corrosion warranty

[W77]

I've just bought a second hand C180. Through a thorough inspection I've found out that it has small corrosions bulding up under the bonnet and on one side of the passenger's door. The car was last serviced by Mercedes on Oct. 2002. The last service which was on Oct 2003 was not from Mercedes. Would Mercedes UK still cover to fix it under warranty as the car is not even five years old and mercedes servicing wouldn't have avoided it from corroding anyway. I bought a mercedes hoping that it will be rust free for at least 10 years. The car is booked on Mercedes garage for a B service next week anyway. I just need some advice before I approach them about the corrosion.

thanks.

 

[jberks]

Hi,
Stories around vary. Some have said that provided the car was seen by the dealer within 12 months of the claim, they would honour it, but as yours is outside that, Im afraid it's anyones guess. I would speak to the dealer, explaining that you intend the car to come to them permanently and hope they will fight your case for you. The bottom line is that Merc don't have to honour the warranty and it seems that they are getting so many claims these days that they are starting to tighten up on the claims process. It now takes more than 4 weeks to get an answer for a car with FMBSH (i'm on week 3 and won't consider chasing until mid/late Jan.) , so don't hold your breath. Basically it's completely discretionary, so you're down to soliciting goodwill. If you get no joy via the dealer, try MBUK themselves. Their reputation is taking such a battering these days that you would hope they would be pulling all the stops out to keep us all happy no matter what the cost. However that may be naive. Sorry it's not better news. Good luck and let us know how you go on.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Waiting since last August for answer on rust, finding more and more all the time. Have full and I mean full MBSH.....its in at least 5 times a year!!

 

[jberks]

Olaf,
I was quoted 4-6 weeks as a realistic estimate by the dealer. They said sorry but the dept is busy so it may even be a week or two longer. It did take longer last time (April) but that was down to the dealer losing the paperwork. When it was actually submitted it took about 2 weeks for an answer. Are you sure your claim is actually in the system and not dropped behind a filling cabinet somewhere? Even Merc must accept 6 months is unacceptable - I'm pretty confident a court would!
I'll report back when I get a result.

 

[philharve]

6 months unnacceptable

Hi jberks

Reading your message reminded me of my visit today to meet the previous owner of my Mercedes. He purchased it new in 2000.

There was just one issue he failed to resolve before selling the car. It concerns the breakout of a small patch of rust forming on the upper window channel on the nearside rear door. It was repaired under warranty by a professional bodyshop accredited to perfom repairs on Mercedes, Jaguar, etc.

The previous owner gave my car the once over and noticed the small patch of rust had broken out again in the same place.

When he approached the M-B dealer originally, they suggested replacing the door. He wrote to M-B, with the support of the local dealer, and after 6-months he still hadn't received a reply. This was the final straw and he sold the car. That's when I entered the scene.

I now intend picking up the issue where the original owner left it. I feel I should be able to demand a reply from M-B and possibly progress a claim. I don't see the fact that the vehicle has changed hands should make any difference. What do you think?

I will also be approaching the bodyshop where the rust patch was originally repaired. The fact that rust has broken out again must clearly demonstrate the work was not done properly the first time.

The previous owner, a retired chartered mechanic who worked for Rover, is adamant that the rust has to be etched out and removed before repainting OR the car should have a new door.

The patch of rust is tiny, less that a quarter inch in length but it will get worse. The previous owner advises I attend to the issue sooner rather than later.

