Mobilo Life Letters

[brakes508]

Evening Folks, had my wifes 2001SLK into local Western Mercedes dealer to evaluate a warranty claim of some rust spots. The assessor took car into workshow and did the various check and said he would send in a report and be in touch. He pointed out that there had been some damage repair as the thickness of the paint was not what it should be? Point of post is I'm expecting a knock back on my claim and wondered is there is any link to experiences of member who have been in a similar position and written to Milton Keyes to express their disappointment at the quality of what should be a premium product. Any example letters or links to them would be helpful as I think this will have to be my next tack, many thanks..

 

[television]

In all fairness if the car has had damage repairs, you cant expect MB to stand for that

 

[brakes508]

Ah the trouble is this was allegedly done prior to me aquiring the car in 06 now while I may accept some of the rust coming through on the front wing may be as a result what I don't accept in the A pillars roof spots and other side of the car! the quality of the finish is shocking for an alleged premium brand car. My old 406 had a 10 times better finish than the slk, had I paid 30+K for this car new I think I would be royaly hacked off! still like the old addage says if you don't ask in life you don't get. Hopefully there may be a good will gesture, if not it will somewhat sour my MB experience and may trade it if for an BMW X5 as the ML look poor by comparison and it may rust to death!!!!!

 

[Xtractorfan]

You have to remember that your assessor may not be as independant as u would like to think, There is no doubt that merc paintwork is certainly the worst that I have seen in all my bodyshop days, and i think by now they know it but it is not something they are gonna shout about, if u go away and never complain then they wont paint ur wagon, but if u do complain, first by taking ur car along and then by follow up letter to the dealer and to MB UK and their parent company in germany, I think u will get some sort of recompense .. the repainted bits, the assessor should be able to tell if these were just painted or if they have been filled and painted or replaced, and I wouldnt expect them to be repainted again by MB

 

[brakes508]

Thanks for your thoughts, anyone got any successful example letters that have weilded results from MB? Have already sussed there's will be no point in moaning in general thinking of tact of premium product being below expectation etc, please give your thoughts.....

 

[hawk20]

Thanks for your thoughts, anyone got any successful example letters that have weilded results from MB? Have already sussed there's will be no point in moaning in general thinking of tact of premium product being below expectation etc, please give your thoughts.....

This is a long answer because yours is a complex problem and there seems to be a shortage of others coming in on your problems.

Mercedes now have one of, if not the, finest paint jobs in the world. Here’s a link: -
MERCEDES NANO PAINT
http://www.ae-plus.com/Key topics/kt-materials8.htm
By William Kimberley


Mercedes cars have been fully galvanised since end 2002/early 2003 depending on model. Here is the link: -
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=23630

Prior to the mid nineties Mercedes paint quality was legendary and is one of the reasons you see so many old Mercs and so few other makes.

BUT in the late nineties and early 2000’s health and safety concerns and environmental concerns meant car makers in Europe had to change to water-based paints and there is no denying that there have been problems on cars of that era. The good news is that Mercedes have spent a fortune honouring the MobiloLife 30 year rust warranty. The 30 year guarantee began with Mobilo on 24th October 1998. Prior to that I think there was an eight year warranty.

Below are some links which show many cases where Mercedes have fixed rust issues not just on cars with Full MBSH but sometimes on cars without. The warranty does not cover accident damage, repairs by bodyshops not approved by MB (that is a condition of warranty), nor rust cause by stone chips, scratches and so on. Fair enough IMO; so the cover is for rust from the inside out –not surface rust which has come from not maintaining the paint when damaged. Few seem to realise that water-based paints are not waterproof. It is the surface lacquer that keeps the water out. It must be kept intact to do its job.

So old Mercs are fine and newer ones build in 2003 onwards are fully galvanised and the new nano paints from 2004, I believe, have few if any equals. BUT in between these dates there was a problem and they have admitted that.

Here are the links: -
Useful thread on rust and Mercedes fixing the problem for some but not all: -

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=30656&highlight=rust

A case where Mercedes did lots under ‘goodwill’
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=30644&highlight=rust

Another useful thread with lots of information and many cases of Mercedes paying for rust to be treated: -
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=27552&highlight=rust

Another interesting thread giving info on the eight years cover prior to MobiloLife coming in.
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=29655&highlight=rust

MERCEDES –why the quality dropped

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?p=195564#post195564

Well, if you look at America, Ford are on the edge of bankruptcy and many have thought GM would go under too. Competition from Toyota/Lexus and from Nissan and Honda is the main reason.

In the UK virtually the whole British car industry snuffed it in the nineties. Japanese productivity was way, way ahead of ours. Japan had wiped out our motor bike industry, European cameras, large chunks of the watch industry and so on. Toyota figures showed they made a complete car for less than the cost of guarantee work on some top European cars. Merc and others were seriously worried they might go under. They had to cut costs or fold.

Cutting costs in Europe is not easy when Unions have demanded and got a shorter working week, longer holidays, better health care and pensions, maternity leave and so on and so on. Some of the cost cuts came from good things like productivity (mainly the use of robots and other forms of automation); others came from cutting corners a bit too far. Sadly at the same time environmental concerns and health and safety required them to change to water-based paints which are not inherently waterproof (the lacquer provides the protection) and rust was an issue until the full galvanising began at end 2002 and became the norm in early 2003. BMW also had rust troubles and moved to galvanising at around the same time.


