2003 W203 Corrosion

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ddentrec

Active Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
Messages
414
Location
Cambridge
Car
W123 280TE, W123 200T, W203 C180K
My young daughter kicked her football under our W203 C180K (2003, 25K miles). Ball got stuck just forward of the differential: so got down flat on my stomach to retrieve it.

Imagine my horror when I saw the following whilst under the car:

1. Exhaust-to-body mountings corroded. And I am talking REAL rust here: surface coating all gone with rust starting to eat through factory underseal.

2. Both driveshafts' surface paint all gone: all now nice 'n' rusty.

3. Rear suspension arms: surface paint gone with rust everywhere. I mean the whole arm assemblies are red, not black anymore! Worst area are the weld joints.

4. Pockets of rust appearing through underseal just forward of fuel tank.

Ironically, the aluminised exhaust is virtually rust free.

I've heard the rumours about the W203 and W210 but this is appalling!! My 20 year old, and wholly original, W123 has no such problem.

I will get the car up on ramps an take another look. But I will be contacting my local MB dealer for advice. In 3 year's time the rust will make this car an MOT failure.
 
I've said before that people should take a look under the car before they say their C class is rust free. Mine has corrosion like yours, but by the sound of it not as bad. Unfortunately mobilolife does not cover underbody corrosion. You therefore have two options, get the car waxoyled or sell it before it gets too bad.

The build quality on these cars is truly $hite, You'd be better off with a Mondeo to be honest. I've been looking at some discount sites and one can buy a Mondeo Zetec 2.2 155bhp diesel with 400nm torque for about £14K. The mondeo is galvanised and better build for virtually half the price!
 
Robbo said:
The build quality on these cars is truly $hite, You'd be better off with a Mondeo to be honest.

With dead seriousness I fully agree. I said the same on this forum a while back and nearly got lynched. Critics cited heavy Mondeo depreciation and poor driving dynamics. But in three years my C180K car has lost £12K; but for £10K I can buy a better built 1-year old Mondeo and forget about depreciation.

It's all about being made to part with your common sense. This is what branding is all about.

Will I buy another merc? Will I be wearing 'MB brand' beer googles again?

No way.
 
The build quality on anything built after 1997 is where it all goes tits up.....if it were me I would take your car into your dealer and get them to take it in for a corrosion check and let them know, firmly but politely that you are aware of the rust problems on the W203 and W210 models and see how you get on.

It is a fact that MB has a corrosion Goodwill programme running for cars that fall outside of the mobilolife warranty.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.
 
ddentrec said:
With dead seriousness I fully agree. I said the same on this forum a while back and nearly got lynched. Critics cited heavy Mondeo depreciation and poor driving dynamics. But in three years my C180K car has lost £12K; but for £10K I can buy a better built 1-year old Mondeo and forget about depreciation.

It's all about being made to part with your common sense. This is what branding is all about.

Will I buy another merc? Will I be wearing 'MB brand' beer googles again?

No way.

I remember reading a group test in the German magazine 'Auto motor und sport' a while back and the Mondeo was rated higher than the W203 abeit in 2L petrol form.That's saying something because the German press always rate German cars higher.The Mondeo was famed for it's handling in it's day.When it comes to value it's a no brainer really, a 2 to 3 year old ex-company mondeo in hatchback form bought at auction makes sense.

adam
 
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ddentrec said:
My young daughter kicked her football under our W203 C180K (2003, 25K miles). Ball got stuck just forward of the differential: so got down flat on my stomach to retrieve it.

Imagine my horror when I saw the following whilst under the car:

1. Exhaust-to-body mountings corroded. And I am talking REAL rust here: surface coating all gone with rust starting to eat through factory underseal.

2. Both driveshafts' surface paint all gone: all now nice 'n' rusty.

3. Rear suspension arms: surface paint gone with rust everywhere. I mean the whole arm assemblies are red, not black anymore! Worst area are the weld joints.

4. Pockets of rust appearing through underseal just forward of fuel tank.

Ironically, the aluminised exhaust is virtually rust free.

I've heard the rumours about the W203 and W210 but this is appalling!! My 20 year old, and wholly original, W123 has no such problem.

I will get the car up on ramps an take another look. But I will be contacting my local MB dealer for advice. In 3 year's time the rust will make this car an MOT failure.

Any chance of some photo's, I'm not familar with what a 203 looks like underneath ??
I've posted before on rear subframes on W202 & W210's corroding as they appear to have nothing but a thin coat of black paint rather than the thick baked on epoxy often seen on other European made cars.

adam
 
Will try and get some photos....but access is very poor until car is up on a ramp.

Car is now booked in at the stealer for a 'corrosion assessment'. I took another look today and found that the welded-to-exhaust-mountings are in fact completely corroded through.

