Approved for 1999 C180 Warranty Repair

[Tontastic]

Wife's car ... just got the nod for the 4 wheel arches to be repaired from Mercedes ... one of them has some accident damage to one side that i never got round to fixing ... i though they would reject that corner, but for about £200 they will fix that as well. Realistically the two front wings will be replaced ... as they are falling apart. Thanks goodness i got round to going up to see them before the "warranty" expires in 2 days time. It took a week to approve, and will probably take 2-3 weeks for the work to be done.

And ... they told me that 3 months was how long i should wait after buying ML with a teensy bit of rust on the tailgate before coming in to get that fixed under warranty. I thought it was 6 months ... might wait till summer anyway if they plan to hold onto it for a while.

 

[42847]

w202 rust

3 wks ago took my c200 elegance with leather to mb bodyshop w regd 149k miles for 4 rusty arches and 100 chips on bonnet and front bumper first 8 stamps are mb last 6 stamps are indepent they say they will consider 3 arches cos 1 arch has had previous paint but bonnet and bumper not covered havent heard anything yet but will ring them in another month cos 8 yr warrenty runs out in june next year

 

[philharve]

w202 rust

Hi All

My C-class (W reg) underwent the full wheel arch treatment a few months ago because a light layer of rust was forming beneath the paint on the lip of each arch. No quibble, the work was undertaken under warranty. However, I avoided the dealership on this occasion and let the MB-approved repairer negotiate the cost of repairs on my behalf. In retrospect, a wise decision.

I had a small 'parking crease' (not my fault) in the offside rear wing and a small rust hole in the bottom of the offside rear door attended to at the same time the wings were repaired. MB argued that the rust hole resulted from untreated stone chip damage and therefore owner's responsibility. I paid for the wing and door repair but that didn't include painting. Enough of the stuff was going to be applied to all 4 wings so painting the door was 'free'. A scuff mark (not my fault either) to the nearside wing mirror was repaired by applying a 'free' coat of paint.

I previously had the bonnet repainted at my expense because MB's view was that stone chip damage to the front of the car was the owner's responsibility. I strongly disagreed at the time because rust spots were beginning to form under the paint around the windscreen washer jets, and there was no corresponding surface damage.

All the body panels were given the back-to-bare-metal treatment, sealed, paint baked on, etc., so further rust should not be an issue. These panels now have a paint thickness at least equalling that applied to older Mercedes. The roof and boot lid are untouched and are not showing signs of corrosion. Fingers crossed, they never will.

I have tried to analyse how the delerships determine which corrosion claims to support and which to reject and whether the age and condition of the vehicle matters. I have concluded that there is no consistency in the decision-making process. Some dealerships are more obliging than others and some will use any argument, no matter how feeble, to reject all claims, or most of them.

I now take all my servicing & mechanical repair issues to a MB-trained indie and all my bodywork issues to a champion bodyshop whose premises are not too far from my home. I will avoid my local dealership, if at all possible. However, I now accept that not all dealerships treat customers in the same manner.

REGARDS

Phil