The new head of Mercedes, Dr Dieter Zetsche, has put huge emphasis on quality. The facelifted E class is almost a new model with over 2,000 changes. And two major dealers I know report almost zero faults on the new E's.

The S class came top this year of all cars on the JD Power Initial Quality Survey and other Merc models did really well too. Mercedes have shot up the JD Power survey in the UK too and the C and E class are now in the top quarter -as they should be.

Trouble for the future is that everyone now wants to make luxury cars (more profit). It has taken a long time but VW have just about got Audi there or thereabouts. And Toyota have done it with Lexus. Honda too in the US, but not here yet. And Ford have Volvo and Jaguar and Range Rover (even if they make no profits and so are for sale). And GM have Saab. Tough world out there.

 

[jberks]

Don't jump the gun just yet. They haven't rejected you yet.
Where the paint thickness is wrong, you may have an issue...but.. I assume this is just one panel and the whole car hasn't been resprayed? Where the paint is original you shouldn't have a problem. For the other areas, wait to see what they say. It may be ok, or it may have been repaired by an MB dealer in which case it will be fine.
Hawks comments are spot on. Yes things were dodgy 98-03 but 04- are excellent and to be fair, how many manufacturers would even discusss a warranty claim on a 7 year old car from an owner who bought it at 6 years old? You're normally on your own well before that. Thats where the "premium brand" really comes it.
See what they say first and if they do reject it, ask your dealer to appeal it. They may ask you for a contribution but to be fair, no car at that age is in perfect condition so you are benefiting from a top end respray even if you do have to chip in a little.

Sadly, as the cars of this era slowly slide through the market, lots of people who had views of the marque based on the 123 and 124 models will have those views soured which is a shame given how excellent the current cars are.

Trouble for the future is that everyone now wants to make luxury cars (more profit). It has taken a long time but VW have just about got Audi there or thereabouts. And Toyota have done it with Lexus. Honda too in the US, but not here yet. And Ford have Volvo and Jaguar and Range Rover (even if they make no profits and so are for sale). And GM have Saab. Tough world out there.

Very true. I picked up our newsed Freelander2 yesterday and spent the evening pottering around in it. Very impressed. Extremely well screwed together, brilliant to drive - handles like a little sports car whilst giving the feeling that your driving a fully fledged Range Rover, looks great and even the doors shut with a satisfying clunk remeniscent of the mercs of old. Totally different beastie to the old budget feel model. So, yes, they do seem to be going upmarket and are doing a great job of it.

 

[maddog]

They picked up the roof on my car had thicker than normal paint , my car was pre reg but i bought it at 3 months old and the repairs hadnt been done since owned it , the roof didnt have any rust in it so it didnt effect my claim.

Its not a case of whether its had bodywork repairs but a case of who did them , if they were MB approved then its not a problem anyhow , provided the repairs havent contributed to the rust i dont see how its an issue anyhow.

MB also asked me to contribute towards the cost of a new wing as it had a small dent in it because they wanted to replace it to solve the rust issues i had, i argued that it hadnt effected the rust at all and the paint was unaffected but they hinged all the "goodwill" repairs on this contribution so i had to agree to cover the cost.

As things turned out the dealer screwed up and ended up inconveniencing me a great deal so paid for the wing as compensation if they had not i would have taken it up with Milton Keynes anyhow

 

[brakes508]

Guys, many thanks for you rconsidered opinions (especially hawk20)and I agre that I will wait untill I have a definitive answer at this point I am only considering options and lining the ducks up so to speak. Should my claim be rejected has anyone had success in received a copy of the report on the regections grounds? prosumable this would provide some insite into the regection and therefore grounds to persue with the dealer. I originally went to my local main dealer Western Mercedes new dealership at Newbridge in Edinburgh who reffered me to their bodyshop in Broxburn. They have built a recent state of the art bodyshop and went through the normal of asking for the V5C and service book. Now here is where is gets a little interesting! The car is a 2001 230slk 2001 being one of the bad rust years the car has a full service history except the last two were done by Idie's 1 before 1 bought the car and the last one by the dealer I bought the car from (all lagit he showed me the old filters and oil etx) but for the serives I have just had done I have opted for an local indie (half the price) and wondered if this would have a bearing on the outcome? I would be asking "should I be peanilised for prior event of the car for which I had no control"? I know MB could argue the same case but will have to wait and see, you never know they may just say ok we'll do it as a good will gesture! hmm fingers crossed! any other observations would be most helpfull.....

 

[television]

Jberks posted where if the last service before the claim was done by MB then it is upheld

 

[brakes508]

***NEWSFLASH**** Just had call from MB assessor and against all odds or is that Phil Collins they have passed a warranty claim on the whole car for a respray! what a result! my faith in the Father Land and MB have been restored! you've got to love the Premium Brand

 

[JEZ.S320L]

***NEWSFLASH**** Just had call from MB assessor and against all odds or is that Phil Collins they have passed a warranty claim on the whole car for a respray! what a result! my faith in the Father Land and MB have been restored! you've got to love the Premium Brand

Phil Collins.!? Hope he's better working for MB than he was at drumming..

 

[jberks]

Congratulations - there you go - ye of little faith!

 

[hawk20]

Yet again showing how Mercedes really have been making MobiloLife do what it says on the tin- and some more.

See this thread for New Info on MobiloLife
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=35244