Courtesy car

[e7ch]

Hello everyone

I've been reading posts on this forum and finding some useful tips from you guys. I've found some rusts enderneath the rubber of my two doors and one on the front arch lip. The car is only 5 years old so I think it is covered under their corrotion warranty. If I leave the car to the dealer for this rust repair, am I qualify to have a courtesy car as I really need one. I didn't buy the car from the dealer so they may refuse to give me one.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

lets get a reply going.....my view about courtesy cars is that it is directly down to the dealer you use.....either they do one or they dont.

if it turns out your claim is valid and the dealer doesnt do a courtesy car but can do a paid for loan car then you can write to MB and ask then to make a donation towards your costs as it was their fault the car was returned. But you will have to foot the bill and have had your car repaired to the warranty claim before you can ask.

if of course your dealer does a courtesy car then you dont have a problem, but if they make you pay for the day or longer, insurance then you can write to MB again and ask for a goodwill payment to help.

The dealer shouldnt argue over where you bought the car as you are using his services now.

my local dealer now requires you to get their car put on your insurance for the duration you borrow it and you have to take in a document to prove it....of course when you turn up early o'clock and say you forgot it they still give you the car....however you could be refused and also if you haven't bothered doing as they ask and are just trying it on coz you are not bothered, should you have an accident you will be asked to pay for all repairs to the borrowed car, any other costs such as the car you hit or building etc, and then the police will pop round and do you in a magistrates court for driving without insurance....

alternativly you could get away with it, not have an accident, demand an auto as a loan car and get a really big shop in at IKEA!!!!!!. Amazing what you can get in a c-class saloon with the passenger seat flat. I must put up that blind!

 

[jberks]

I would say, if the dealer doesn't give you a courtesy car, use a different dealer. When I book the car in, I say I will need a car and as I am doing 100 miles a day, Id rather not have an A140. This usually delays the appointment by a week or so, but that's fine. I have never considered a merc dealer refusing a loaner and it's never happened in the 6 years or so of merc ownership, covering servicing, warranty work including 1 week for warranty bodywork (lent me a nice c200K for that one) and a breakdown. Its just taken as read that they will give me a car (assuming there is one available). Last time they lent me the managers new E320CDI, but I've had A's and C's too. Even the local specialist loan me a corsa. My insurance automatically covers a courtesy car without so much as a phone call butI believe there is a £10 per day charge for insurance if you choose to use theirs.
I dont think my treatment is special, I think we all get it. They may not volunteer but if you ask, they should be able to provide something.(even a smart!). I don't ask about the Mobilio cover, as far as I am concerned I expect my dealer to keep me mobile. How its charged is their concern - so long as I dont pay.

 

[e7ch]

Slinkyjoe, Jberks, thanks. Its really helpful reading posts on this forum because I wouldn't have found out these rusts on mine. Mine has got small spots of rusts developing under the rubber on my two doors and bubbling front wing lip. Should the dealer approve my claim, should I ask for 2 new doors and a new wing instead of just repairing these rusts which I believe they will offer. If they insist a repair instead of replacement, what should I say to them. I just need some information from some of you who has been through this before I approach the dealer. Thanks again.

 

[SLinKyjoe]

I will gladly stand behind you as you demand new doors but realistically you are only gonna get a repair. (I would stand well behind just to see the face of the dealer)

possibly if your car was less than a year old you could argue for new doors but even then they would have to be bad.

A repair, if done properly, will be okay.

you have to remain realistic. As you state, your car is ONLY 5 years old. You are never gonna get NEW doors on a 5 year old car. Well not unless you have a gun with you. Thats a bit like asking for new tyres when your old ones wore out after 18000miles and suggesting it was a tyre fault and not the 18,000 miles of driving.

The car shouldnt rust but at that age it is possible. it should be repaired without problems but a repair is the best you can hope for.

Although if you do get new doors and a wing then let us all know where you had it done coz my car needs a wash, It is only 4months old so maybes they will exchange it for a new one!

 

[OlafMaxwell]

New doors...

MB contacted me in early February to say they would replace the doors. Car collected 14 Feb......one of the doors was wrong...trying to find another one no car yet....no loan car either, but I keep another car because the Mercis off the road so much. I decided to accept the absence of a loan car and be a stickler for proper workmanship and repair.

