W204 2008 rear subframe failure!

syncman

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Just put my C180 Sport 2008, petrol, automatic (bought from Mercedes Benzene Direct 8 years ago) in for its MOT. Failed on brake pipe corrosion, no problem, lines renewed. Garage took the car out to test the brakes but car was pulling to the left under braking. They rebled the brakes and took it out again, same problem plus " car felt it was being driven on ice". Detail inspection of the rear suspension found the rear suffrage had corroded and cracked! Garage contacted my local mercedes dealership and was told the part was currently on back order, no delivery date available and would be £700+ including the vat. I contacted Mercedes UK customer service today and was told I'd have to deliver the car to the dealership, 8 miles away to be inspected even though I told them the car was deemed unsafe to drive. They said I'd have to contact the dealership myself to see if they'd send an engineer out to inspect it before they would consider any contribution to the repair. Thank a lot! So, I'm stuck between a rock and a had place. Car has to be fixed, its mint at 74000 miles. Dealership labour is £100 per hour and £750 for the part when/if they can get it vs £40 an hour at my local garage and I source a second hand subframe. It looks like even if Mercedes contributed 50% I'd still be well out of pocket vs getting it done myself. Surely this fault shouldn't occur on a 9 year old car! Mercedes customer service were pretty useless and I'm not expecting the dealership to be any better tomorrow. Anyone know of a good secondhand rear subframe? Any suggestions on how to get a better response from Mercedes UK?
Thanks for your help.
 

star

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This is worrying, we had an 204 in from a guy who just purchased it, that too had a rear suspension arm mount fail due to corrosion. We also had an 171 slk in for an mot etc and that had corrosion/holes in the rear subframe close to a rear arm mount. Are MB using all the crap metal that was used to make panels and started to make subframes from it???
 
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turbopete

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i wonder if it would be worth talking to trading standards, CAB or VOSA about this? id say that regardless of inspections they claim is needed for the warranty, (assuming not full MB history) then the part is not fit for purpose, has been inadequately rust protected, is dangerous and has rusted to the point of breaking well within the MB 30 year anti perforation warranty sold at point of sale when new and the item HAS perforated. I would also point out that the part is on back order and therefore is likely a known issue. it might get you nowhere, but id be asking the questions to see if it WOULD get you somewhere.
 
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syncman

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Thanks for your replies. Any idea where I might get a secondhand subframe? Any idea of the part number so I can get the right part? I might mention the VOSA option when I speak to the dealership.
 

Parisien

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Dreadful, had same issues with a 9 year old Maserati 4200, both subframes rotted out, Maserati weren't interested, cost small fortune to fix, good luck with Mercedes!!

P
 
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syncman

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Another question, any idea roughly how many hours work to swap the subframe out? Cheers.
 

Steve@Avantgarde

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I have an SLK55AMG here that came in yesterday with cracks and holes in the rear subframe. It's not the first time I have seen it either. I think it depends on where the car has lived. We are by the sea here, so it comes as no surprise and its a local car. Combine that with the amount of salt that gets thrown on our roads every year, I am not surprised that we don't see more.
 
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syncman

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I have an SLK55AMG here that came in yesterday with cracks and holes in the rear subframe. It's not the first time I have seen it either. I think it depends on where the car has lived. We are by the sea here, so it comes as no surprise and its a local car. Combine that with the amount of salt that gets thrown on our roads every year, I am not surprised that we don't see more.


Steve, what's the typical number of hours to swap a rear subframe?
 

Parisien

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Just for info, mine was the front sub frame, took them two days, although done by an Maserati indie specialist, still expensive!!

P
 

Stephen Jones

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Just put my C180 Sport 2008, petrol, automatic (bought from Mercedes Benzene Direct 8 years ago) in for its MOT. Failed on brake pipe corrosion, no problem, lines renewed. Garage took the car out to test the brakes but car was pulling to the left under braking. They rebled the brakes and took it out again, same problem plus " car felt it was being driven on ice". Detail inspection of the rear suspension found the rear suffrage had corroded and cracked! Garage contacted my local mercedes dealership and was told the part was currently on back order, no delivery date available and would be £700+ including the vat. I contacted Mercedes UK customer service today and was told I'd have to deliver the car to the dealership, 8 miles away to be inspected even though I told them the car was deemed unsafe to drive. They said I'd have to contact the dealership myself to see if they'd send an engineer out to inspect it before they would consider any contribution to the repair. Thank a lot! So, I'm stuck between a rock and a had place. Car has to be fixed, its mint at 74000 miles. Dealership labour is £100 per hour and £750 for the part when/if they can get it vs £40 an hour at my local garage and I source a second hand subframe. It looks like even if Mercedes contributed 50% I'd still be well out of pocket vs getting it done myself. Surely this fault shouldn't occur on a 9 year old car! Mercedes customer service were pretty useless and I'm not expecting the dealership to be any better tomorrow. Anyone know of a good secondhand rear subframe? Any suggestions on how to get a better response from Mercedes UK?
Thanks for your help.

