I need some advice - "hidden" accident damage!

[Peter C1974]

Last year a Mercedes Benz main dealer arranged for one of my 18" AMG alloys to be repaired after their delivery driver kerbed a two inch gouge into it. You should have seen the quality of the repair! It was dreadful! I could have done it better myself!

In the end I got a brand new wheel. I suggest you ask for the same.

 

[davidsw]

A lot of dealers know there are problems with the cars they are selling. They just see what they can get away with .

 

[Frontstep]

I think approved means theres a profit on the car.
The employees might be able to lease the cars cheaply but I wouldn't think that included repairs too bodywork and wheels.

 

[Rory]

1 year old car. Bumper repairs & wheel refurb. That's exactly what I'd expect. What did you expect taking a newly-purchased car to a detailer?

If you don't want a car with repairs visible to a detailer I'd buy new or buy secondhand and budget to get the work done to your standards

All this stuff about suspecting mechanical abuse based on the condition of the bumpers is absurd. It's a secondhand car and won't be perfect

Nick Froome

Yet return a lease car to MB after 3yrs and if it isn't as near as dammit perfect you'll get absolutely reamed. They particularly pick up on non-official repairs.


The OPs car being 12mths old, sounds a little old for an MB 'employee' scheme. Maybe there's variations of it, but my car was ex-MB management and it was 5mths old. I know people with cars from other manufacturers and they're generally changed at maximum 9mths. It's also usually forbidden to go over 10K miles.

 

[Scoob]

Last year a Mercedes Benz main dealer arranged for one of my 18" AMG alloys to be repaired after their delivery driver kerbed a two inch gouge into it. You should have seen the quality of the repair! It was dreadful! I could have done it better myself!

In the end I got a brand new wheel. I suggest you ask for the same.

I agree that new wheels are in order here. I might have been prepared to accept a repair, but NOT by Mercedes as they might just get the same guy out again. No, it has to be new wheels as they've had their chance to repair them once already, before I got my "Approved" car and they failed.

Also, with possible need of a new front bumper and, at the very minimum, paint work on both front and rear bumpers, I'd need to get those re-detailed and treated of course. I've already paid for treatment on defective repairs, so they should re-inburse me for that as well.

I didn't mind paying a lot of money for a proper longevity detail of the car when it's supposedly perfect. Now they've in effect wasted my time and money, with re-work being required. This guy, at the top of his field, needs booking months in advance!

Scoob.

 

[Bolide]

Hi Nick,

This is a Mercedes Benz approved used car, that's had non-approved botched repairs performed on it. If the car had been repaired and painted in a proper MB workshop using their own materials, and if the wheels had been replaced then there would be no issue.

If you are expecting the car to have the wheels and bumpers replaced because they have marks of use on them then, IMHO, your expectations are too high

Yes, you might legitimately expect a decent standard of repair from an approved car and I suspect you will achieve that by speaking with the dealer. But no, I don't think you'll get new wheels and bumpers. It's a secondhand car, not a new one

Either your expectations are unnaturally high, or the dealer has failed to manage them, or both

Nick Froome

 

[Scoob]

I don't agree. This car has had botched repairs. The wheels either need a proper restoration or to be replaced. The Former might prove more expensive than the latter. Also, there's always the worry that restored wheels won't last as long as geniune new unmarked ones. I plan to keep this car a while.

As for the bumper, as a minimum it needs to be repainted using Mercedes paint and Mercedes lacquer and the correct colour!

If a dealer choses to cover up damage, rather than fix it, there are more questions to be asked of them. The fact that the wheel "repair" is totally botched, being just sanded down and painted - NOT using the proper paint (wrong colour) or ANY lacquer at all, well, it shows total disregard for any degree of professionalism.

Add to this that I was assured prior to buying the car that no such repair work had been done on the car. Well that's either a huge mistake or plain lies. Note: I specifically asked this question about the car, and bought it 100% based on the answer being that NO such repairs had taken place. I was looking (and had been looking for a while) for the "perfect" example of the car I wanted, this, I was told, was it.

Scoob.

 

[Scoob]

To be clear, the issue I have is the exceptionally poor quality of the "repairs" and the fact that I was assured that no such work had been done on this car. A non-new car having had some minor paint work done is to be expected, but the standard of work should be high.

Scoob.

 

[television]

A £200 refurb on the wheels and they could last longer than the MB standard finish in many cases.
The bumpers if only scuffed and not split should paint up like new.

 

[Some guy on the internet]

If the issue is "the exceptionally poor quality of the repairs" how come you didn't spot any of them?

You bought a used car. If you expect the car to be like a new car then buy a new car.

 

[Rory]

This is a Mercedes Benz approved used car,

If the dealer queries why you didn't notice things, refer them to this ad:

http://www.kateandloucasting.com/ph...dth=700&photoHeight=400&photog=Garry Simpson&

 

[television]

If the dealer queries why you didn't notice things, refer them to this ad:

http://www.kateandloucasting.com/ph...dth=700&photoHeight=400&photog=Garry Simpson&

Just perfect, problem solved

 

[p3t3er]

I bought my first car, a Standard 8, in 1968. It was a dark night and pouring with rain.
I paid £30 of hard earned cash, about 4 weeks pay for an apprentice engineer.
Next morning I decided to give it a clean. I found that the front off-side wing was 75% filler. When I got round to cleaning the inside, I lifted the carpet and had a clear view of the road below. I gained some good experience while repairing the car and later sold it for £40.
I've bought dozens of cars since then and have developed my inspection skills so that I rarely miss a trick these days. I also always buy from a franchised dealer. I've given more than one bo!!ocking to Sales Managers for putting poorly prepared cars on the forecourt.
My last cars have been supplied on a 30 day/1000 mile exchange basis just in case I have missed anything. The first thing that I do when I get hold of the V5 is to contact the previous owner for any info that he can provide regarding any issues with the car.

