Warranty Dishonour - Rust

[David Swift]

I bought a new (silver) E 230 Elegance in April 1997 with a 15 year corrosion warranty. It is now covered in rust and a gentleman stopped me in the street to ask why MB hadn't done anything about it. On asking, firstly through my dealer and then directly with MB at Milton Keynes,  MB claim it is not covered under the warranty as they consider it merely "stone chips", although how exactly I get stone chips in a large circle around the lock on the boot, behind the rubber door mounts and behind the wing mirrors is anyone's guess.

The gentlemen went on to tell me that he'd read of a large number of cars that had been brought into the UK without the correct undercoat. MB deny this. I wondered if you could tell me if you know anything, and offer any advice? For example if anyone knows where I can get evidence which will hold up in court.

Ironically the bodyshop manager at my dealer is dumbfounded by MB as he believes I have a ligitimate claim.


(Edited by David Swift at 8:05 am on Oct. 23, 2002)


(Edited by David Swift at 8:07 am on Oct. 23, 2002)

 

[imported_dieselman]

Warranty Dishonour

There are a number of E class with rust issues.  Known places are around the boot lock, behind the door seals, behind the door rubbing strips, inside the bonnet and also the radiator landing panel.
All these are caused by poor paint finish.  The paint is only 55 microns thick.  
MB will not honour any claims for chipping but will allow claims for genuine problems.  I have recently heard that they are now allowing more claims than previously.
You need to take this up with MB Customer Service department, based at Milton Keynes.  Their warranty dept. will try to reject all claims.  
If you are able to demonstrate the paint is original and that the cause is not chips then they will probably proceed, but you will have to pay a mileage / age allowance.

 

[camerog]

Warranty Dishonour

I've got a 1997 E300TD with rust appearing arond the boot lock and some bubbling under the paint on front offside wing. Is the best course of action to try and get this sorted out using my local Mbenz dealer or do I go directly to the Customer Relations?

 

[patster]

Warranty Dishonour

I've got a 98R E430 with exactly the same pattern of rust. I'd be interested to know whether anyone has succesfully made a claim for this because my local dealer is not particularly interested.

 

[Dave B]

Warranty Dishonour

I heard tell that MB had admiitted they have a problem with silver paint finishes.  It's probably documented somewhere on this forum.

 

[Andy]

Warranty Dishonour

Hi

First things first with all these type queries. Its first to the dealers get them to inspect document and give you their findings in writing. Then MB then the press!!!

Good luck


Andy @ www.mercedesservicing.com

 

[steveperry]

Warranty Dishonour

If all the people with problem 'E's are in the U.K. How about getting together and writing to a consumer affairs program such as Watchdog etc?? That usually illicits a response from "head in the sand" dealers/manufacturers etc.

S.

 

[Tony]

Warranty Dishonour

I just find it amazing that Mercedes don't galvanise their cars. Are they alone among the "quality" manufacturers to not do this? Even Vauxhall do nowadays and Toyota have been doing it for 15 years. It doesn't matter how well you paint your cars (and Mercedes don't actually seem to do it that well) the paint is going to get chipped. I admit when I bought my car I didn't know it wasn't galvanised - I just assumed it was.

 

[Arnie]

Warranty Dishonour

I'm very surprised to hear that Merc body panels are not galvanised. I must admit that I also assumed that they were. However, come to think of it there is not really any mention of body anti-rust protection in the newer sales brochures that I've seen, unlike BMW, AUDI etc who include diagrams to show all the anti-rust coatings applied to the metal.

 

[Jim_C180]

Warranty Dishonour

I read in road test report that all W202 c-classes are galvanised.

I don't know for sure though.

 

[imported_dieselman]

Warranty Dishonour

The W210 is galvanised !  The zinc is simply too thin to be effective on the body panels.  The underside of the car will be adequately protected.

I have recently been informed by my local dealer that paint claims are being processed more readily than previously.

I have personally had a paint job c/o MB. Originally they said "NO".  I rang the Customer care dept. and politely explained that the affected areas couldn't be the result of chipping as they were:
1)  the radiator support panel inside the engine bay.
2) behind all four door mouldings (I took them off to check having seen a bubble one one door).
3) under the rubber door seals.

The paint was checked for originality and a repair order issued to the dealer with me having to pay a small mileage percentage.

I subsequently stripped the car and applied rustproofing wax everywherewhich is working ok so far.

The reason why the front wings rust from the inside is that the underseal protection stops short and the wheel arch liner rubs through the paint surprisingly quickly.  Two coats of paint and cavity wax seems to work ok.  This is applicable to 124 series cars as well.

If your boot lock area is not yet rusty remove the latch unit from inside and treat well.  The paint is so thin that it cant cover the sharp edge and so causes rust behind the seal.

Silver cars are no more prone than other metallics, they just show it more and ther are more of them as 40% of all MB produces are now silver.

 

[Tony]

Warranty Dishonour

To say that the "W210 is galvanised" is a bit of an exaggeration. Some of the car is made from steel sheet that has been electrolytically coated with zinc. On the new E class they've "raised" the percentage of this steel to 70%, so the percentage on the W210 is lower than this - and plainly doesn't extend to areas such as the boot lid. Galvanised metal (dipped in molten zinc) does not go rusty in 5 years - or even 10 for that matter with or without the protection of paint. For the rest of the body they rely on the paint to protect the metal.  

 

[imported_dieselman]

Warranty Dishonour

The W210 does have sheet metal which is indeed quote "galvanised".  This percentage has been raised to 48% against 45% on 124 series cars.

Please note I didn't say the coating was any good, just there.

 

[camerog]

Warranty Dishonour

Wel I contacted the local dealership last Tuesday regarding the rust problem. They contacted MB and within two hours MB had agreed to perform remedial work under the warranty. Mind you, this offer was only valid for 10 days so it's in the bady shop right now! While I'm pleasantly surprised at the result of my enquiry it would be better if things had been done properly in the first place.