W210 Rust warranty

[luke laconi]

Hi all,
Having brought a w210 with your advice, i would to give something back - a little experience.
As we speak my 2001 e320 cdi is in having the rust treated. I am having to pay 35% of the whilst the other is being paid by MB.
I brought the car back in August and having read some advice on these pages waited 3 months before submitting the car for a good will respray. The rust was quite bad - all 4 arches, bootlid, offside rear door and bonnet. I took it MB Northampton who photographed and tested the rust and then submitted the info to MB warranties.
After 4 weeks i had not heard so went to MB n'ton to ask - the result was a NO. I'm not the type of person who gives up easily so rang MB head office to enquire why. A couple of days later i phoned back and got on offer of a 65%/35% split of costs. I was happy with this as if the car had been inspected properly they would not have done anything to it as it had been touched up and spayed before (badly). They turned down the bonnet and door but all arches and bootlid were accepted. So the bill is going to be around £450 + £120 for the door (i offered cash to the company doing the work).
I guess the point i am trying to get across is where there is a will there is a way? If your persistent, polite and little cheeky you can the work done.
hope this helps?

 

[FIBAMAN]

Take the time to check your front subframe. My 98 W210 was absolutely rotten. Body problems are relatively insignificant if you find the degree of corrosion I found under there.

 

[philharve]

As we speak my 2001 e320 cdi is in having the rust treated. I am having to pay 35% of the whilst the other is being paid by MB.

Hi luke

What reason was given by MB for not meeting the entire costs of repairs? Was there any damage to the vehicle other than simple corrosion? Did they mention 'thin paint'? (probably not, they don't like to admit it) or argue that some of the rust was the owner's responsibility?

I had to fight for two years to get MB to pay for most of the repairs. I had some cosmetic work attended to at the same time: a ding in a rear wing was removed, a holed door, which the dealership claimed was outside-to-inside rust and therefore not their responsibility, repaired, and a chipped & rusting bonnet resprayed. They (MB) never admit to 'thin paint' syndrome and said the paint was within spec'. I disagreed with their appraisal, as did the bodyshop, when the work was completed, but I ended up paying for some of the repairs which came to around 15 to 20% of the total bill. I now have a spotless 2000 C23OK which should last me a good few years. In every other respect it is practically perfect. I expect any further corrosion warranty claims I might make will be dismissed out of hand by MB. I tried having the alloy wheels replaced but no deal. They have a 3-year warranty and are considered replaceable items by MB.

The cross member issue FIBAMAN raises is far more serious because it impacts upon safety. You should get it checked on a regular basis. There are photos within this forum which shows just how bad it can be.

REGARDS

Phil

 

[maddog]

I checked under my 2001 car this week and was shocked at the amount of corrosion under there , especially bearing in mind i undersealed my 1994 Nissan last year and that had no undersealing as standard and didnt have any corrosion at all.

I'm probably going to have to pay for someone to treat and paint the corrosion on my car ,a job i would much rather do myself but i have no access to a ramp.

I've already been told the rust under the bonnet isnt covered by the warranty, i dont understand why bodywork corrosion is being covered and structual corrosion isnt.

I had to pay for MB to repaint my bonnet at the same time the replaced both front wings i was concerned about the paint match , turns out it was justified as the match is ****** awful and the repairs stand out a mile . MB did want me to pay for the cost of one wing as there was a small "but repairable imo" dent in there, however they did let me off as the royally mucked me about during the repair process.

 

[luke laconi]

hi phil,
i was given no reason for anything! In fact it was all very vauge - initially was was going to have to pay £600 then it was £450.
But like i said i did not want to push them to far because if they had of sent someone to look at it they could have easily thown out all of the work!
I was supposed to pick it up friday - the body shop rang me to say there was a problem: They managed to drop the door, whilst fixing it back on, onto the the rear quarter so it now has to be re-done!
Normally i would have gone mad but ithought it was such a stupid thing to do i just had to laugh?!
With regards to the cross-member that was done before i brought the car, it had just had an MOT at MB and i think it cost the previous owner a small fortune!
Car should be in pretty good nick when it get it back - i cant wait!
Luke

 

[roadiesean]

why oh why

I just bought a 210, yes I knew the issues and also knew that MB had largely covered themselves on the rust side of things, but when I discovered 3 tiny dots of rust on the roof when I got my beautiful (and it really is gorgeous) new car home, i called MB and because I had "only just bought and therefor I knew all the potential problems" they wouldn't touch me with a stick.

What is your advice on this guys ? I wouldn't mind helping them out with some money towards the jobs, but I want it done properly. Any thoughts ?

