rust on my front doors

[anyweb]

hi guys,

well I sent my car in for a service last week to the local garage (not a merc dealer) and the guy there called me in after having the car for half a day (i'm lucky, as the garage is across the road from my house lol). My car is an 11 years old Mercedes Benz C220 (from 1995) and I like it a lot !!

i initially wanted the car serviced (10,000 kilometres since last) and also to get my air con fixed and head gasket replaced

long story short, he showed me underneath the car (it was up on his stand) and there was a leak at the back dripping. It turned out that leak was my back brakes cables on the left side, so he fixed it. Anyway, while i was there he pointed out the rust on the doors (i was aware of it anyway) and asked me did i really want to put more money into this car given its 'state'. I kindof felt annoyed about this and immediately set about checking the local websites for a new(er) merc to replace this one, after a day or two i decided whats the point. If i fix this one up and perhaps replace the front doors then at least i know what's wrong with it. If i buy another second hand one i'll have no idea whats wrong with it...

anyways, i'm lucky enough to know someone who works in a merc dealership, so ive asked him to help me get a good price on new doors for the front. He's asked me to bring the car in along with it's service manual (i already told him its not been serviced by mb during the years).

The rust on the left front door is now bad, but not awful, I'll report here what MB decide to charge me for the repairs and if it's totally rediculous then i guess i'll have to sell my pride and joy

sorry for the ramble, just wanted to air my thoughts

cheers
anyweb

 

[television]

Anyweb, you have some good breakers in Sweden, you could think about secondhand doors and easy to fit, I will put the Tcut on hold if you like.

Malcolm

 

[anyweb]

well mercedes checked out my car, and said a big fat no (to helping with repairing the rust as its a 1995 model...)

which was expected, but kinda sad, so now i need to either

* get an indie spray job on the rust
* or get Mercedes to replace the front doors at huge expense

or

sell it

i dunno which way to turn

cheers
anyweb

 

[television]

well mercedes checked out my car, and said a big fat no (to helping with repairing the rust as its a 1995 model...)

which was expected, but kinda sad, so now i need to either

* get an indie spray job on the rust
* or get Mercedes to replace the front doors at huge expense

or

sell it

i dunno which way to turn

cheers
anyweb

Did you give the door skins any thought.

malcolm

 

[anyweb]

no, because i dont have time (3 young kids)

I hardly have time to cut the lawn !!!

cheers
anyweb

 

[television]

no, because i dont have time (3 young kids)

I hardly have time to cut the lawn !!!

cheers
anyweb

They are not something that you could fit, but worth asking how much as it would make a lasting repair,
When a car has side damage, new door skins are fitted if the protection bars are not damaged on all insurance jobs, since they are quick to fit, you would save the job of de rusting the original doors, rust will always find its way back in a couple of years, or OK just have it done and sell it.

malcolm

 

[anyweb]

well would mercedes fit these door skins ? they seem to be talking about erplacing the doors entirely

i'm still checking with them to see how much they'll rob me for that

cheers
anyweb

 

[jberks]

Hi Anyweb,
I doubt a dealer would fit them. Their labour charge is too high. The dealer can probably supply and fit a new door cheaper than the labour of fitting a new skin.

That swaps around at a 'sensible' bodyshop where the labour is a lot cheaper. I've had door skins replaced on a number of cars before, either as a fix for the corrosion or after some helpful soul altered its shape. How bad is the rust? I guess it all depends on how confident the bodyshop is at erradicating it, at least for a few years. Properly sand blasted and coated with the appropriate chemicals they can have a lot of success these days so its worth a chat with your friendly sprayer. I'd give the dealer a wide berth on this one!

 

[television]

Good info as always from Jberks, I have been thinking, as I will be driving through Malmö on the 10th june in the afternoon, and only going as far as Gislaved, I could meet you at a Kiosk and take a look at your car doors. I also knew some very good guys in jönköping behind Philipssons the MB dealer who could do the work.

Malcolm

 

[Parrot of Doom]

Just a thought. Consider the cost of repairing your current car, against the depreciation on a newer car. I think you may well find that the former is the better option.