Rusty E220cdi 2002

[fos1]

Hi all, i have a e220cdi 2002. am pleased with the car but i do have a question.
Its rusting faster than an old skip. N/S wheel arch, o/s door and boot lid.
When i got the car, from a used car dealer over 300 miles away, he said he would send the service history on to me by post. He later closed the business down and i have not recived any history. If its been serviced at MB do they keep a record of it on a national computer? I ask this as i would like to make enquiries into having the rust done. I tend to think that its got F/S/H as i have just had it for the M.O.T and it passed first time, that quite rare today.
I have been into my local MB dealer and i got the cold shoulder as soon as i said the word 'rust'.
Thanks in advance for any help you have to offer - Paul @ Doncaster

 

[MBDiesal]

I am not an expert on the subject, but yes, MB do have a record of all cars serviced with their dealerships. It is their way of capturing client information for mailing/marketing purposes. However, just because your car may have FSH does not necessarily mean it was serviced by an MB Garage. The strict warranty restrictions were removed some time ago i.e. as long as you keep to the service schedule the car can be serviced by any VAT registered and independent garage and remain in warranty. If you still receive no joy from MB, please phone MB Customer Care Europe and they will look up on your behalf.

The problem for you is that if the car had been serviced by MB previously, they would have surely picked up the rust issue as this is one of the visual checks performed within all service intervals i.e A, B and C. I would therefore assume there are gaps in the service schedule or an independent garage serviced your car. From your log book, it is probably best to write to the previous owner(s) as they will surely know the history of the vehicle.

As for your local MB dealership giving you the cold shoulder re. the rust issue, they are duty bound to inspect, if only to disclaim their liability. Good luck, but with the amount of rust you state on your vehicle MB will probably put this down to neglect rather than a manufacturing issue as there is no precedence for 2002 W211. In my opinion you are better of taking the car to an accident repairer to seek a quote to slow down the rust issue before it accelerates/spreads yet further. Otherwise you may end up with a vehicle worth close to nothing if it fails the next MOT. :Oops:

 

[television]

MBdiesel makes some good points, as I understand it Moblo is restored just by having one service don with MB.

Yes all data on service is on all MB computers, though all will not give any information the branch that did the service will.

Can you not ask the previous owner who's name is in the log book

 

[sms78]

it depends if the dealership that the car was serviced at hasnt gone bust or not . Ive got cars before that have come from places that went bust and all the service history files went with them .

 

[fos1]

Thanks for your replys guys.

I think i will write to the previous owner and see what i can find out. I know its a one owner car from new, but i can not understand how it got into the hands of a used car dealer? One would have thought that it would have been part exchanged with another MB. But on the other hand it could have been used in part exchange with another make of car and the dealer just put it through the auction?

There were no signs of any rust, at all, when i got the car in July 2008. It just seams to have come on over this winter. Its not as bad as i make out, but to me any rust on a car looks bad, what makes this rust worse is the fact that its on MY MB.

Again thanks for all your help and now its time to put pen to paper. - Paul@Doncaster

 

[MBDiesal]

Fos: your update puts a different spin on things. What you need to do:

(1) Write to the previous owner and explain the situation in full and why you need the service history details.

(2) If the rust is on the wheel arches than MB are duty bound to inspect. As long as the car has not been hit, they must accept liability provided the car has been reasonably cared for; hence the service history information. If however the car has been in a collision, the liability falls to the accident repairer. You may wish to ask this detail of the previous owner as well.

(3) Purchase a duplicate Service History book for your model car from MB. It may be a pain but you must just get duplicates stamped up. You will need this in the longer term.

Finally good luck and keep the forum posted. I am very interested in how you get on.

 

[television]

During the good times MB dealers traded out most of the cars as things were moving fast, and just kept a few of the lowest mileage examples

 

[MBDiesal]

Agreed. We also know that W211's are very popular with executive mini-cabs. These in the main are leased cars. Whilst these cars are resold as one owner, they are not the best looked after vehicles on the road - namely - the owner is not the main driver.

As a learning point for Newbies, never take a dealerships word re. FSH - ask to to see it. Also ask to see the log book to compare the VIN number with whats stamped on the body. You will also have the opportunity to inspect the number of previous owners and establish if they were company or private.