Mercedes 30-year anti-corrosion warranty

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  • neighbour had a merc with same problem - rust.

    he had bought it used for £13,000, never serviced with merc either

    when he discovered the problem on his 7 year old merc he showed his local dealer (stealer as he puts it!) anyway they said they would sort it out for £700 per wheel arch as it was the panel that needed replacing, which was not a straightforward respray job.

    so he fired one en-raged letter to MB about the poor service, why should it matter who he serviced with as paintwork was not a serviceable item etc.

    anyway an american lady from MB called three weeks later to say how sorry they were to hear that he had this problem and that they were investigating it.Two weeks after, the same dealer who originally wanted to rip him off, asked if he could bring the car in for the work to be carried out and whilst it was done they gave him a courtesy car (two days originally promised a new mondeo but given a new fiesta).

    anyway the problem is with the application of the paint was too thin and summut to do with the lacquer and nothing to do with China!
    This apparently came about after Merc merged with Chrsyler and began to use substandard cost saving stuff which meant nothing was built to the same merc quality it was renonwed for. appranetly the newer mercs post 2006 are meant to be getting back to the quality they were once acknowlegde for. (take a chance at your peril?)

    anyway the sad thing is the rust thing is chronic, my neighbour who only sorted the rust on his merc wheelarches last year has now seen it on the rear arches, bootlid, and and an ATS mechanic also showed him some rusting oaround the door handles as well as underneath the car where the bodywork is plagued with rust..

    He is planning to send another scathing letter in on his now £5000 merc, to see if they will sort it out again! but that will be the last letter followed by the last merc he will ever own - (his words!)
  • I have a 2001 c class, which has suddenly started to bubble with rust at the 4 wheel arches; I have heard that this is a common flaw in Mercedes Benz of this year because they brought cheap materials from China. Has anyone else experienced this problem and what excuses have Mercedes Benz come up and whether they have paid to repair under the 30 year warranty.
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365
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    neighbour had a merc with same problem - rust.

    he had bought it used for £13,000, never serviced with merc either

    when he discovered the problem on his 7 year old merc he showed his local dealer (stealer as he puts it!) anyway they said they would sort it out for £700 per wheel arch as it was the panel that needed replacing, which was not a straightforward respray job.

    so he fired one en-raged letter to MB about the poor service, why should it matter who he serviced with as paintwork was not a serviceable item etc.

    anyway an american lady from MB called three weeks later to say how sorry they were to hear that he had this problem and that they were investigating it.Two weeks after, the same dealer who originally wanted to rip him off, asked if he could bring the car in for the work to be carried out and whilst it was done they gave him a courtesy car (two days originally promised a new mondeo but given a new fiesta).

    anyway the problem is with the application of the paint was too thin and summut to do with the lacquer and nothing to do with China!
    This apparently came about after Merc merged with Chrsyler and began to use substandard cost saving stuff which meant nothing was built to the same merc quality it was renonwed for. appranetly the newer mercs post 2006 are meant to be getting back to the quality they were once acknowlegde for. (take a chance at your peril?)

    anyway the sad thing is the rust thing is chronic, my neighbour who only sorted the rust on his merc wheelarches last year has now seen it on the rear arches, bootlid, and and an ATS mechanic also showed him some rusting oaround the door handles as well as underneath the car where the bodywork is plagued with rust..

    He is planning to send another scathing letter in on his now £5000 merc, to see if they will sort it out again! but that will be the last letter followed by the last merc he will ever own - (his words!)

    all of this would be paid by MB not the dealer
    the dealer quoted a price for the repair,MB decided to cover the cost
    the dealer were not ripping them off. the dealer doesnt make the car MB does.
    do you think the dealers margin per car covers that sort of repair on a 7 year old car?
  • Wig
    Wig Posts: 14,139 Forumite
    edited 3 July 2009 at 2:52PM
    jackrunner wrote: »
    I have a 2001 c class, which has suddenly started to bubble with rust at the 4 wheel arches; I have heard that this is a common flaw in Mercedes Benz of this year because they brought cheap materials from China. Has anyone else experienced this problem and what excuses have Mercedes Benz come up and whether they have paid to repair under the 30 year warranty.

    I presume you read the preceding post to yours in this thread?

    We all know what Mercedes (and other dealer/manufacturers) will say when you declare the car has not had a "paintwork inspection service" they will all try to use that as the excuse that the paintwork warranty is not valid anymore, there may also be a clause in the paintwork warranty that says it will only cover certain types of corrosion e.g. rust from the inside to the outside, not rust from the outside (stone chips).

