Rust! A bad attitude from Mercedes-Benz.

R

Ringway

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I thought I might give members here an insight into the appalling attitude of Mereced-Benz when it comes to honouring their corrosion warranty.

I've never quite got the hang of posting pictures on this forum so I hope you don't object to a link to my post on that other popular Mercedes forum.

LINK.

Best regards.


Paul.
 

television

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Coming up so much these days,, we got a new member last night and his Vito is rusting away
 

trapperjohn

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Glad you have it on both forums Paul. This does need maximum publicity.
 

DSB SL AMG

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MB Bad customer service.....i had my E Class (W210) suspension cross member changed by MB Chester due to a known rust issue when the car was 8 years old, the car had several owners before me....

Fact is i think they will only admit liability if safety is impacted and its a known warranty issue, maybe shout louder....

I really recommend you send an email with the facts to Simon Oldfield, he is MB UK Customer Service Managing Director. Mention that there are now threads running on this issues on several UK MB forums and send him link to the extensive posts....

Email> simon.oldfield@daimler.com

More then worth a try!

Good luck...let us know how you get on...
DSB.
 

television

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And we do have the main rust thread running, enough to make you weep for all anyone at MB cares,,absolute **** crap steel used through out
 

Spannaz

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i know its not the same league. but even the japs are doing this.
Kia are known for rusting (sedona's caused by trims rubbing and rusting) and they flatly refused to cover any rust under their perforation as it has to rust right through the panels.
Had the same issues with Hyundai too with the same response.
Cost cutting, no profits and a recession probably isn't going to help, but agree that when you buy a Mercedes, the last thing you expect is rust!!!! It's not like your buying a cheap car is it!
 

LTD

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Paul

You know my opinion.

Given MBUK have declined to accept and redress the problem you have that is clearly in breach of their warranty, you need to contact your MEP and escalate this to the European Union.

They have denied you your rights as an individual to have a product redressed under the warranty they provided at point of sale - in short, it's a breach of contract.

Go for it - MB will not fancy the exposure ....
 

chris1200

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I understand you're disappointed with how MB have dealt with this so far and your principle is probably right. Sometimes you have to pursue an issue for the greater good etc. etc....and I don't need to be sold on that idea.
But if it was me I wouldn't let it ruin my life, my week, my day or even an hour of my time. After the initial infuriating rant I'd just rub that wee bit of rust down and touch it in and get on with it. But that's just me I suppose, I'm not suggesting you should think the same.
 
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R

Ringway

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Many thanks indeed, for all the support and advice everyone.


The issue of having the rust eradicated (for as long as that can last) is not so important. The principal here is very much a matter of fair play, to loyal, paying, Mercedes-Benz customers.

I'm very good friends with the guys and girls at Hanstons (Mercedes Approved) Bodyshop in Altrincham, and there is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that they could carry out the works to a better standard than a Mercedes sub-contracted bodyshop (who are paid Fiat/Vauxhall/Ford rates to work on our beloved brand).
Whenever I visit Hanstons, their bodyshop is full of top-line MB's. I whinced when I saw that vandalised red, SLS Coup'e, but smiled when I saw it a week later. ;)

Hanstons are the company that are sent very high-end damaged and vandalised vehicles for that "special job" when only the very best will do.
They are NOT interested in warranty work from Mercedes-Benz or anyone else - Their book is full. When I showed them the rust on my Vito, they said it was a dead-cert warranty claim. (They said it would cost circa £350 to strip, paint and reassemble the tailgate).

Also, on hearing of my troubles, Nick at Euormerc kindly offered to send me a brand new tailgate at a fraction of the dealer price if I so wanted. Thank you, Nick!

My point (or mission if you like) is to make any unsuspecting member of the public or forums, aware of the "We have had your money, we continually mess up with our paint and bodywork processes through bean-counting, so fc*k you, attitude of Mercedes-Benz). That IS, undeniably, their policy.




In the good old days...

I bought a 6, year old S210. Nice car and I still have it - It is, a dobber!
I'd already owned a couple of Sprinter vans, but this was the car that lured me to becoming a Mercedes-Benz enthusiast.
With its first owner, it spent its first 5, years having many "B" services. Overkill some might say.
The car was then sold to a private individual who didn't maintain the MB service history (he owned the car for 10, months).

I bought the car (was £8995) for £6995 with rusty front wings.

I went to Mercedes at Macclesfield and booked in for a service.

The rust issues were mentioned.

I was directed to visit MB bodyshop at Manchester, who after some gentle persuasion (I argued that I couldn't maintain the FMBSH when I didn't own the car) (at the point of my visit, I had owned the car for just a few weeks) agreed to replace both front wings free-of-charge. They even spotted a tiny speck of rust on the tailgate and said they would also replace the whole thing if I contributed £52 for the 3rd brake light (apparantly the light always breaks when removed. What a result!

