframe was approved in days without any inspection, even by the dealer. Perhaps they fast-track the safety-related claims.
 

television

Always remembered RIP
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Messages
164,073
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Age
89
Location
Daventry
Your Mercedes
2002 SL500, 216 CL500, all fully loaded
Being SO pleased - worth posting 3 times..!! :p:D
When the forum is sleepy this does happen, and a new member does not have the tools to remove them
 

johnmc

Senior Member
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Apr 25, 2004
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Location
Edinburgh
Hi Folks,
There's no magic formula to help you pick say a W210 and get "a good one". They all have an equal chance of being crap for rust. Problems like this are only fixed by complete new designs.

Here's a possible way to minimise the chances of rust (or other design defects). On most of the problem Mercs it starts to show up around 3 years or so, going by most of the different posts. It can impact EVERY model in the range typically before 2003 build date.

We know that it is a design defect (like most of Merc's recent quality/cost cutting efforts).
These are almost impossible to fix on existing designs we saw this on the W210. Engineering is focused on fixing the problems on the next designs. It also takes Merc 7 years to design a new car.

For example, W210 was introduced in 1996 with lots of rust problems. These would not start to emerge until 1999 in any volume, so that Merc wouldn't see the trend until it was too late to fix it properly on the W211 first introduction. The early W211 had a variety of defects as the impact of the cost cutting had only started to be noticed. For the E-Class, I'd say avoid any car made before the face lift which was either 2006/2007 (can't remember). They made a lot of changes to that car to fix quality. I'd expect the new model 2008/2009 to be very good.

Given that Merc only recently, last three years, recognised that they required a new quality strategy and it will then take 3 years to make it start to work (design it into models in the design process) then models introduced from 2005 onwards should be fairly safe.

The later the model the safer you should be. The C-class that just went obsolete should be avoided if you want fewer problems too. They have some significant design defects, not the least of which is the transmission problem where the coolant can enter the transmission and costing £4,500 to fix it! They also have plenty of rust issues, carry over fom the older C-Class. Engineering should have fixed it on the latest C-Class, if they spotted the problem in time for the new design.

Rather than having a poll, think about the designs and when they were introduced, otherwise you are working with a small set of data, no better than pot luck really.

I drive a W210, and the list of defects simply continues to grow. I recommend avoiding it frankly, but you might be lucky.

John
 

britnordic

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Jun 13, 2006
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Location
Cambridge
Your Mercedes
2006 SLK 200 & 2013 E Class 220
52 Reg. (Jan 2003) C270 cdi estate (45k), not a hint of the dreaded rot! Previous 53 Reg C220 cdi saloon had a few areas of concern and ****** unreliable! Was told by a German mechanic in Holland that I must always buy a German made car !!!
 

TAY-STER

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Oct 25, 2007
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Location
Melton Mowbray
thanks for all your replies folks, for the benefit for people like me., can you please state the year of your car in your replies also ?

eg: my W203 from 2001 has/has not got rust....

cheers
anyweb

My 52 plate C180 k is looking as good today on the outside (don't mention electronics within earshot of her!:( ) as when new!

TAY-STER
 
F

fred52

Guest
No rust.............

...............on my 2001 W203 CD270CDi Estate
 


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