Artico leather - nightmare

[Scopesy]

I have a 2011 Eclass 250 estate and it has only done 69000 miles but the driver's seat is literally falling apart! The seams are coming undone and one side of the artico has cracked and separated from itself. My dealership says head office are not interested but I cannot believe that it is acceptable for a car only driven by me (I am not a monster - I am a school run mother who does not wear studded trousers and only weigh 10 stone) a couple of times a day for a maximum of 30 miles each time. Artico is a Mercedes branded product and it has failed after just over 4 years use. It is a joke. My husband wants me to sell the car and never buy Mercedes again and is currently shouting at Mercedes head office because my dealership is uninterested (Bishops Stortford by the way - the worst). Any advice or top tips?!

 

[V6Matty]

I'm afraid to say Artico is know to be rather carp, and apart from getting someone like trading standards involved (which they may not be interested in either) there's very little you can do. Could be worth having a chat to an auto trimmer and see if they can do anything, it's going to be cheaper than just replacing the car.

 

[rf065]

I'm afraid to say Artico is know to be rather carp,

Really? Mine is 10 years old, has done 120,000 miles & still looks as new as the day the car left the showroom!

Russ

 

[V6Matty]

the earlier Artico seems to be unaffected, it's in the newer models that there seems to be a problem i.e. 204, 212 and such, my old 211 was also fine after 12 years and 165k miles

 

[television]

What ever the whole thing is just shocking, this should never happen ever, and 69k miles is even worse.

Shame on you Mercedes

 

[V6Matty]

agree with you there Malcolm, just shouldn't happen especially as the earlier cars just didn't have that problem, all down to the bean counters again it seems.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Judging by the comments that artico problems attract on here some say they are pleased and others have quite early failures which would lead me to conclude that the quality varies so a bit of a lottery really.

Sorry to hear the OP has been unlucky with an early failure MB should do better on this and show more goodwill in my opinion

My personal choice is leather but I can understand why someone would choose artico and it should be fit for purpose which I think you could argue the case with MB that in this case it wasn't

 

[L John]

the earlier Artico seems to be unaffected, it's in the newer models that there seems to be a problem i.e. 204, 212 and such, my old 211 was also fine after 12 years and 165k miles

My 2008 W204 has artico, 62,000 and it's looking like new.
Maybe they had a bad batch that has affected some cars and not others of the same model?

As Malcolm says, it's not what you would expect.

To the OP is there any chance you could show us a photo?
Do Mercedes say this wear/damage is your fault or is it their expectation that it should go this soon on your car?
I'd say you have good cause to take this further.
Hopefully you didn't leave the compliant until it got this bad as they may say you left it get so bad it cannot be a simple repair so you have to take some of the blame.

 

[Scopesy]

Artico

thanks everyone for restoring my sanity and determination that this is simply not right!

head office are currently reviewing our case - they thought my car had done over 100000 miles because they typed my reg into their system incorrectly but when we corrected them they were very apologetic and said that under 80000 miles they were able to look into it for us.

I still think that 80000 miles being acceptable in their view for something like this is incredible and if I have the energy I will pursue this with them regardless of what they give me financially.

My father also had a merc which did over 100000 miles in artico and never had a problem which is the only reason we agreed to buy the car in the first place. So disappointing. Hubby says I am never allowed to buy another Mercedes again!!!

 

[Scopesy]

damage only showed up a couple of months ago - took it to the local dealer who service my car and they took photos and sent them to warranty who said they would not help but the seam has opened up additionally in last 2 weeks only since then!

 

[umblecumbuz]

From MB's viewpoint, if it is seam failure and not material (Artico) failure, they may feel they have a get out - citing misuse/abuse, for example.

Just a random thought.

 

[Davefo]

I have a 2011 Eclass 250 estate and it has only done 69000 miles but the driver's seat is literally falling apart! The seams are coming undone and one side of the artico has cracked and separated from itself. My dealership says head office are not interested but I cannot believe that it is acceptable for a car only driven by me (I am not a monster - I am a school run mother who does not wear studded trousers and only weigh 10 stone) a couple of times a day for a maximum of 30 miles each time. Artico is a Mercedes branded product and it has failed after just over 4 years use. It is a joke. My husband wants me to sell the car and never buy Mercedes again and is currently shouting at Mercedes head office because my dealership is uninterested (Bishops Stortford by the way - the worst). Any advice or top tips?!

I have a 2 year old GLA with artico and after just 11000 miles it is starting to crack. Probably get laughed at by my local dealer.

 

[ajlsl600]

Most likely they found a cheaper way to make it. Todays model seems to be ,make something ,see how it stands up, if well start trying to make it cheaper ,improve on that if flooded with claims .
Fanny on claims as much as possible except the usa.

 

[rifiki]

My 05 CLK has Artico and has cracked, its crap. My 1960 190B has MBTex and is almost like new appart from loose stitching and a bit grubby in places.

 

[ajlsl600]

My 05 CLK has Artico and has cracked, its crap. My 1960 190B has MBTex and is almost like new appart from loose stitching and a bit grubby in places.

Rest my case ref modern benz. And Poss others

 

[alexanderfoti]

MB tex is like some miracle vynl that never fails. Leather in the same time would be destroyed.

I see loads of artico seats failing in the workshop, mostly in 204s and 212s

 

[WDB124066]

https://www.thehogring.com/2019/02/21/mercedes-loses-claim-over-artico-leather/

Top quality manufacturer are Daimler.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-850-payout-leather-seats-partly-plastic.html

 

[ajlsl600]

They ought to be forced leather or plastic /man made. No grey areas then .all makers love grey areas. The leather in my w166 looks a little thin/suspect but it SAYS leather on spec ?? Smell ok to but fairly sure that can be faked now.