The warranty approval on my S210 was very much appreciated - What a brand!
This is what made me plough money into my S210 (there won't be many in the UK in better fettle) and purchase subsequent Mercedes vehicles.
I even have a lovely 21 year old 124 230TE, which has just a little rust on one of the front wings... that's all :)



However, the worm has turned.. And so has my opinion of Mercedes-Benz. Great vehicles to drive, but...


I do have a plan though. Whether the plan bears fruit or not, only time will tell.

The one thing Mercedes-Benz have on their side, is that I don't have a lot of time to spare, but let's see what transpires. ;)


Thanks once again for the support and advice.
 
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television

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I do not know how the guy in contact with watchdog is doing trying to round up MB owners with this horrible problem. We have had a couple of post from where they issued country court claims and MB paid up before the time date
 

drdel

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MB has grown worldwide and times are hard so minimising their costs is all that matter. Then, unfortunately customer service is more about how many customers you can P--s Off without damaging sales.

Your only choice is to become a bigger pain than the others customers who are complaining. It will a simple matter of deciding whether if you go to law it will cost them more than sorting the problem.

You should write and tell tham you intend to hold them responsible for the costs they are causing you .
 

Banus

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Unbelievable

Rust on a Mercedes! There's two words I thought I'd never see in the same sentence! This is unbelievable in this day and age. Takes me back to the 70s and the days of Austin Metros, Marinas and Maxis! Please say we've moved on from those dark days?

Do other manufacturers have these issues in 2012?
 

Silver_Star

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It really is a very sad state of affairs.

My brother had a 306 D-Turbo on a '93 L plate about 2 years ago now. I inspected the bonnet, around all the wheel arch's and couldn't find a spec of rust on it. It was a good example and puts MB to shame.

Look at the rear quarter on the W215 made from ally. MB can't even get that right.....just compare it to a series or defender land rover ally body panel that get "abused" they don't have this issue.

If only there was a car that had Peugeot bodywork with MB engines, running gear and looks....
 

alexanderfoti

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Its such a shame that we are still seeing this, 12 years after it all started being a serious issue.

When will MB get their act together, It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, and 5 minutes to ruin it, except in MB's case, they have been chancing it for 10 years!!

It seriously upsets me that I see bottom range cheap cars driving around that are older and less rusty than me (originally 40K!) MB!
 

Remenham

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Maybe I was just lucky but I do feel MB treated me fairly when my 2001 s210 320cdi started to show rust all round the door and panel edges and tailgate lock.

This was at 8 years old and local dealer photographed affected areas and sent off to head office who authorized comprehensive repair/renewal exercise taking 6 weeks at body shop. Free courtesy car meanwhile. Rust has not re-appeared. This was notwithstanding last two services at an indie.

Whether the car has rust gnawing away in important unseen structural locations interested me until I just sold it.
 

alexanderfoti

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MB Brentford laughed my away when I showed them mine, even though it was 10 years old, it had full MB service history. (I bought it 2nd hand)

Also laughing at the thread tags on this thread!
 

d215yq

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Sad but it's not surprising...Mercedes no longer makes cars for well heeled buyers who keep them along time...the average first time buyer is either probably a fleet customer or someone who trades up after 4 years and therefore does not care about rust, perhaps even wants it to be rusty as an excuse to trade up...so why would MB care about rust problems after 4/5 years any more than the other numerous expensive failing parts you hear about?

If it isn't already the case now, I bet the most reliable/long lasting cars will very soon be the koreans/dull japanese cars as these cars are more likely to be bought by people who take the long term view and will buy another only if it lasts 10 or so years without being troublesome/having obvious defects.
 

julesg007

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When I thought about getting my first MB I was looking at an estate W210 and I was shocked to hear about the rust problems that can occur with these cars.

I was under the impression that MB were a prestige brand and rust was something you didn't have to worry about.

In the end I steered clear of the W210 and picked up a W124 instead becuase of the rust problem

Anyhow in the meantime we picked up a 02/52 W208 CLK Cabrio as our first MB and am now very dissappointed to see the tin wormhas taken hold in all the usual places and the local dealer was quite frankly worse than useless when dealing with the issue, least to say my warranty claim was rejected.

I would have thought that MB would have put this issue bed by now but obviously it hasn't, as outlined in this case and I've even seem W211's which were supposed to be galvanised having rust problems.

Not very good especially if you are going to be a keeper like we are - I simply cannot afford to keep changing my car - my wife wants to get a W212 shortly to replace the W208 but I am thinking hard about moving away to another brand because of the rust issues and the really shabby way we have been treated and no doubt if I do trade in the dealer will try to hit me hard on values because of the rust so I get another kick in the nuts!

MB should hold their head in shame and admit there is a problem and get it sorted once and for all.
 


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