rust issues solved, FANTASTIC

[gpm72]

hi, thought i would let you know, i have several rust spots all over my c220 cdi estate, 1999 model.
after a lenghty chat with the local mercedes dealership to me, they decided to try and have it repaired under warranty, BUT, it may be declined due to the cars age....

well, 4 weeks later, i have a almost new car.

parts replaced under warranty were as follows

ALL 4 doors
tailgate
both front wings
rear quarters repaired
whole car resprayed, excluding roof, and bonnet

as my bonnet had some bad stone chipping, i asked if they could blast, repair and repaint whole bonnet, repair a few parking dings, fit new tailgate struts, new number plates, polish roof, touch up small scuff on front bumper

total cost to myself £380. WHAT A RESULT

not all dealers are rip off merchants

now having second about getting rid for a clk as it does look stunning

good luck to anyone else out there about to have this type of repair done.

 

[whitenemesis]

Nice result, shows not all dealers are riff-off merchants. If you don't ask......

 

[johnmc]

I'm pleased for you too, but don't forget it should never have happened in the first place.

My son's 10 year old Punto has NO rust on the body work, and is worth less than what you paid out to Merc for your repair.

Don't seem to get what we pay for.

My mate at work got a similar deal for his 1997 E class, traded it in while it was nice and shiney!

John

 

[MotardMan]

Very interesting, as my 98 C240 has rust on the doors, bonnet and tailgate. Petrol flap and roof!

How did you go about making the claim?

 

[anyweb]

i'm so jealous, i tried doing this with my 1995 c220 but they said it was too old to be covered, can we see some photos of your pride and joy before/after the repair ?

 

[gpm72]

pics

cant seem to find out how to post pics. grr

 

[television]

cant seem to find out how to post pics. grr

If they are on you computer, go to reply to thread, open the Manage attachments and you have the options of browsing the pictures on your computer or you can enter the URL of the picture from a web service

 

[mattsurf]

hi, thought i would let you know, i have several rust spots all over my c220 cdi estate, 1999 model.
after a lenghty chat with the local mercedes dealership to me, they decided to try and have it repaired under warranty, BUT, it may be declined due to the cars age....

well, 4 weeks later, i have a almost new car.

Which dealership did you use

 

[hawk20]

It is not usually up to the dealer but up to Mercedes if they accept under the 30 year rust guarantee on their cars.

The 30 year guarantee began with MobiloLife on 24th October 1998.

Prior to that, I think it was 8 years but have no details on that period.
Early Mercs were fine on the rust issue. Then the switch to water-based paints came partly due to Health and Safety regs and partly for environmental reasons. Many manufacturers had rust issues with these paints until going to full galvanising as Merc did in 2003. BMW too around the same time.

Merc have been very good at sorting rust issues under Mobilo, providing there is full MBSH. They have also done quite a lot where the service record is partial.

Problems arise when there are stone chips that have not been tended too, or scratches, chips and dents. Also if someone buys a rusty car cheap and then asks Merc to fix it free they can get a dusty answer. But genuine owners with a genuine problem usually get help as numerous threads testify.

It is up to your dealer to assess the problem, maybe take photos and put the case to Mercedes.

 

[hawk20]

Here's a link to the thread on galvanising: -
http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=23630

 

[philharve]

hi, thought i would let you know, i have several rust spots all over my c220 cdi estate, 1999 model.
after a lenghty chat with the local mercedes dealership to me, they decided to try and have it repaired under warranty, BUT, it may be declined due to the cars age....

well, 4 weeks later, i have a almost new car.

parts replaced under warranty were as follows

ALL 4 doors
tailgate
both front wings
rear quarters repaired
whole car resprayed, excluding roof, and bonnet

as my bonnet had some bad stone chipping, i asked if they could blast, repair and repaint whole bonnet, repair a few parking dings, fit new tailgate struts, new number plates, polish roof, touch up small scuff on front bumper

total cost to myself £380. WHAT A RESULT

not all dealers are rip off merchants

now having second about getting rid for a clk as it does look stunning

good luck to anyone else out there about to have this type of repair done.

Hi gpm72

Excellent news!

Some months ago I met with similar success and I had the full 'back-to-bare-metal treatment' performed on my 2000 C-class. The only panels untreated are the boot lid and roof but neither is showing signs of rust (yet). I did have some stone chip damage (arguable) repaired at my expense, also around the GBP400 mark. All other repairs were under warranty. I was fortunate because I had the help and support of a good indie and a champion repairer who analysis of the cause of the corrosion carried far more weight than the Mercedes dealership. The dealer stated my car's paint thickness was within spec' but the repairer stated it may be within spec' but it was grossly inferior to the covering of earlier Mercedes. I bypassed the dealership altogether and let the repairer handle my claim and the repairs went ahead smoothly. The corrosion problem should now be behind me but it has taken around 2.5 years of mostly hassle to have it fixed.

As stated above, corrosion appearing in a Mercedes of less than 2yrs old just shouldn't happen. But it does and I have seen examples where every panel has been blighted with serious corrosion. And on first encounter I thought is was mud splatter.

