What £1.8k gets you at a MB approved bodyshop!

[ant500sl]

Heres a little sampler of the standard of work on my C36 which I picked up from a Mercedes approved repairer on Friday.

The quote was for the removal of rust in both the front wings, both rear arches and the boot lid as well as the door bottoms. The agreement was that Mercedes approved techniques and materials would be used which included the removal of the rust by blasting with silicon carbide rather than a quick once over with an flap disc. Several special primers and fillers developed by Mercedes to sort out their numerous rust problems were also to be used.

Stated that I also have an SL and an S class requiring paint and would book those in if the job was up to scratch.

Upon inspecting the vehicle every job that was done was faulty in some way. Some paint had been over polished and had gone flat, the edge of the bootlid hadn't been sprayed where the rust had been blasted away and is already rusting two days later. A damaged mercedes star had been used on the bootlid and both the C36 and AMG badges had been stuck on off centre.

There were a number of other faults but the best by far was that they had tried to repair the arches without removing the side skirts! When I pointed out that they had filled and painted over the rust where the skirt was mounted they replied by stating that as someone had previously used sealant to fit the skirts they though they would break them if they tried to remove them which would mean me paying for a new set!

Not wanting them to butcher the car any further I asked them to let me take the car and remove the skirts myself which took all of 20 minutes each side.

For the time being the place will remain nameless as they have agreed to repair the car to the required standard.

Its a good job I have a sense of humour.

 

[Xtractorfan]

Well what can one say u need more than a sense of humour and I need more customers like you

 

[vijilants]

Twice my car went into approved MB bodyshops for the usual warantee work on rust on the wheelarches and bootlid.

On both occasions the car had to be returned to them no less than three times on each occasion as the qualtiy of workmanship was extremely shabby.

This included paint sinking, all the rust not removed and still showing, back of the wheelarches were still full of mud, overspray all over the place, damage to my alloys, damage to my driver's window !!!!

 

[Mr Teddy Bear]

I spent £1100.00 on a resray to all four wheel arches and the bonnet. I have to say that it appears to be a good job so far. Any bodyshop is only as good as the tradesmen it employs no more no less.
Sorry to here of your bad experiences..............try btinging your car to Bristol?

TB

 

[Rory]

This is why I hate it when there's an accident and people say "don't worry, it's only a car, it can be repaired". In my experience it's never "right".

My local Honda dealer replaced the pre-painted rear bumper on Mrs Rory's Jazz after someone ran into the back and they couldn't even do that properly - it doesn't line up accurately at the sides and it's loose in the middle.

 

[jberks]

The rust remedy work on my 210 was always very impressive but more recently, MB in Leeds have switched from the well regarded local bodyshop they used for my car, to a larger 'coprorate' outfit (probably offered a cheaper deal). They did a bit of work on my Dads 211 and suffice to say it went back complete with a flea for the managers ear. The second time - a perfect job.
Sure, a bodyshop can be MB approved but it simply proves that they have the materials, training and equipment for MB. Not that they are actually going to use them.

My indie has a small non approved bodyshop round the back and the work done there is excellent, as demonstrated by the line of exotica parked outside.