Huge number of paint chips on bonnet

[hawkeye]

hi folks,

I'm looking at buying a C200K face lifted 05 reg. (40k miles) But it's got a ton of paint chips on the bonnet. Is there any reason why that is?

I've also got a non face-lift 04 reg in the same colour (blue) and it hasn't got anything like the same amount of chips.

Other than the bleedin' obvious, that the car has been driven on stony roads for the last three years (which I find very hard to believe!) was there anything particularly bad about the new facelift models that any one knows about?

I've read the forum for the "MB paintwork is crap and they rust" type comments so I don't want that kind of info pls Is there anything specifically about the bonnet with the facelift or maybe something about that age is what I'm looking for.

many thanks,
john.

 

[Xtractorfan]

Are they actual stone chips or touch ups from a previous owner, some ppl go mad when they get those little touch ups and feel they have to obliterate everything that aint the colour of the car, I remember one guy touching up a car whilst puffing on a ciggie and he even touched some of the white ash that fell on the bonnet...and another that tried to polish a shadow from his gleaming porsche...as for the facelifted model the bonnet slopes slightly more so maybe more prone to chipping..

 

[hardtop]

can be a sign of high mls check the history & the rest of the car for ware

 

[hairyg]

Could just be that the previous driver was a tail-gater. In which case the brakes and transmission are probably knackered as well.

If in doubt leave it alone.

See if you can find another example of the facelift to see if that is the same, doesn't have to be on sale of course.

 

[ernieh]

C200 Facelift Paint

Probably not much help, but my 52k miles, 54 Plate C200 also seems to have suffered badly from stone chips and I'm not a tailgater. As it is blue, it does show quite badly and eventually will need a bonnet respray. Not sure of the reason, but I'm told by somebody in the trade that water-based paints are quite brittle. However, that wouldn't account for differences in paint performance before and after facelift as both are water-based afaik.

Ernie

 

[hawkeye]

Fair do's

Hmm, didn't think about the tailgating factor ! Let's see if I can get a re-spray out of the vendor then !

cheers folks - quick as always

John.

 

[Rory]

Mine (54redg C270) is pretty bad too - I've never owned a car like it for picking up "hits", even the screen has several noticeable chips including one that needed repair.

The paint is a bit wierd - it's been suggested to me that the "nano" paint that's used is very hard but if it does break then it cracks off little chips and that's certainly what's happened to mine - you don't get the "starring" of the paint around a big stone chip, just little pieces of paint have chipped off. My car is red, and the primer is white, so it really shows up.

 

[Xtractorfan]

It is only the paint..ie the colour that is waterbased, the cars are still overcoated with a clear lacquer that protects the colour... as said the thickness of the lacquer and the hardness is a much bigger factor in the chipping problem..

 

[ernieh]

Solvent-based laquer?

Surely they wouldn't use a solvent-based laquer over water-based paint, given the environmental considerations for using water-based in the first place?

Ernie

 

[Xtractorfan]

They haevn't come up with a water based lacquer yet, well at least not one that can withstand the elements...

 

[ernieh]

Laquer?

Oh well....I suppose that's progress, but I hadn't known that. Never too old to learn!

Ernie