2003 W209 rusty wheel arches!

[jamesbroadley]

Did I read right that someone with a CLK 3 years newer than 03 - i.e. a 2006 model - has got the same rust? From the small picture from poster RF06 the silver car looks pre-facelift, hence MY04 - is this right, and hence registered late, or is this another car?

Didn't the galvanising help at all then?

I am looking at 04/54 CLKs and assuming they are safe from rust and leaky radiators that trash the transmission......do I need to do more homework?

Mine is late 2003, but still rusty! As I've said in this thred it has happened on newer e's that I've seen.

What's this about the transmission?

 

[BTB 500]

What's this about the transmission?

The transmission fluid runs through pipework inside the radiator, to stop it getting too hot. Some radiators (made by Valeo) suffered from corrosion of this pipework, eventually allowing engine coolant to contaminate the transmission fluid ... trashing the gearbox.

 

[solarmer1]

A few months ago I was giving the car a good clean and noticed a little bubbleing up inside the wheel arches, my initial thought was oh well this is why I've kept it within the MB dealer network (to preserve the 30yr corrosion warranty).

Oh how wrong I was....

Letter to MB after numerous phone calls discussions with independant bodyshops etc...

I purchased the above vehicle four years ago from Vikings Canterbury; it has almost always been covered or garaged when parked and always repaired by Mercedes-Benz approved workshops during my ownership. Generally I have been very happy with the vehicle but was alarmed to find rust in one of the wheel arches whilst cleaning it recently. Unfortunately the response I have received from Mercedes-Benz in relation to this issue has been inadequate and I write to claim for the repair under the MobiloLife warranty.

Soon after discovering the rust I took the vehicle to my local Mercedes-Benz workshop (Vikings Canterbury) in order to make a claim under MobiloLife for the repair of the wheel arch. They advised me that in fact all the arches are beginning to rust to a certain degree.

Vikings then proceeded to measure the paint depth on the vehicle and found that the outer face of the passenger side rear wing had been previously repaired. This must have been prior to my ownership and was not obvious at the point of purchase. Vikings advised me to contact Mercedes directly to proceed with a claim.

Therefore earlier this month I telephoned your customer services department. A member of staff dealt with my call and made reference to a “goodwill” programme. He informed me (quite rudely I might add) that under no circumstances would Mercedes-Benz repair corrosion on a vehicle that had had any body work repair. At no point did he make mention of the 30-year warranty that came with the vehicle and covers corrosion.

This response is incorrect and fails to take account of the MobiloLife warranty on the vehicle. As to the “goodwill repair”, this is irrelevant as the vehicle is covered by MobiloLife, and has the pre-requisite full Mercedes-Benz service history. The warranty states (at p8 of the MobiloLife service booklet):
“We provide a warranty against bodywork corrosion. In the unlikely event that the vehicle rusts through from the inside anywhere on the bodywork or the underbody, it will be repaired by your Merecedes-Benz Service point…the warranty is valid for 30 years”.
The only condition is that maintenance services be carried out regularly and by Mercedes-Benz. This is the case for this vehicle.

As to the previous repair to one wing, this is irrelevant as no paint would have been applied to the inside of the arch during the repair, as confirmed by an independent body shop. In any event the repair was to the face of the wing and the corrosion is not in the repaired area. In addition to this the corrosion on the other 3 wings would indicate that this previous repair is not the cause of the rust, as it is reasonable to assume that the corrosion on all four wings is caused by the same factor, namely insufficient rust proofing (including but not exclusively paint thickness) at the point of manufacture.

It should also be noted that neither Vikings nor the customer services department have been able to confirm that the previous repair was not undertaken by “DaimlerChrysler AG for repairs, bodywork and paintwork” as required at page 13 of the warranty.

In any event, no bodywork has been undertaken to the other 3 arches. The warranty states that “MobiloLife cannot assist you if the damage was caused by…improper repairs” (p13, emphasis added). It cannot be argued (and has not been suggested) that the rust to the other 3 wings has in any way been caused by the repair to the fourth wing. To fail to repair the other 3 wings is a breach of the warranty.

For the avoidance of doubt, it cannot be argued that any of the other exceptions at page 13 apply as there has been no “deliberate or gross negligence”, no modifications to the vehicle, no participation in exempted activities and no delay in reporting the fault. The rust was noticed on a Sunday and the vehicle booked into Vikings within a week.

Further the rust cannot be put down to lack of maintenance or environmental influences. The rear wings are corroding where water has penetrated the spot welded inner and outer panels, the corrosion being visible by blistering paint along the length of the join between the two panels. The front wings are also rusting from the inside of the arch outwards as a result of inadequate rust proofing within the arch, the corrosion being visible in the same manner. The above symptoms clearly suggest the rust coming from the inside out, and this has also been confirmed by an independent body shop.

