2 year old C Class Coupe paint problem!

[Jensen541]

Sorry to hear it's not going to plan John, I know the frustration you must be feeling all to well.
I seem to be making some rapid progress with mine, possibly because I gave up talking to the dealer & went direct to MB HQ.
I don't want to go into too much detail on an open forum as yet for various reasons, but if you want to drop me a PM (I believe I can't do that yet?? as I'm pretty new on the forum), I'll give you an insight as to the action MB are taking & the questions I have asked. Maybe you will think of something I have missed??
Once I've got some actual results, I'm happy to share if it gives anyone else a helping hand. But for the time being, I'm just being careful incase I need to up the anti with some legal action if that makes sense?

Regards,
Andy.

 

[jonnymerc]

Hi Andy you can't pm me I can't pm you not yet I think you have to reach 30 posts

 

[SmartMAC]

Well, bad news from me. The problem has reappeared in the boot lid so I imagine it will be the same elsewhere.
I will be contacting the manager at Blackpool tomorrow and give him a piece of my mind. Not happy at the moment.

 

[SmartMAC]

MB paint technician came at home today and had a good look to the issue. We are all in agreement and the blistering is reappearing on all the 3 panels I had repainted last time.

I'll get a call tomorrow to see how they want to fix this. In the mean time, I would suggest that if you have had this issue, check it hasn't reappear it.

 

[gasman2]

i know a mb painter and his work has been spectacular and like glass finish whenever he has done things for me ..very rare to have persistent problems but also totally unacceptable hope it gets sorted

 

[Giantvanman]

i know a mb painter and his work has been spectacular and like glass finish whenever he has done things for me ..very rare to have persistent problems but also totally unacceptable hope it gets sorted

What part of the country is he…I may have a small job for him?

 

[Dizzy]

Hi, I have followed this thread with much interest as the owner of a red Mercedes, but have not seen any mention of the fact that Mercedes paints became water based rather than solvent based for environmental reasons (save the planet etc) several years ago. As an ex bodyshop owner, I can say that vapour trapped in the paint (i.e. water in the airline used for spraying) is the largest cause of micro blisters and can manifest itself quite a while after painting the car. Often with force drying (low bake etc) the surface of the vehicle can feel completely dry but the base coats can still hold trapped water beneath. Anyway, to sum up, I'm wondering if MB water based paint and rapid drying could be the root of the problems experienced by folk on this thread? The clear coat btw is not water based it is the newer 'nano' technology (using ceramic globules) solvent based coating which could easily retain the trapped moisture underneath. I cannot claim to be an authority on this as I no longer paint cars, but it is worth a thought anyway.

 

[Dizzy]

Hi, here is something interesting that I read on the net about ceramic clearcoats (as used by MB) although I've now lost the article..

"After the "cerami"clear top coat is sprayed, the nano particles of Fumed Silica (SiO2), which are synthetically engineered, migrate to the top 0.2 mils 5 microns of the clear coat as it is curing."

Hmmm... could this be the problem? Say with heavy polishing or cut-back of paintwork removing the topmost layer surely would also be removing these ceramic beads leaving tiny voids.. or micro-blisters?

 

[driftyste]

Have u tried just a good old t/cut

 

[driftyste]

Failing that a flat back and re clear coat

 

[MancMike]

My problem is all the lacquer falling off... It's just not stuck to the car anywhere very strongly. Any chip starts it off and any car wash is out of the question.

I could completely strip my car of all clear coat with a £50 pressure washer, not close, not using any needle jet attachment or anything, it just comes off, like sunburn.

Last year I put a bit of paper masking tape on the car while doing something, and when I carefully peeled the masking tape off it pulled the lacquer away, making it look different, it hadn't broken the surface of the lacquer, but it pulled it away from the base coat, very easily.

 

[SmartMAC]

Car is going back for a third respray in a few days. I just hard to understand how a job has to be done three times at least to get it right. Obviously, wasting money is not an issue for them.

 

[MancMike]

How old is your car Mac?

 

[SmartMAC]

4 years old.

 

[SmartMAC]

Car is back with me after the third respray. Looks lovely but only time will tell if they have fixed it this time.

Fingers crossed. I do not want more hassle....

 

[Superdunx]

Oh Crap - Looks like this is affecting my car too.... I have a Feb 2011 registered C220 CDi Elegance in Fire Opal Red.

I noticed this last autumn, but then it went away so I thought I was imagining things. It seems to come and go on the roof boot A,B and C posts and flanks of the car, most prevalent when it is relatively mild but damp weather. Spots appear that look like tree sap on the paint but on close inspection they are actually under the paint.

I've had a car many years ago where the clear coat has failed before (another manufacturer-not Merc) so I know what I'm in store for if it is not fixed!

My car is a low mileage one previous owner, full MB service history vehicle that was purchased via their approved used scheme. Unfortunately my MB approved used warranty is now expired and the car is just over 4 years old. However it is blatantly obvious a manufacturing defect.

I'm wondering what peoples experiences have been of Merc's response to this issue? Has anyone managed to get them to conduct paint rectification on any out of warranty vehicles? Has anyone been able to get Merc to agree it is an issue on Fire Opal red vehicles? Have Mercedes issued any service bulletins or guidance on this specfic issue to dealerships?

Any information would be greatly received and help me decide what to do next.

Quite frankly very dissapointed as this is the second time I have been here. My old W202 was rotten as a pair at 4 years old and according to Merc I was the only person ever that this had happened to.......

 

[SmartMAC]

They know about it. Take to the dealer and they will sort it out. Be sure they strip the paint and get to the metal before they re-spray otherwise it will come back as it is not a problem with the clear coat.
They have done mine 3 times because of poor workmanship. So much for an approved MB body shop I took it to.

 

[Superdunx]

Thanks SmartMAC, just been following through this thread and it looks like you've been on quite a journey since you found it on yours! Hope its all sorted out for you now.

I'll let you know how I get on once I have summoned the energy to take it up with the dealership. I love my car but I've had a few of these issues and dealing with the dealerships can be quite exhausting/exasperating. I may try my luck and if it draws a blank just write direct to MB UK.

 

[SmartMAC]

You should be fine. My dealer took some pics and made a claim to MB. It was approved within a week and once a time was arranged, I was given a courtesy car for the 5 days it took them to do it.

It looks like the last attempt was successful. I have washed the car a few times and I haven't seen any signs of it coming back so fingers crossed.

I love the car and I have just signed another 4 years servicing contract with MB. By that time the car will be 9 Years old and I had it from new.

 

[Superdunx]

Hi smartmac. Thought id update the thread on my paint issues.
I took it to my local dealer who spent about an hour inspecting the paint, taking photos and filling in forms. In my discussions with him he said he'd seen about 4 of these recently. Anyway 3 weeks later i got the call from the body shop and the car is there now for a repaint of pretty much the whole car, all under warranty. I'm absolutely amazed but full marks to Merc for agreeing to fix it. I'll hopefully pick the car up sometime in the new year so lets see how they do then. In the meantime I have an a class on loan to keep me mobile.