Its Offical - 2001 - 2002 C-Class do not have door sealant!!

[HB]

Hi,

I have been having problems with my C-class. All the door seams are rusting and after an offical inspection from MB UK they sent me this report

12.7 The customer also enquired as to why there was no seam sealant on body panel seams of the doors and tailgate of his vehicle. He wanted to know if this was either a production miss-build, or not part of the production standard to apply seam sealer in these places. As a result the manufacturing plant was contacted who confirmed that the application of sealant to the door seams was introduced into the production of C-Class at Bremen in April 2002. And since August 2002 the C-Class models, produced in Bremen, were completely sealed on all panels. Therefore seam sealant on the doors and tailgate was not part of the production specification of this model variant before those respective dates.

If you have a pre August 2002 car its door seals will start to rust and you will have to get door replacements. They will not recall this car despite the fact that weakend door skins will reduce the impact protection. This smacks of total arrogance and a lack of quality. Name one other car, mass produced, built in the last 5 Years that would not have this for the UK market... None.

 

[robbo]

I have a September 2000 W203 and there is no sign of rust on any of the doors or tailgate. I'll keep an eye out from now on though.

 

[Aletank]

I thought that the W203 C-Class was built in South Africa and not Breman Germany as mentioned above :?:
I think the Estate & Sport Coupe is Breman/Germany built but the Saloons South Africa,

Someone please correct me or confirm this as I'm not 100% sure

EDIT - Check this thread out confirming what I said above http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2208&highlight=south+africa

 

[HB]

2001 Onwards C-Class Saloons versus Estates and Coupe

The Right Hand Drive Estate and Coupe are built in Bremen (Vin will have DB in it) Saloons are South Africa.

The fact that it was not included in the specification is the shameful part. How can MB expect to sell cars in the UK that are built to a poorer standard than the cheapest far eastern car companies. Even the Rover City car is better finished than the MB.

The Dealership Western Mercedes have been dreadful. MBUK are in a different dimension. They are only worried about their profit margin and customer sevice is not existant.

I will now make it my mission to advertise this defect to all owners of 2001 to 2002 C-Class.