 

[jberks]

You don't get the choice, they will tell you what they are going to do.
I have miniscule spots under the rubbers on 3 doors (other was fixed last summer) plus some bubbling on the sill. I can't actually see the rust on the doors, just some light staining on the door seals. I don't expect new doors and to be truthful, Im not sure I'd want them. The disturbance of replacing doors means in my experience that there is always an increase in rattles and things are never quite as good as the factory fit. I accept that in Olaf's case, his were so bad that new doors made sense, but with mine I'd rather have a repair. The boot lock was done a year ago and I've just inspected it after removing 1500 miles of salt and muck from it. Still gleaming and spotless, so if they can repair it to that standard, I'm quite happy.
If the rust returns I would expect it won't be for a number of years by which time, hopefully, they will have a new reliable E class and I will have one of those.
In the mean time, and considering it hasn't been polished for ages, my merc when clean still looks better than new renaults etc.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Cant say much about my new doors...car still gone...missing since 14 Feb....I guess it will reappear sometime soon. Mercedes sales are down in Ireland this year, due to the terrible problems and the woeful service. At least with an older one you know the problems.

Mine needed two injectors.........two weeks to get them. Is the 320CDI so rare that parts have to be road freighted from Germany???? Took them 3 months to get the doors, then one of them was wrong...discovered when they went to fit the glass that they cut out of the old door!!

I must admit the rust did not seem so bad at first but they were rotten in underneath. We dont have salted roads here and very little snow/ice and I was surprised at the extent of rust when eventually I found it. I also read too the front crossmember is prone to corrosion and that it should be monitored.

 

[philharve]

Hi All

I took my car to my local MB dealer about 6 weeks ago and they took photographs of the rust beaking along the upper edge of the offside rear door window channel. None of the other doors are affected: I guess I've been relatively lucky compared with some members.

The service manager informed me I would have MB's decision in 2 - 3 weeks time. I should have received that decision about 3 - 4 weeks ago. The dealer has not attempted to contact me so I plan to visit them this week. The previous owner received the same treatment and the dealer failed to contact him: they have to be chased. Eventually the previous owner gave up and sold the car. Am I in for the same treatment? Is there someone I could complain to?

My car is also approaching 5 year old and I would prefer to keep the same door if a permanent repair can be affected. However, a repair was undertaken, under warranty, once befre for the previous owner by an approved MB repairer and the rust has broken out once again in the very same place. The approved repairer eventually ceased trading.

Since then I've discovered 2 tiny spots of rust beaking out on the bonnet which cannot be due to untreated stone chips because they are close to the windscreen. I can see no evidence of undercoat or primer near the rusted areas: it looks like bare metal. I will inform the dealer of these new spots and I guess they will take more photographs. I wonder if they will be dealt with under the original claim?

If I'm not offered a new door (I don't expect to be) and informed a repair will be undertaken, ONCE AGAIN, I will still have no guarranty that the second repair will last. Should I expect it to? I believe so! What do you advise?

REGARDS Phil

 

[OlafMaxwell]

I have to say I eventually got my car back after 5 weeks, serviced, new injectors etc.

To be fair I did wonder would 4 new doors look way off....the colour match was perfect, no problem whatever with the work or the refitting of trims, glass etc, all seems well. Colour is Travertine Beige.

 

[jberks]

The work that has been done on mine is still good, so I don't see any reason why they can't fix it 'permanently'. As far as the wait is concerned - the dealer is talking crap (and he knows it) - 4-6 months is the norm. Mine told me around 4 weeks originally. I laughed at him and he fessed up - just figured people would freak if they knew the truth straight off. (still waiting - claim went in end Nov)
I have just found 2 new outbreaks. One on the door below the rubbing strip and another just in front on the wing. As fastidious as I am, I suspect they are stone chips I have missed (you can't catch them all) so I expect to pay for them. I tend to find that the 'Merc' corrosion is more of a random spread under the paint, whereas stone chips tend to be more circular around a central spot, being worse the closer you get to the centre. You can ask the delaer about the bonet though, they will claim if they can but trailing and leading edges of the bonnet can be prone to stones.