Rusting Merecedes - We are not alone, but can you help?

[MartinC180]

At the risk of filling this web server, I am posting about the seemingly perpetual issue of our rusting (wheel arches to our 1998 E240 - our 2nd family) Mercedes.

We own 2 Mercedes - a 2 yr old C180 K and an E240 & prior to that had a C180 estate. We bought the E240 privately last summer (2008) as whilst only having covered 45,000 miles & looking & feeling like new (to an inexperienced owner) thought we were on to a long term ownership route.

Little did we know about rusty Mercs, or MB main dealers / MBUK & 'goodwill' at that stage!!

Apart from requiring a new ignition switch and two new keys direct from MB who told us that no one else could supply keys or ignition switches (for £850 - having originally quote £1,000+) our E240 is seemingly a great family car, apart from the rust.

Like many peoples posts on this forum about 1990s - 2003 cars - I started to notice rust on the front & one rear arch when cleaning it. The rust is on the underside of the arches, spreading around the side & running along the top of the front bumpers.

We went to MB main dealer at the suggestion of a local independent service agent, simply to get some touch up paint (to paint over the rust as a temporary repair). To our surprise & despite our car not fitting all of the requirements (full MB Ser history, previous repairs or repainting, recent change of ownership to 3rd or 4th owner, being 10+ yrs old) etc - they did all the usual things (photos, paint thickness, log books, etc) & said they’d let us know what they could do under a warranty / 'goodwill' type arrangement as they valued things such as our brand loyalty.

A couple of weeks later - they phoned us. After originally only offering to replace the front wings at around 50% of the supposed estimated cost (the front are the worst & only a small amount of rust is visible on one of the rear arches) – they eventually quoted us for the replacement of all four wings (initially verbally just the front ones) & at the ludicrous total cost of around £5,879 - of which we’d end up paying 30% = 'approximately' £1,800 (plus Vat). This was supposedly a ‘goodwill’ gesture & we were given 28 days to accept it. We naturally declined this offer as it was clearly a fabricated amount (eg: £2,300+ for part, paint material cost & labour for each rear wing - one of which didn’t even need doing). This was in late 2008.

We since obtained various independent quotes and surveys for these works and these have ranged from £900 to £1450 (plus VAT and front wings at manufacturers cost). One of these quotes was from our local MB current own 'in house' body shop. Their own body shop (a different independent supplier to the one they used in 2008 as far as we can tell) shows us in a written quotation that the cost to repair and re-spray our car is £1,450 (plus VAT, plus two front wings at manufacturer’s cost price). Coincidentally - this is about the same as the 30% cost figure they proposed last year!!

Prior to their own body shop offering us any quote to carry out these works & having had our local MB main dealer inspect our car for a second time (this yr - 2009) MB UK promptly declined to offer us any assistance, as we had declined (ignored, yet complained) about their quote in 2008.

They are currently declining to offer us any replies to our written, verbal & emailed requests for assistance & wont even offer us a parts price for two new MB front wings (requested repeatedly over the last month) so that we can get an alternative supplier to repair & repaint our car.

Our local MB dealer franchise owns all three of the local garages & so we don’t really know what to do next. The rust is spreading rapidly along the seems of the front wings (above the bumpers). We'd prefer our car to be repaired with genuine parts and a MB dealer / 'warranty', but not pay a fictional amount. Having had no option but to pay £850 for an ignition switch and two new keys (apparently the original key types are no longer made & so a broken switch resulted in us having no option but to replace it and our two keys) we also don't trust the dealership to even stick to their own deliberately vague estimates.

This post is designed to ask for requests for assistance / feedback. It will hopefully also serve as a warning for any one who unsuspectingly purchases an earlier MB and had any hope of MB UK assisting them genuinely, should they have the seemingly (now & with hindsight) widespread problem we have with aggressive rust.

It does seem odd to me (hence our mistake) that a significant longevity issue like severe corrosion has had such a dramatic impact on reputation on certain manufacturers - yet MB seem happy to ignore (certain of) their customers difficulties, despite the potential impact it will have on their brand & at this time of recession, when everyone is considering their car buying and car maintenance options more closely than ever.

So - Is there any solution that another member is aware of?

If you are sitting their smugly thinking your full service history & 30 year corrosion warranty is your safety net - personally & after our experience, I would suggest you think again. We own a 2yr old C Class with FMBSH & our last C Class was serviced by a local MB dealer, whilst we owned it. None of our service history, or brand loyalty did us any good & they simply won’t reply to us about our E240 now. There are so many potential loop holes in the small print & interpretation, that I know now whose warranties I wouldn't trust

 

[jberks]

For all of this, you really need your dealer on-side. I'm not sure why they aren't replying, even to quote to supply 2 wings. This seems odd but I too have experienced repeated attempts to get an answer out of a dealership met with silence.
My normal solution is to go in and politely ask to speak to the manager. Normally after a calm 5 minute discussion, appologies ensue and things swing into action.

