Serious Perforation Problem C200T

[Stephen From Scotland]

Hi there,
Before I post just want to say hi to all and great website;-)

I own a year 2000 mercedes C200T sport (estate).
I bought the car in 2001,48000 miles ,looked after it regardless of cost and kept every service up to date from the mercedes dealer.
Could it be that this is unlucky car? didn't think mercedes could do such a thing. The car is literally rotting away before my eyes.

Six months after I bought the car I noticed that the whole bottom of the tail gate was all blistered with rust and also noticed that the sills inside the doors were blistering badly too.

I contacted mercedes in germany about the matter and true to their words,sent mercedes benz of ayr (scotland) to take it away and replace the tailgate without quibble,unfortunatly mercedes sent the car to a multinational bodyshop and not theirs and they made a mess of the whole finish,the car was even damaged in their bodyshop and mercedes sent it back to be repaired again,when the car came back the back window seals were not seated in and sealer was oozing out from the back window and the rear badges were replaced squint,and the paint finish was appauling compare to the rest of the car,not to mention that the paint finish inside the doors was matted and oversprayed and full of dust inside and the choking smell of paint was inside the car for weeks.

Just over this winter the car is now corroding worse than ever before,the sills are a mess,the doors have rust coming through from the trims,the wheel arches are all blistered especially the from wings which the arches themselves are actually coming away on my hand it's so bad and the tailgate is starting to go again.

The car is a real mess and funny thing is that I have seen another c220 cdi estate and it has the same problem as mine and also noticed a 1999 e320 with serious rust problems too.

I had a 1996 c180 before this car and never had a single problem with it.
Has anyone experienced the same problems?
Thanks for taking time to read this
Stephen

 

[big x]

Stephen,any chance of posting some photo's ?

You are covered under the MB mobilolife 30 year warranty as your car has a FMBSH and made after oct 98 so you should insist on new wings and doors.

adam

 

[jberks]

You should be covered, but do refuse to allow it anywhere near that bodyshop. 2000 is in the corrosion zone for Mercs. Its mainly the E class but Cs do suffer a little too.

I had corrosion work done on my 2000 E240 and I have to say that the finish was always first class. Paint match perfect, possibly because they painted half the car to blend in, despite one repair being to the boot lock. Had it been returned as you describe it would have gone straight back with a very stern warning.

There is no reason the car shouldn't look in showroom condition, just hand it to your local dealer and tell them to sort it. FOC!

 

[Stephen From Scotland]

Guys,
Thanks so much for your help,it's really appreciated,Yeah I am going to phone them about the matter again,funny thing is I was talking to one of my suppliers just today and his friend had the same problem with his C43 Amg on the sills when it was literally one year old which happend to be an estate too!

I very nearly bought a C43 last year on a v plate but my wife had only past her test 6 months at the time (late learner;-)ehhe) so I decided to wait.

As I said already that I had a 1996 C180 esprit before this one and never had any bother with it and your right,it seems to be around the year 2000 zone that has this problem.

I'll contact them and let you know how I get on
and thanks again
Stephen

 

[Stephen From Scotland]

Oh! meant to say,I'll get some photos made up later for you and post them on.
thanks

 

[big x]

Stephen, if you have the time also read through this infamous thread

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/showthread.php?t=5824

adam

 

[Stephen From Scotland]

Thanks big x;-)))
Gosh I really didn't realise that this was so widespread on mercs!
I'll keep reading the posts ,there is so many of them:roll:

 

[OlafMaxwell]

I had the 4 doors replaced by Mercedes in February 2005. The paintwork was such that you would not know it was done. I do have an issue about the seals, the wind noise after the replacemnt drove me mad but that can be sorted. If you intend keeping the car I would replace any door seals where they are being replaced, even if they charge for the seals. I did find out that the doors were sprayed before being fitted so there is no masking or overspray. 2000 was a bad year for rust......