REGARDS Phil

 

[joe bloggs]

Ok I?m one of the poor sods who have to deal with this issue, I hope MB are reading this.
This corrosion issue is wholly MB's fault with their cost cutting, but the pressure put on dealers to sort this out is immense. MB seem to be turning their back on us dealers and the problems we are having with this issue.
I for one can spend an entire week looking at cars, sifting through bodyshop estimates, prepairing and sending requests to MB only to have them (weeks later) deny the requests and suggest a repair would be more appropriate. Who pays for the returning corrosion?. How do I tell a bodyshop manager who has already inspected the vehicle and reported ?new panels required? that MB will only sanction a repair? They are currently refusing to repair panels as they feel this will not cure the problem. What do we tell you guys when you phone and complain about the lack of action?
To compound this if we submit a request for a repair our costs are deemed too high, MB have produced a cost menu which is just not practical, even the costs on this are often cut again (are they on bonus or what!). Our bodyshop will refuse to repair cars at a loss, we are not looking to make a fast buck out of this, we just want to repair your corroded cars and hope the whole thing just goes away.
In summary MB if you read this..please please just let us repair these cars in the correct way, it?s your fault, why make your dealers suffer, your current attempts at cost cutting will only make things worse, move the problem on a year or so, perhaps this is the idea as by then the car will be out of warranty. This issue is bad enough for the MB image without these delaying / cost cutting tactics, this is bound to hit your sales, whenever people ask what I do the next question is always "oh they rust dont they?" Do you not think it would make good PR sense to admit the problem and be seen to be repairing the cars correctly.

JB

 

[Hilton]

Hear, hear !

Joe,

I can sense the genuine frustration you must be feeling on this issue, along with my own local MB dealer and his bodyshop who are themselves getting close to despair.

MB have made a very costly error and are hoping to dilute the effects/costs by appearing to deal with the problem but in a poor way. In my case, the first repairs to the door frames had to be redone after 3 weeks - the bodyshop owner admitted that MBUK are pressing them to such a degree that they would be making a loss to do the proper job. What an admission !

Thanks for being so honest Joe - it would be marvellous to hear directly from MBUK on this forum, but I am not holding my breath. For my part I shall keep taking the car back to the bodyshop or MB and it will cost them much more than a door replacement I am certain . But maybe my case in already built into MB's calculations. Net result is that I have to spend far too much time and effort to keep my car in top condition - but I do still love it !

Chris

 

[jberks]

Anyone know MB's email address or contact details. I feel like harassing them.

 

[philharve]

MBUK ... are you listening?

Hi All

joe bloggs inquired whether MB took note of MBOA members' comments. I wondered that too and wrote to MBOA outside of this Forum. I have not yet received their reply. I wanted to know how strong the link was between the MBOA and MBUK, if one exists. Like Hilton, I would like to hear from MBUK, or Holland or wherever their HQ is located.

JB's description of the problem between MBUK, their dealer network and the bodyshops also struck a chord with me too. The sense of JB's frustration was quite noticeable.

jberks mentions contacting MB and maybe 'harrassing' them. Shouldn't the MBOA be doing something on behalf of its members?

REGARDS Phil

 

[philharve]

Update on my visit to dealer, re: corrosion warranty

Hi All

Photographs of the corroded door were taken by the service manager today and my claim for a repair/replacement was registered - again! I say 'again' because the previous owner also registered the same problem, same location but more than 6-months earlier. I have stepped into his shoes, you might say.

The reason the previous owner sold the car in the first place was because he was chasing a claim for exactly the same problem in the very same place. A repair under warranty was performed but the rust has broken out again. He patiently waited for a reply from M-B but after 6-months and no further contact, despite frequent visits to the dealer, he decided he would sell the M-B and buy a Volvo instead. Poor customer care has lost M-B a good customer.

I asked the service manager about the original owner's claim and he stated he knew nothing about it, despite knowing the customer well???. Why, I asked? Apparently, I was informed, the dealership changed hands about 3-years previously and all service data prior to the changeover was no longer available to the new dealer. It wasn't lost exactly, it just unavailable. I didn't press him for an explanation.

I find this admission very strange indeed because maintenance of the Mobilolife Breakdown Recovery is dependent upon complete service records being available. See my message re: Mobilolife, elsewhere in this Forum.

I was advised that I shouldn't have to wait more than 2-3 weeks for M-B to process my new/resurrected claim.