Even if this weren’t the case, the vehicle should not be corroding at all after less than 8 years in use, particularly an expensive, luxury vehicle as it is, as this would constitute the vehicle not being of “satisfactory quality” under section 14 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979.

In light of the above I expect the 4 wings to be repaired under the MobiloLife warranty. I look forward to a prompt and helpful response to this issue as I have thus far been disheartened by the way I have been dealt with by Mercedes-Benz customer services. This follows four years of very high levels of service from Vikings, and am rapidly losing my faith in what I thought was the best brand as far as vehicles were concerned.

I therefore expect a response to this letter within 14 days after which time I will have no option but to take the matter further.

Hi.
Agreed. The 30 year Mobilo is not worth the paper however it seems that MB is now aggressively turning down most claims made under the 30 year. I, too have maintained my MB Franchise Service in order to maintain the 30 year however I've just taken my car away from MB to an independant MB specialist as there is really no point in paying the exhorbitant fees to MB just to keep the Mobilo going.

I've owned my car from new. It's always been serviced at MB at the correct intervals. When it was just 4 YEARS old I noticed rust bubbling up all around the top of the rear number plate. MB duly "repaired" that under "goodwill" rather than the Mobilo. A year ago I noticed the "normal" rust around the bootlid lock. I made a claim only to be met with the response that the bootlid had already had paint applied and hence MB would not repair it again.

MB were correct of course because the repair had been carried out by them! I argued that the bootlid should have been replaced on a 4 year old car rather than "repaired" and had it been then the car would not now be rusting (replacement bootlids were subsequently made of aluminium). MB turned it down both from Mobilo and goodwill.

Angry? You might say that; both with the MB franchise and with MB. Take a look at every W210 over 8 years old and every one is rusting around the bootlif lock. MB essentially said I was to blame as I must have allowed stone clips to accumulate without taking action.

BTW. All decisions on body repair work are now taken in Holland rather than the U.K. Approx' a year ago MB "retrained" all their associated body shops on what would, in future, be allowed or disallowed. I'm told that the emphasis was to be on disallowing claims and hence saving MB much cost.

30 year Mobilo? A cynical exercise in marketing in order to haul the company out of a hole called "Corrosion". Now, some years later they believe thay have climbed out of that particular hole and can dispense with any pretence of maintaining the 30 year Mobilo.

When I contacted My MB Franchise the response was that there was NO SUCH THING AS A 30 YEAR MOBILO! Only up to 8 years on "goodwill". That statement alone tells the story.

Now, MB Franchises? Been ripped off recently for a repair. Was then quoted £4,000 for another repair and had it carried out at an independant for £263.00. Someone's taking the p...
Regards
solarmer

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

30 year Mobilo? A cynical exercise in marketing in order to haul the company out of a hole called "Corrosion". Now, some years later they believe thay have climbed out of that particular hole and can dispense with any pretence of maintaining the 30 year Mobilo.

I suspect that MB hadn't really been affected by widespread corrosion when they launched the original Mobilo life, and have since regretted it. Probably assessed the risk of corrosion repairs and recovery to be unlikely as accidental damage is exluded, and the financial impact to be relatively small.

Remember this was at a time when the new car warranty was just 12 months, service intervals were increasing due to pressure from fleets, and so many cars wouldn't need to be serviced within the warranty period, and so there was almost zero incentive to get your car serviced at the main dealer, even the first one!!

The additional servicing revenue, and the income generated from recovering breakdowns to the dealer (only) and not authorised repairers would have been significant, and worth accepting the risk on.

I'm almost certain that MB underestimated how far reaching the compromises in quality during would be in terms of scale, cost and duration, and as a result have been bitten big time. They just want out, and a little tough-loving for a while may well put off anyone else that may be eligible.

 

[jamesbroadley]

As predicted I'm sorry to say this didn't work, so I'll be back to the bodyshop to get my money back in the new year!!!

The front arches seem OK but the rears are rusting again with avengance!

So, following on from your previous posts how much would you charge to fix this for good, I reckon it'll be worth do all 4 arches again from scratch. The rears are rusting at the join between the panels only (so far!).

An estimate on here or by e-mail would be great, thanks.

[email protected]

 

[Mercman786]

From previous thread that I have seen, whenever someone takes MB to court about the rust issue, they usually win... you have a better chance as your car is FMBSH...

This also may be of interest to you

Bbc television - Mercedes-Benz Owners' Forums

 

[Mercman786]

From previous thread that I have seen, whenever someone takes MB to court about the rust issue, they usually win... you have a better chance as your car is FMBSH...