    Ignoring the issue of the types of rust covered, we are left to wonder on the legal situation about a lack of "paintwork inspections" voiding a warranty. As the bodywork is not a serviceable item, there is an argument that it makes no difference if the inspections were carried out or not, (internal) rust at the end of the day is still (internal) rust and should be repaired regardless. There may be some claim by the manufacturer that if it occured in a location that was likely to have been detected by an inspection, then it could have been treated at an earlier date much cheaper than it would now cost to treat.....in this respect, "bodywork" most certainly can be classed as a "serviceable item"
  • Wig
    Wig Posts: 14,139 Forumite
    No you can not. You have to use the dealer network to retain the anti-corrosion warranties offered by Mercedes as the bodywork inspection is a part of the service.

    Most dealers will offer a contribution only or an outright refusal if you do not.
    No you don't need to use a dealer for servicing, but your chances of getting Mercedes to pay in full for any corrosion repairs if you have not had your vehicle serviced by a dealer are very low indeed, practically nil in fact. I drive one, and am a member of several MB forums, the topic is up for regular discussion.

    In relation to both posts, that is exactly what custardy had said, both times.
  • Wig
    Wig Posts: 14,139 Forumite
    custardy wrote: »
    all of this would be paid by MB not the dealer
    the dealer quoted a price for the repair,MB decided to cover the cost
    the dealer were not ripping them off. the dealer doesnt make the car MB does.
    do you think the dealers margin per car covers that sort of repair on a 7 year old car?

    The dealers attitude could be judged by the type of rust that was there, and the type of rust that was covered by warranty. And whether there is any legitimacy in the eyes of Mercedes to void the warranty on lack of mechanical servicing/paintwork inspection. If Mercedes have told their dealers to reject warranty claims on cases of lack of inspections, then the dealer was only doing what Mercedes have told him.

    There's actually not enough information in the post to know what actually happened, and why Mercedes decided the car was worthy of a free repair contrary to what the dealer had said.

    A warranty claim would always (or usually - I think some manufacturers are expecting dealers to pay these days) be paid for by the manufacturer. But we are still left in this case with the dealer saying "no" follwed by Mercedes saying "yes" and it would be nice to know the rest of the story.
  • I have in the past had Mercedes vehicles and I vowed not to get another one because of the very poor service form the dealerships. However when my BMW lease ran out I decided to change it for a CLK Convertible. After a few months I noticed corrosion all over the vehicle, the vehicle is seven years old and Mercedes have an 8 year anti corrosion warrantee. They would not look at the issue as I had not owned the car for a year, thus allowing the corrosion to become worse.

    On the anniversary of the ownership of the car I went to my dealership and they tell me that the warrantee is a good will policy. The “good will” is only in place if Mercedes service the car, my experience with them in the past has meant that I choose a local independent operator who cares about my business rather than the expensive but shoddy service that I get from the main dealer.

    The reason that one buys a premium mark is because they are built to a higher standard and therefore carry with purchase a certain peace of mind, (whether new or second hand).

    Where is the quality of build or the quality of service much less the good will? They even tell me that they know there is a problem with this model that is well recognised but there is no will good or otherwise to resolve the issue, good will my rusty Ar**.
  • LandyAndy
    LandyAndy Posts: 26,377
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    Only a couple of months since I started a thread on this topic. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2482573&highlight=

    You don't have to look far or hard to know that older Mercs are rustbuckets.
  • Just to add my pennys worth. I have a 2006 W169 A-class, full main dealer service history that I took into a mercedes approved repair shop to remove a couple of scratches from a door panel and stone ships off the bonnet. Anyway £700.00 pounds later and the job was done and a perfect match. Two days later, I was washing the car and while on my knees polishing the black sill trim, I noticed a couple of small rust bubbles on the bottom of the other door. On further inspection, the door is rusting from underneath the seal on the inside edge. I then checked the seal on the repainted door and its rusting underneath that seal so I check on the web for any known problems. This is a common problem of A-class car with a ribbed seal and I have checked all the seal and it is rusty on both doors, boot and hatch. I went to the MBD and they told me to go to the same bodyshop who repaired my door and they said it is a known problem but I have one of the worst cases they have seen. The claim went in 8 weeks ago and 4 weeks ago MB said the pictures were no good as they have a new policy of pictures with an arrow as a guide to size so another set was taken and sent off. I am still waiting but not happy that a car that is under 4 years old is rusty on all 4 sides and although a known fault, UK Mercedes Benz wont accept it yet in Canada and Germany where most cars with the ribbed seal that have the problem, have had all doors, boot and bonnet replaced to cure the problem even if they were not rusting(Yet) but whats the betting I have a spray job that will reapear again in a few years.
  • Goodwill by MB for rust usually runs out at 8 years, and you need a perfect service history to get that.

    I keep hearing just how much improved MB's are now and the quality is back...how is this judged, or does it keep getting updated as the next new model comes out.

    Don't mention 'blue efficiency injectors' and 'improved quality' in the same sentence.
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