 

[maddog]

How long have you had the car and did you buy it from MB???

 

[roadiesean]

new to me

Hi, I've had it a fortnight, its an S reg and I bought it from the original owner from new. 69000 miles and in sensational condition except these 3 dots of rust on the roof behind the sunroof.

 

[OlafMaxwell]

Check if the Mobilo service history is intact. If the previous owner was servicing the car at MB main dealers then it should be, depending on when the last service was done. This is your first port of call. If you can establish this ioty will be a help.

I know I have had two cars services only at main dealers and both over 100k miles and it has been worth it. The Peugeot had a timing belt break at 92k and the consequential engine damage was put right without any argument whatsoever. The Merc has had a lot of bodywork done and other breakdown items covered under Mobilo. In both cases the savings have far outweighed the savings that might have been made using non main dealers.

If you find you are on your own use the site here. It is a well known issue and there are good body shops out there. Doors and other panels are readily available and the existence of the problem means that panels will stay available due to a high demand!!

 

[roadiesean]

Thanks Olaf, the car has FSH at MB so all should be okay, it has only 69000 miles and the rust is on the roof and on one wheel arch. They just blew me straight out when I phoned and they said that I should have noticed it when I bought it. Yes, I should but I also mistakenly believed that they had a 10 year anti-corrosion warranty in place and didn't think it would be an issue !! I shall try another garage.

 

[Michael Colville]

New Member with a question on rust warranty

I am the second owner of a 1998 E Class 300 TD with 128000 miles , The car has been serviced by the main dealer for half of these miles and by non official mercedes mechanics for the rest of the miles.
Significant rust has appeared over the wheel arches and on the boot.
What can I do regarding getting this remedied ?

 

[jpbp200]

Hi
Welcome to the forum. When in 1998 was it 1st registered is the crucial thing. If it was after 28th Oct 1998 then it is probably covered by 30yr corrosion warranty although non MB servicing might let you down. If it was before that then probably only 12 months plus 6 - 8 yrs "goodwill". I have heard that MB will not even entertain warranty claims if you have owned the car less than 6 months.

 

[luke laconi]

hi roadiesean,
you should have no problem getting that rust sorted, your car is newer than mine, has less miles and has full MB history (the last 2 of mine were specialist).
I would have waited three months before submitting it though (patience is a virtue - quoting my mum).
At first I had no luck at the local MB garage, but one call to head office (Milton Keynes) and the work was authorised.
Keep pestering them!
Luke

 

[Michael Colville]

Hi
Welcome to the forum. When in 1998 was it 1st registered is the crucial thing. If it was after 28th Oct 1998 then it is probably covered by 30yr corrosion warranty although non MB servicing might let you down. If it was before that then probably only 12 months plus 6 - 8 yrs "goodwill". I have heard that MB will not even entertain warranty claims if you have owned the car less than 6 months.

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me

The car was registered in July 1998 and I have owned it for 18 months .
I think I will contact my local MB dealer and see what they say ,although the car was not bought from them and they are notoriously uncooperative in matters like this .

Michael

 

[jpbp200]

Thanks for taking the time to get back to me

The car was registered in July 1998 and I have owned it for 18 months .
I think I will contact my local MB dealer and see what they say ,although the car was not bought from them and they are notoriously uncooperative in matters like this .

Michael

I would be very interested to hear how you get on. I have an Aug 98 model and so far I have had no luck in getting the rust repaired. I have only been to one dealer so far though and I am going to wait untill I have owned the car for a bit longer before approaching another. Please report back when you have contacted them.

Cheers.

 

[jpbp200]

hi roadiesean,
you should have no problem getting that rust sorted, your car is newer than mine, has less miles and has full MB history (the last 2 of mine were specialist).
I would have waited three months before submitting it though (patience is a virtue - quoting my mum).
At first I had no luck at the local MB garage, but one call to head office (Milton Keynes) and the work was authorised.
Keep pestering them!
Luke

Did you call head office yourself? If so what did you say to them? I emailed DaimlerChrysler and was told that my car only had a 12 month warranty! I have just re read your 1st post! Your car is newer than Michael's isn't it? 2002 as per your 1st post in which case it should be covered by 30yr warranty anyway?

 

[luke laconi]

Yes, sorry i did read it properly, it is newer.
I asked head office why it had been declined as i thought i was within the parametres they set for this kind of work to be done? They came back with the 65% / 35% split cost offer.
That 30yr warrenty is a "good will gesture" i believe, it is not set in stone. They can decline the work for lots of reasons.
I just think that if you approach it right and are determined enough you get the work done....