 

[Scoob]

@ Some guy: Car wasn't clean, plus I'm not physically capable of crawling over a car to inspect things closely. Add to that I had faith in the whole "Mercedes Approved" thing, plus the personal reassurance that the car had had no such work done. Now it's pointed out to me, the differences in the paintwork are clear.

@ Rory: thanks

People seem to think that the whole "sold as seen" thing applies here. I.e. I should have spotted all and any defects on the car. Should I also have dismantled the gearbox and engine to check for things? When I viewed it, the car looked ok to me. However, it was nearly new, fully dealer approved and had "no repair work done" so I took this on (misplaced) faith.

I've attached some photos, seems there's a 5 attachment limit, but they clearly show repair work on my car that's "had no repair work". You can clearly see the difference in paint quality and the level of metallic flakes present.

Note, these pictures were taken after the car had been soaked in cleaning product and dried off using air. So, none of the water and polish marks it had before. It's the car being this clean that really highlights the defects I think. I'll have some of the wheels too soon.

Scoob.

 

[Bollyw]

Quote:

"Just had a call back from MB Retail - while typing this - a fairly positive response thus far, very apologetic & seemingly keen to get to the bottom of it."

Not sure what the problem is?

 

[Rory]

Not sure what the problem is?

There's no way, based on personal experience and many comments on here and other forums, that MB would have accepted a lease car back at 3yrs old with those issues without significantly penalising the driver.

Therefore they shouldn't be retailing a 1 yr old car with such defects.

I think the dealership will be extremely embarrassed that this car has "slipped through our checks" without these issues being picked up, and they'll be annoyed that one of their own staff (if that part of the story is true) has pulled the wool over their eyes.


The car should, to all intents and purposes, appear to be new except for tyres worn as appropriate for the mileage and the very odd (but well touched-in) stone chip. OK, mine was newer at 5mths old, but there wasn't a mark on it inside or out.

 

[Frontstep]

I think there is not much to say until MB have caught up with the information they now have.
The car has had poor repairs quite clearly and maybe MB are getting some information from the "Employee" as to whats happened.

 

[Scoob]

There's no way, based on personal experience and many comments on here and other forums, that MB would have accepted a lease car back at 3yrs old with those issues without significantly penalising the driver.

Therefore they shouldn't be retailing a 1 yr old car with such defects.

I think the dealership will be extremely embarrassed that this car has "slipped through our checks" without these issues being picked up, and they'll be annoyed that one of their own staff (if that part of the story is true) has pulled the wool over their eyes.


The car should, to all intents and purposes, appear to be new except for tyres worn as appropriate for the mileage and the very odd (but well touched-in) stone chip. OK, mine was newer at 5mths old, but there wasn't a mark on it inside or out.

I agree Rory. A good, professional, repair using the correct paint and materials would be perfectly fine. However, the "repairs" on my car are a bit of a joke.

@ Bollyw: The problem is the standard of repair and the non-disclosure of said repairs when explicitly asked. The ignorance of the sales team regarding this might not be deliberate, however it's still the responsibility of the dealership to know this. They've sold a product that, like Rory said, would likely be rejected by MB if all defects were known if they were purchasing it / having a hire returned.

Their response today to being given this information - someone at the dealership I've not dealt with before - has felt fairly positive. I.e. let's get it in and resolve things.

I suspect that maybe some people at the dealership were well aware of this, whereas others were not. I trust the salesman I dealt with, who unfortunately has since left, was a geniune guy and would not deceive me. He was not aware, until it was mentioned in a conversation with the service manager, that the car was one of theirs, for example. So I suspect minimal communication between sales and service occuring here.

How and why the car came to be in this state is a bit of a concern, but hopefully it can be resolved.

Scoob.

 

[Tazz666]

Trading standards is the place to go as the vehicle has been miss sold, and not as discribed, You will find that the Dealership has not got a leg to stand on
and trust me when I say the Salesman would've known

 

[Scoob]

Trading standards is the place to go as the vehicle has been miss sold, and not as discribed, You will find that the Dealership has not got a leg to stand on
and trust me when I say the Salesman would've known

I'm hoping the dealer will do the right thing here and address the issues listed. All I want is a proper repair and, ideally, replacement wheels. The latter because one repair attempt has already failed badly and it's not a case of a simple coat of paint and lacquer, as it is mostly with the bodywork, physical material from the wheel is gone due to the botched repair. I don't really want to accept filler as the wheel would be VERY delicate then and prone to being very easily damaged in future. Maybe filling a single chunk of wheel from a kerbing incident would be fine - the wheels on my Subaru have been so treated. However when the entire circumference of the wheel is missing material, well, it's a bit more serious.

Scoob.