I asked the dealer about W203 corrosion and whether there had been any MBUK technical bulletins for this and he said that the W203 has 'no corrosion issues at all'.
 
big x said:
Any chance of some photo's, I'm not familar with what a 203 looks like underneath ??
I've posted before on rear subframes on W202 & W210's corroding as they appear to have nothing but a thin coat of black paint rather than the thick baked on epoxy often seen on other European made cars.

adam

It's just a thin coat of black paint on the subframe. virtually no protection at all.
 
I recommend the vehicle get examined and then we make a decision about the lack of action.

A car registered in 2003 should not be in this condition. Just what was on that football?

I would be going ballistic and merely wanting to know when my car would be booked in to have the relevant parts replaced.

John
 
I thought that there had recently been a recall on early W203's, I think the first two years of production, to apply seam sealant to all doors and repair any rust that they find.

If the dealership claims that there are no rust problems with the W203, I think that this if anything should strengthen your case if your car is as bad as it sounds, as it will be harder for them to justify why yours is the way it is.

Good luck
 
I thought that there had recently been a recall on early W203's, I think the first two years of production, to apply seam sealant to all doors and repair any rust that they find.

I've had this one and all they do is put silicone grease under the door rubbers around the tops of the doors, remove the rubber seals at the bottom of the doors, apply sealant and replace. That's all, nothing to to with the underbody unfortunately.

A car registered in 2003 should not be in this condition. Just what was on that football?

I would be going ballistic and merely wanting to know when my car would be booked in to have the relevant parts replaced.

TBH I suspect the W210 and pre 2005 model W211 have exactly the same (lack of) corrosion protection on the underbody so you owners ought to be having a look too.
 
Dealer called me back today....they changed the appointment...car will now be inspected by an MBUK technician...not the dealer themselves. MBUK want car for a whole day.

Call me paranoid...but I had the distinct feeling that the dealer was concerned but not surprised.
 
Robbo said:
pre 2005 model W211 have exactly the same (lack of) corrosion protection on the underbody so you owners ought to be having a look too.
:D Do not even think it. Dieselman has already warned us about this.

John
 
ddentrec said:
Dealer called me back today....they changed the appointment...car will now be inspected by an MBUK technician...not the dealer themselves. MBUK want car for a whole day.

Call me paranoid...but I had the distinct feeling that the dealer was concerned but not surprised.

You haven't got a towbar fitted have you ? One get out clause for car makers is to claim you've been towing a boat and backed the car into the sea
av-42.gif


adam
 
big x said:
You haven't got a towbar fitted have you ?

Nope. I do not even visit the coast in this car.

Robbo said:
Unfortunately mobilolife does not cover underbody corrosion.

I have read through the MobiloShi*e fluff. It states:

'In the unlikely event :bannana: that any part of the bodywork or underbody should rust through from the inside, this will be repaired....'

Already I can see DCUK wriggling out of this one. But not with me they wont. In law I know that judgement is considered with what the 'reasonable man' would expect. And I think it is reasonable that a car with a 30-year corrosion warranty is not showing early signs of terminal rust after less than 30 months of age.

Being conversant with the UK court system, I am keen to hear a definition from DCUK of what 'underbody corrosion from the inside' means. Sounds like a double-negative to me.
 
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ddentrec said:
I have read through the MobiloShi*e fluff. It states:

'In the unlikely event :bannana: that any part of the bodywork or underbody should rust through from the inside, this will be repaired....'

Already I can see DCUK wriggling out of this one. But not with me they wont. In law I know that judgement is considered with what the 'reasonable man' would expect. And I think it is reasonable that a car with a 30-year corrosion warranty is not showing early signs of terminal rust after less than 30 months of age.

Being conversant with the UK court system, I am keen to hear a definition from DCUK of what 'underbody corrosion from the inside' means. Sounds like a double-negative to me.

It is rust that holes the panel but started on the inside of the car and worked outwards.

I am confident that MB will treat your car to a coating of rustproofing wax. Wowee!!
 
OK, had the corrosion inspection at the dealer.

Conclusion was that the corrosion is 'normal'. The rusting through of the exhaust mounts (rusted half way through now) is 'normal', as are the driveshafts and suspension arms' rust.

Dealer acknowledges that there is corrosion, but will not offer a repair/replacement.

They also said that there is no underseal rust perforation (?).

I spoke to DCUK customer services, and they sided with the dealer. They specifically stated that these items were covered by MobiloLife anyway, so why all the fuss? Since the call was recorded, and I have the case #, then I will hold them to that when the time comes and the exhaust is dragging on the road.

However, when I mentioned that my 22 year old W123 has no corrosion with the suspension arms or driveshafts they laughed that I should make such a comparison. But they really should be hanging their heads in shame!
 
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Just read this and finally made my mind up, mercedes will not be on my next shopping list, been mulling this over for some time after problems with corrosion on yr 2000 c230k, hoping mercedes had sorted their problems out on later models, obviously they haven't! Love the car to drive but no longer willing to support the marque, it's a real shame but mercedes must rate as the poorest built cars in the world regardless of price. I will write to customer services(again) at DCUK to let them know they have lost another customer.
 
me too Glen.
Shocking how they can treat customers this way.
 

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