Ive just had a rear subframe fitted to my 2010 C180 1.6 Blue Efficency - still waiting on the bill from garage - but I know the subframe is costing £840 before the labour costs. Looks like Mercedes has found a cheap supplier of crap metal.

I have been informed that my car was extremely dangerous and it could have speared the petrol tank which is made of plastic and that could have been interesting.

I actually put my car in for new front pads and discs - and this garage also promoted the fact that they could MOT first - it passed the MOT - and they fitted the pads and discs - it was only when it was test driven that the mechanic noticed the back end wanted to overtake the front. The car was then put back on the ramp that it when they discovered that the bottom arm had come away from the sub frame (what a miss that was) - very embarrassed Garage - do you think I should inform VOSA

My car has done 127k miles - if owned it for 3 years and have done 85k in it - I bought it off a friend and it had only done 42k however my mileage is mainly Motorway

Im thinking about walking into a Mercedes Dealership with the sun frame and ask them what they think of it corrosive state

Well got that off my Chest
 

Blobcat

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Ive just had a rear subframe fitted to my 2010 C180 1.6 Blue Efficency - still waiting on the bill from garage - but I know the subframe is costing £840 before the labour costs. Looks like Mercedes has found a cheap supplier of crap metal.

I have been informed that my car was extremely dangerous and it could have speared the petrol tank which is made of plastic and that could have been interesting.

I actually put my car in for new front pads and discs - and this garage also promoted the fact that they could MOT first - it passed the MOT - and they fitted the pads and discs - it was only when it was test driven that the mechanic noticed the back end wanted to overtake the front. The car was then put back on the ramp that it when they discovered that the bottom arm had come away from the sub frame (what a miss that was) - very embarrassed Garage - do you think I should inform VOSA

My car has done 127k miles - if owned it for 3 years and have done 85k in it - I bought it off a friend and it had only done 42k however my mileage is mainly Motorway

Im thinking about walking into a Mercedes Dealership with the sun frame and ask them what they think of it corrosive state

Well got that off my Chest
Hello and welcome,

Where are you getting the work done?

I’d be discussing with Mercedes for such a structural part failing at 9 years old.

(I have a vested interest as SLK’s can suffer the same, although I’m told mine is good thankfully...)
 

LostKiwi

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Hello and welcome,

Where are you getting the work done?

I’d be discussing with Mercedes for such a structural part failing at 9 years old.

(I have a vested interest as SLK’s can suffer the same, although I’m told mine is good thankfully...)
This.

There have been several cases I've read about where MB have replaced the subframe FOC.
 

ajlsl600

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mind blowing stuff. they prob found metal that dissolves at 8.1 yr !!! and save 10 cents on each subframe !!!. prob not only benz issue but then others dont try to batter the phrase quality on us as main sales pitch.
 

poodros

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Hiya, new member and first post here….. So hey :)

Yes, we also have just failed an MOT with subframe corrosion…
The car is 7 years old
53k miles (around 30k miles driven by us)
Bought outright from dealer as Mercedes approved used car 5 years ago
Full dealer service history.

The service manager said he’s seen 3 or 4 in his years there all repaired on good will so I have everything crossed for a phone call tomorrow….


thumbnail_image1-3.jpg
 

Wighty

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Hiya, new member and first post here….. So hey :)

Yes, we also have just failed an MOT with subframe corrosion…
The car is 7 years old
53k miles (around 30k miles driven by us)
Bought outright from dealer as Mercedes approved used car 5 years ago
Full dealer service history.

The service manager said he’s seen 3 or 4 in his years there all repaired on good will so I have everything crossed for a phone call tomorrow….


View attachment 52415
Fingers crossed buddy (from another C class owner :D) . Let us know how you get on
 

alexanderfoti

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My C63 has corrosion that is not that far away from your picture.....
 

ajlsl600

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we have to understand that in many cases benz QC is no better than fiat or dacia.and in cases worse than ford /vauxhall. cheap metal and rubbish corrosion treatment ,just like china stuff. i cleaned all the paint off my new mower deck (Chinese ) to get it galvanized . it already had long lines of rust tracks all over it (unseen on surface ) and it had just been delivered new!!!! maybe benz get their stuff from the same place , simply put ,we just dont know that we ARE getting quality when we go out to buy a quality car. even if we are paying for it. its just a lottery....
 

SL63 Mark

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Going back to the OP, I can't think that MB would be liable (legally or morally) for a corrosion failure on an 11 year old car. The car has been used, we do not know if it has seen salt water, so yes, bad news, but I would just suck it up and pay. To put it in perspective, this is part of the suspension , and suspension parts need replacing all the time. It is part of the car ownership "experience".

Just playing devils advocate.
 


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