Rusty CDI 270 Estate (05)!

[shiny]

Hi,

I recently bought a 54 (05) CDI 270 Estate and found some rust on the rear wheel arches. Took it into my local MB dealership and they measured the paint thickness around the wheel arches and backpanels. They told me the paint thickness should be between 70 and 120 microns from the factory however they measured up to 200 microns. The doors and other areas were all about 100 microns. They said they wouldn't do the work under warranty as it had been painted by a non-approved outfit which was why it was going rusty! I asked them to search the warranty system on the car and no sign of any body work on the system was evident. I have a HPI cert and that is clear - no inssurance claims. I also phoned the previous owner and he said it had never been damaged or painted!

I read on one thread that sometimes if the paint fails a quality inspection at the factory they repaint which could explain why the paint may be thicker in certian areas. Also that such activities would be recorded in Quality Inspection documents by MB. The colour match is perfect and there are no obvious signs of re-painting or previous damage to the car.

Is there any way that I can find out if my car was re-painted at the factory to understand if what they tell me is true? I am obviously concerned the car has been repainted by a non-approved MB bodyshop and has a shady history.

Also, I have just looked into the spare wheel well and that has rust spots on the inside - no stone chips there!

Many thanks

 

[onze]

Whilst I cannot assist on this particular point my thread is appropriate. If, having spent your hard earned cash on a Mercedes (Thinking of course that it would be rust free) you find that it has some rust problems and MB will pay to respray or whatever, do they also ensure that it cannot return by using, sorry, but is it a waxy substance? If they will not play ball then would this type of coating be appropriate? I am thinking of future residuals here.
Finally is it wise to have an independent check on any car up to - is it an 8 year corrision warranty - to get MB to rectify before the trouble really starts? Or is all this too simplistic as no doubt it has been tried before?
All the best.ONZE.

 

[Dosco]

Shiny I suspect you will get a fair amount of feedback on this one as rust more or less features every week! However that is of no help at the moment.

Not sure how you can progress this one but one area of causation could be that when new the selling dealer had to correct some surface damage or other and as a result the repaint was not done to the required standard hence the different paint thickness.

 

[duncanh]

Also, I have just looked into the spare wheel well and that has rust spots on the inside - no stone chips there!

This is surprising.

My c200 cdi estate has a plastic spare wheel well. I can state with some certainty that there is NO rust (and there will never be any rust) in my spare wheel well.

My car is 2002, I wonder why they changed from plastic to steel? I could understand them going the opposite way to save weight.

Another one of life's little mysteries.

 

[jberks]

One of the risks with a used car.
I assume you didn't buy it from an MB dealer? (You'd have some come-back).

It can happen. I bought my car 11 months old and 2 weeks later the Mrs clipped the garage door frame with the rear wheelarch. Small dint and chipped the paintwork. I considered having it sorted at the dealer but the cost would have been too high and I'd already stretched myself to buy it that month so took it to a local bodyshop instead. No claim and so no official record of a repair and you can't tell visually, but clearly it would fail a corrosion claim as a result. I was happy to take the risk but if I sold it someone may fall foul.

 

[television]

I can remember when Stumpy wanted a new S class and it arrived with a big dent in the wing, so he did not accept the car. In a case like this and having done much spray work, I do not see how the paint can be kept to a certain thickness.

With this S car the dent would have got fixed but I doubt if MB were told