Incidentally, the service manager stated that the corrosion problem only affected certain E-class models and there has 'never' been a quality issue!!! The corrosion issue had been greatly exaggerated.

The service manager also stated that M-B continue to spray their cars with water-based paint, however, because it is baked onto the steel substrate, corrosion is not an issue. Anyway, many body panels on the latest M-Bs are a composite material which is lighter and more durable.

I was also informed that the decision to adopt water-based paint was an environmental decision and M-B were forced to comply with environmental regulations, as were all car manufacturers. It wasn't a financial decision that prompted the switch to a different paint base. So now you know.

I sensed the service manager wasn't pleased with my apparent attack on the quality of the marque, which he strenuously denied. I mentioned I would like to maintain the MBSH and have the major services performed by his team. I smiled, thanked him for his time and quickly made my departure.

REGARDS Phil

 

[BawBagg]

I had a turgid time last year with corrosion on my 2000 W210. I spent many hours on the phone to the customer service department in Netherlands. All staff were nice, and apparently helpful, however I never received a SINGLE call-back from them. (Check out the E-Class Rust thread.)

Eventually I managed to speak to a Customer Service Manager who was very reasonable to talk to. Unfortunate thing is, when you have a product with such poor quality (as MB do at the moment) there's very little that Customer Service can actually DO, to keep you happy. No matter what niceties they can offer, you're still going to experience frustration at the fact you've had to escalate your issue to such an extent to get anything done. After all, the reason you bought a MB in the first place was the reputation for quality.

Customer Service Manager I spoke to was Mike Goosen.

I won't be having any more service issues with MB. Yesterday I swapped my car for a year old Passat (I'd to add a couple of grand). At least the MB residuals are still strong. Wonder how long it will take for residuals to take a hit based on the quality issues?

R

 

[philharve]

Does M-B take note of comments by MBOA members?

Hi All

I received a reply from the MBOA administrator and the extent of their involvement with M-B is running this website. They don't take up members' issues with M-B. That's down to members.

Unless any M-B senior managers are MBOA members, they won't know of our problems or frustrations and we are only having a rant amongst ourselves.

REGARDS Phil

 

[Hilton]

Forum Leverage

Hi Phil,

Thanks for testing the formal position of MBOA, it is what I expected.

However, looking at posts over last few years, I can see that the most effective use of the forum threads is to use them as a source of evidence with your claims when MBUK say "this is the first case of ....we've seen under warranty". In the case of E-class corrosion, MBUK would prefer to treat each case as an isolated occurence with its owner just having been "unlucky" to suffer a rare event. Taking along a 2 foot string of identical reports from other owners must be difficult to ignore !

Regards,

Chris

 

[markyce]

Been reading this thread (and others on the forum) for a while.
Just a thought.... but if enough disgruntled owners of recent rusty Mercs got together (and there seems like a lot) and took out a full page advertisement in one of the national papers publicising the complete lack of response from MBUK, that might be interesting to MBUK and people thinking of buying a Merc.
This is a "French" approach but you might find it will solicit a response.
The other opportunity is to contact someone at BBC's Watchdog programme and see if they want to take it up !

While I think about it if enough of you got together and drove to MBUK HQ in convoy and filled up their car park and managed to get some publicity in conjunction you might get a response.

Sometimes holding a gun to a company's head is the only way to get action !!

I own 'old' Mercs ( A 94 C class and a 88 124 Coupe) that were provided without the obligatory rust !

 

[SLinKyjoe]

I dont want to sound like a spoils sport but i think that M-B might be able to provide more accurate numbers than disgruntled owners. It wouldn't make our case very good and they would get publicity.

A concerted effort from everyone to not buy mercs would work a treat tho. Problems is we are not gonna do that.

However, I will give my support to anything and anyone who can find an idea that will get MB to listen or indeed act on for their most important people, those of us who actually buy the damn things.

I would think that the dealers would read these comments to see what the general opinion is but they wouldn't let us know that they were doing that.

I could be proven wrong tho.