This also may be of interest to you

Bbc television - Mercedes-Benz Owners' Forums

 

[CKLclive]

James, am very sorry to hear that the rust has come back and hope you get a full refund on money spent

 

[CKLclive]

There is a misconception here. It is nothing to do with galvanising which is only done on the inside of the wings. The corrosion is on the outside and is due to insufficient thickness of paint from the factory. Hence, not covered by the 30 year warranty as the panels are not rusting from the inside out.

Russ

Russ,

the corrosion is from the underside lip of the arch and not from the outside and is due to MB sealing the lip area with there so called sealer
not just water borne paint

 

[rf065]

Russ,

the corrosion is from the underside lip of the arch and not from the outside and is due to MB sealing the lip area with there so called sealer
not just water borne paint

Afraid not in my case, the rust started on the lower rear quarter panels, both sides of the car, well away from the arches. Lots of little blisters which then burst. See Photo.

These were fixed free of charge, but 6 months later I noticed the front wings were showing the same blisters as well as bubbles on the arches themselves. Changing the rear number plate light showed the boot lid rusting beneath the plastic trim piece too. All these were repaired with me paying 20% contribution.

Russ

 

[CKLclive]

Perhaps MB should have there warranty work done with me then !
think they should employ me as paint anti/corrosion project manager ?

 

[ddentrec]

Hello all,

I have a 2003 W203, built Nov 2003, now has rusty rear wheel arches. Has full and complete MB history and have owned it from new. Had to fight tooth and nail to get this repaired at no cost to me. Was not impressed with the Mobilo warranty - did not apply in my case.

I read the new 2011 W204 warranty info: has considerably tighter terms now - for example even minor rust spots are specifically excluded.

Galvanised bodywork: I asked MB customer services to confirm if the 2011 W204 has this and they said it did not. A colleague has a 2007 B-Class with rusty tailgate and he was told that that was galvanised when he bought it.

So it seems to me that ye olde corrosion quality issues seen on the W210 back in the 1990's is still with us. But we only have ourselves to blame: we keep buying Mercedes cars (UK sales are up year on year or so I am told) even though we all know that they aint the same quality as a W124. If you want a galvanised shell then go buy a Skoda.

 

[CKLclive]

This is a simple case of MB not interested in rust issues and why it is caused, they know full well as much as I do and its simple as explained in my past threads.
I have spent a lot of time and research on this matter over the years and there
is only one way to cure it get it sorted by an expert or dont by a mercedes
but there again we do love them !

 

[CKLclive]

As predicted I'm sorry to say this didn't work, so I'll be back to the bodyshop to get my money back in the new year!!!

The front arches seem OK but the rears are rusting again with avengance!

So, following on from your previous posts how much would you charge to fix this for good, I reckon it'll be worth do all 4 arches again from scratch. The rears are rusting at the join between the panels only (so far!).

An estimate on here or by e-mail would be great, thanks.

[email protected]

Hi james, how did you get on with the bodyshop and what did they say ?

 

[le_ginge]

MY W203 - 2002 has had more paint than i care to talk about the front wings get painted every 2 years because of the rust problem, the doors bottoms have gone on all 4. Goes in next week for some more paint on the offending panels, hence Hammerite (Something similar) is going on the door bottoms this time. The ROOF has been repaired too because of Rust that was done at 4 years old. With all this rust anybody would think i'd bought a 1970/80's Lancia. "Whats that i hear........Rust".

 

[CKLclive]

Should have come to DCP then lol could have saved a packet and had a warranty to boot

 

[SilverSaloon]

Its funny, as when chatting to the general public about rusty cars, the 1st thing they say is "my mate had an alfa, lancia, etc etc". none of them seem to realise that new MB cars are as rusty as ever, when there are 15 year old Ford Mondeos driving around without a spot of rust. crazy

 

[clk320x]

That should be an 'improved' one

GALVANISING of MERCEDES CARS - MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts

Mines rotting costing me a fortune to keep having it resprayed

 

[magpiemalemerc]

There is a misconception here. It is nothing to do with galvanising which is only done on the inside of the wings. The corrosion is on the outside and is due to insufficient thickness of paint from the factory. Hence, not covered by the 30 year warranty as the panels are not rusting from the inside out.

Russ

i hate the water based paint i prefer the previous application as it seemed thicker and more luxurious.

 

[cass]

My son used to work in one of Mercedes Benz offices in Holland & told me when I had problems with rust on my W210 E220 that from about 1998/99 to late 2006 there was a problem with rust as the quality of Mercedes benz cars had been degraded to save money,I also had problems with Mercedes not wanting to repair rust damage though i did get some done as a good will gesture.I now have a 2011 E250cdi Avant.which to date is rust free,fingers crossed.PS my old merc. is now a local taxi & has needed on going rust repairs.