Have I been lucky? Maybe, but dogged persistence played its part too. Don't be put off my unhelpful dealerships. They don't want to entertain corrosion claims if they can possibly help it and it wouldn't surprise me if they've received training in fobbing off. If they can be convinced you mean business, they'll likely give way. But not necessarily. The car's age must be a factor too so it doesn't surprise me the MB will not entertain claims that could represent a substantial proportion of the value of the car. I tend to think that dealerships make an assessment of owners too. Professional, influential and wealthy types probably make a bigger impression because they are more likely to upgrade to a newer Mercedes when the time comes to replacement. Dealerships want to keep hold of these customers.

My repairer (old school type, decades of experience) has put a covering of paint on my panels that easily matches (he says 'exceeds') that of older Mercedes and rust should never break out again. The back-to-bare-metal approach followed by sealing the metal surface and the baking on of the paint is, IMHO, the key to stopping corrosion permanently. The cheaper quick 'blow over' is only a temporary solution. But it has been a long fight to get a quality repair. I just feel MB should have been more open about the problem and not hassle customer because many will not now consider buying another Mercedes. Bad PR?

REGARDS

Phil

 

[w.oody]

this is to hawk. i have a 1998 E300 td and quite a few rust spots on panels . I talked to the warrenty manager at Jacksons Mercedes of poole and they said my car was too old. I was wondering which dealership you went through

 

[hawk20]

this is to hawk. i have a 1998 E300 td and quite a few rust spots on panels . I talked to the warrenty manager at Jacksons Mercedes of poole and they said my car was too old. I was wondering which dealership you went through

As I posted earlier on posting number 9; -
"It is not usually up to the dealer but up to Mercedes if they accept under the 30 year rust guarantee on their cars.

The 30 year guarantee began with MobiloLife on 24th October 1998.

Prior to that, I think it was 8 years but have no details on that period."

If your car was pre October 1998 Jacksons could be right. If it is post Oct 1998 point this out to them.

 

[Andy Wr]

Mine is due in next Monday to a local bodyshop all paid for by MB to have the rear arches repaired as well as the tailgate, there are some other bits I have asked the bodyshop about and he said he will have a look as long as it is nothing major, and my loan car is going to be a ............... Ford Fiesta!

 

[jberks]

My experience with the rust repair warranty has generally always been good. I can confirm that my now 3 year old E class is still rust free (something I couldn't say about my previous E) so, yes they screwed up but they do seem to have sorted it. As has been said, I'm not so sure we can put all the blame on MB. A lot of the changes that caused this were the result of EU regulatory changes and the German's desire to appear green. Also, on the Fiats, Hondas etc from the era are fine argument, just remember that they were total rust buckets only a few years earlier whereas rust was a whole new learning curve to MB. It probably took a couple of years for them to realise the blunder and then I suspect, given the size and complexity of things like steel supply contracts, a year or two to sort out the necessary galvanisation - henc the '98-'04 time period.
Given the extensive work they have done under these warranties, I wonder how much this debacle cost MB over the last 9 years.
Interestingly, I think we'll start to get a new raft of complaints on this issue. Owners tend to run in packs. Those of us who run 1-6 year old cars and mostly out of the rust period now and happily running around in traditional rust free mercs again (We have a whole new set of issues instead but thats another matter!). There are those who buy at 4-6 years and they are commonly coming from 124s and 202s or even early 210s where the paint was the old thick stuff and rust was unheard of. To these guys, who are coming from casrs built in the good old days the rust they are buying is a shock.

 

[television]

The cost of doing all of this work does not bare thinking about and must account for some of the high servicing charges, we still have some years to go though

 

[hawk20]

The cost of rust repairs is paid by Mercedes not by the dealer. So this problem should not affect service charges. Besides in a very competitive market place there is really no known way of recouping the cost of past mistakes. Large provisions will have been made in the accounts and Mercedes will just have had to take it on the chin -or rather on the bottom line.

Mercedes service charges are competitive with other luxury makes -as they have to be.

Galvanising of all models effectively covers 2003 production onwards; so even if it takes up to 8 years (?) for the problem to show itself, the issue continues till 2011? Relief all round when it is in the past.

 

[Andy Wr]

Just an update on my car, went into the body shop this morning, very impressive clean modern bodyshop, I have a brand new A class as a loan car (not much for it) both rear arches and the tailgate are been repaired under warranty and they are going to repair and spray my bonnet including blending in the wings, repair a rust patch on the rear passenger door which MB declined and to polish a scratch out of a plastic sill, there were more stone chips than we thought on the bonnet hence the respary, the costs for the extra work if anyone is interested, £250 bonnet and wings, £120 for the door and scratch removed £free, so I will get an immaculate car out of it, may have the wheels refurbed and thats it as good as new again.

The only downer is my tripometer on starting up is now saying 26 d, I presume that means 26 days until the next service, not sure if that is an A or B service yet or whether to have the service performed at MB or my local independant.

A service is £95 +vat B service is £140 +vat unless it's on about 50,000 miles then requires extra filters, any ideas on the cost of an MB service anyone?

 

[Andy Wr]

Just to let you all know, I collected my ML this afternoon and it looks outstanding, the finish is superb including the extras which they did for me, they have even machine polished the entire car, the car looks brand new. These guys are an MB approved bodyshop, there are mainly MB's in the garage as well as a 5 series BMW, a lambo and a couple of others. I would recommend these guys for all body work repairs and would use them again should the need arise.

PF Autos,
Pinnox St,
Stoke on Trent.

01782 577588.

 

[hawk20]

Glad to hear it has all worked out well for you. Thanks for keeping us all posted. So often we never hear the end of a story.