At the end of the day I suspect you won't find an agreeable solution to the warranty claim. Often it is cheaper to have work done yourself than accept a % offer. Their offers are based on a 'book' time offer and full whack on all work. Something an insurance company would start with but clearly not something you'd be offered if you walked through the door with cash. I'm sure a phone call to the parts dept would get a price for a wing though.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

If you are sitting their smugly thinking your full service history & 30 year corrosion warranty is your safety net - personally & after our experience, I would suggest you think again. We own a 2yr old C Class with FMBSH & our last C Class was serviced by a local MB dealer, whilst we owned it. None of our service history, or brand loyalty did us any good & they simply won’t reply to us about our E240 now. There are so many potential loop holes in the small print & interpretation, that I know now whose warranties I wouldn't trust

Hello Martin, and welcome to the Forum. I have read your tale and am sorry to hear that you have been treated like this. There is quite a lot of information on the Forum about this issue, but some of the data you quote is off our present scale!

Members here have experience of "no quibble repairs", even with FSH, but not FMBSH (my own experience) all the way through to rejection of cars which should have been covered, but were more than 8 years old. Up to a point, the 8 year figure was relevant. Beyond that point, it is not, but some dealers seem to be using an 8 year figure when declining to help. There is a very useful post by Hawk20 on the chronology.

Suffice it to say that since 04/04 cars are galvanised and have a tougher paint process, so should not be expected to rust - but one member reported rust on a wheel arch (which had admittedly been damaged) recently.

Given the problem, the variable responses given by dealers and the nature of corrosion generally, I don't think any of us is feeling smug.

It will be interesting to note if anyone can suggest a lifeline for you.

 

[Happy Monkey]

A rusting E Class –Elegance Mercedes 1999

I can't offer a lifeline but I include below an excerpt of the letter I emailed to Mercedes. I had a great response initially from MB, phonecalls and a vist for photos and paint readings, Now it transpires I have no claim as car is ten years old and not had full MBSH, I take it to an ex mercedes technician who now has his own business. They said because I showed no customer loyalty! despite driving an advert for them everyday-my car aprt from the rust is immaculate, I have kept it that way plus any thing needed during servicing has always been an MB part. My point is it was at the cars creation whereby the problem started, not whether it had been serviced by them. I also have been led to believe certain chassis numbers were made with an inferior metal-does anyone know what my next move should be? Give it up or stand up for the person who genuinely loves MB cars and feels really let down. Shall I buy a BMW or Lexus instead.
I joke of course. Seriously can anyone suggest what I route I could now follow.
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LETTER EXCERPT BELOW

In August 2006 I purchased the above car from a trusted local Mercedes car dealership. However I am writing to advise you that despite my level of care for the car, rust has appearing around all four wheel arches and on the front passenger wing, particularly marked in places which showed no signs of rust a couple of months ago. To say I’m disappointed in this car is an understatement.
When I bought this car the bodywork was very clean and I maintain my car with regular hand washes and valet waxing. I have previously owned an H reg 190 and a P reg E class, neither of which are rusting to this day as I sold them to family members who still own the cars to date. My father owns a K reg 260E class and even this is showing no signs of rust. We all love the Mercedes car and are keen to stay with Mercedes. Even today on the radio whereby a discussion about brands was being broadcast there was even a comment from a listener saying how much they trusted Mercedes ‘as their cars go on and on’. This I do not dispute but the degree of rust which so quickly developed on the body of my car over the past few months and the deterioration has shocked me.
At the moment I plan to buy a CLS model next year. However I am concerned that this problem of rust will occur even on a later model again. I now am considering other makes of car BMW or Lexus.
The car will be going to the body shop for a total respray in a couple of months so I can achieve its current full market worth on resale and at a cost of just under £1500 it has not been an easy decision to make.
I look forward to your comments on my concerns, in light of the fact that surely I could have expected a longer lease of life from the paintwork.
I am most disappointed in the external quality of this car as this is one of the reasons why I have stayed with Mercedes especially since my employment for a national airline means I travel extensively by road and need a reliable calibre/marque of car, there is still a certain degree of expectation on the longevity of a product when purchased. I could have chosen a lesser make of car and not had this problem. With regards to a gesture of goodwill I appreciate this could be outside of your parameters however in this case I would like you to consider this closely, given the fact I am a loyal customer, and I would certainly like to hear your thoughts on the cause and comparative decline to other older models of Mercedes.
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