MB alloy wheel warranty procedure

[Flash]

Got a friend whose car is under warranty and one of his immaculate alloys is starting to corrode around the centre cap area and the paint has peeled/chipped/flacked off.

His going for a warranty claim on just the one affected alloy wheels as the other 3 are immaculate and look good. Obviously, best he shall get is a refurb. Question is what is the exact MB procedure for making a claim. Apart from inspecting the wheel and taking photographs do they measure the thickness of the paint etc.?

I susepcted that this alloy may have "possibly" have been refurbished in the car's previous life by the previous owner (that is my suspicion) as the when I had inspected the wheel the surface of the inside of the rim is not a smooth as the other 3 alloys. Those of you who have had your alloys replaced with refurbs under warranty did they measure the thickness of the paint?

 

[hercules]

W203 200K Wheel corrosion

Do any body helse have similar problem with the C Class alloy wheel corrosion.
My car is 2years and 8months old and all four wheels have corrosion ,the corrosion type is like a pigeon sheet mostly at the centre of the wheel.
My local dealer has inspected the vehicle and he told me that under the warranty Mercedes will only replace the wheels if they are not dented at the outer rim even if they are corroded at the center.
This was about 3 weecks ago and I'm still waiting, have not received any letters or phone calls, I called them many times, but the person who is dealing with warranty claims is never there, and nether returned my calls.

All they are interested at Mercedes after sales is to take as much money they can at the time of the service apart from that they are sheet like the corrosion on the wheel.

If any one had similar problem please poste it on this forum.

 

[pammy]

My dealer just took one look and said they'd get them replaced - no photo's no measuring no nuffink But then the car was less than 12 months old and I had had it since 6 months and bought it through them so I'd have been a bit p'd off if they'd wanted to do anything like photo's paint measuring etc.

hth

 

[Flash]

My local dealer has inspected the vehicle and he told me that under the warranty Mercedes will only replace the wheels if they are not dented at the outer rim even if they are corroded at the center.

Another MB get out clause... how can slight kerbing on outer edge of the rim affect the corrosion around the centre cap area? Plus, when MB do the warranty exchange for refurbished alloys the corroded ones are sent off to Pristine to be completely refurbed (guess it must also depend on the Stealer to a certain extent - Gr**n**s do anything to void warranty claims and prefer to bill customers (probably bccause they make more money that way from cus charging the standard labour rate £90 per hour opposed to £40/50 per hour MB would pay them).

Hercules; What style of alloys do you have on ur car and what trim level i.e. Avantgarde/Elegance? Which Stealer is this?

 

[Flash]

This was about 3 weecks ago and I'm still waiting, have not received any letters or phone calls, I called them many times, but the person who is dealing with warranty claims is never there, and nether returned my calls.

Complain to DC customer services and get a case reference number stating Stealer has not got back in touch with you for 3 weeks now and you are concerned that in 2 months your warranty is going to expire. If you do do not action this now then the Stealer will use this as a get out clause stating that the warranty on your car has expired (even though you submitted the cliam within the warranty period).

Have you got any kerbing on ur alloys at all?

 

[glojo]

His going for a warranty claim on just the one affected alloy wheels as the other 3 are immaculate and look good. Obviously, best he shall get is a refurb. Question is what is the exact MB procedure for making a claim. Apart from inspecting the wheel and taking photographs do they measure the thickness of the paint etc.

I can only talk about my own experience and the information I received is already posted on this excellent forum. It contradicts some of the information but I 'think' it confirms other suggestions.

I have been informed that Pristine were the company that did supply refurbished wheels for ones that were corroded, but that has now changed and Mercedes-Benz now supply new wheels.

Unfortunately I did not pay to much attention to the managers comments about kerbed wheels, but from my adled memory I'm sure he mentioned something about if the wheel had suffered damage by being kerbed then the wheels would not be exchanged even if they had this horrible corrosion that we are talking about.

At present I have not got an opinion on the kerbing issue, but we should all be able to drive our pride and joys without crunching them against lumps of high concrete? I suppose Mercedes-Benz are attempting to suggest that the elements are able to leech under the broken lacquer?

The moral is look after your car and 'perhaps' your dealer will look after you. Adopt the attitude of insulting them by calling them 'stealers' is certainly not going to help your cause.

Good luck with the claim and if your DEALER insists on offering you Pristine refurbished wheels for your undamaged, but corroded wheels then feel free to pm me.

Bye for now and keep away from those horrible kerbs,
John

 

[Flash]

I have been informed that Pristine were the company that did supply refurbished wheels for ones that were corroded, but that has now changed and Mercedes-Benz now supply new wheels.


At present I have not got an opinion on the kerbing issue, but we should all be able to drive our pride and joys without crunching them against lumps of high concrete? I suppose Mercedes-Benz are attempting to suggest that the elements are able to leech under the broken lacquer?

The moral is look after your car and 'perhaps' your dealer will look after you. Adopt the attitude of insulting them by calling them 'stealers' is certainly not going to help your cause.


John

John,

Is there anyway that that you can find out when the new policy was to replace corroded alloys were brand enw ones so i can let my friend know so he can get his sorted? I have spoken to my techie friend and he is not sure about brand new replacement or have too much knowledge.

Thing is John they are Stealers and I will be nice to them and treat them just how they treat me and and am diplomatic. Stealers that I have had falling outs with i have never gone back to and gave it back to them as good as they got for treating myself and cars poorly. Even my MB Techie friend refers to his masters as "Stealers..." as he has worked for 4 different ones and said that the DC owned ones are the worse for customer service and I too have experienced that. The DC owned Stealers would even treat the techies poorly and "Pull" them off "existing" customer jobs like u and me and order techies to work on cars/priortiese them for fleet customers/new sales.

 

[GregE240]

Just for the record, I've been to Pristine when I was going to get my alloys refurbed.

Their service was second to none, and they use Mercedes paint for their wheel work on MB's.

You pay for it though. Not cheap.

 

[glojo]

Is there anyway that that you can find out when the new policy was to replace corroded alloys were brand enw ones so i can let my friend know so he can get his sorted? I have spoken to my techie friend and he is not sure about brand new replacement or have too much knowledge.

Hi Flash,
The Service Manager was at my house last Friday evening and said Pristine were no longer supplying refurbished wheels.

I wheel (get it) will be contacting them very soon about replacing the odd wheels now that they are allegedly supplying new wheels and also get further confirmation (I don't really need it as he was adamant Pristine are out of favour). I have just got to work up the enthusiasm to get down and clean the wheels. Don't forget the kerbing issue, hopefully this will not apply in your circumstances.

I am NOT suggesting that Pristine wheels are inferior to Mercedes-Benz wheels, I am merely repeating what I have been told.

Regards,
John

 

[Flash]

John,

If u dont mind, which "Dealership" is it that said this (this is only time I shall not say "Stealership" because i respect you)...

 

[glojo]

John,

If u dont mind, which "Dealership" is it that said this (this is only time I shall not say "Stealership" because i respect you)...

Atta boy!! pm on route

John

 

[mattgod69]

Corroded Wheels

Another MB get out clause... how can slight kerbing on outer edge of the rim affect the corrosion around the centre cap area? Plus, when MB do the warranty exchange for refurbished alloys the corroded ones are sent off to Pristine to be completely refurbed (guess it must also depend on the Stealer to a certain extent - Gr**n**s do anything to void warranty claims and prefer to bill customers (probably bccause they make more money that way from cus charging the standard labour rate £90 per hour opposed to £40/50 per hour MB would pay them).

Hercules; What style of alloys do you have on ur car and what trim level i.e. Avantgarde/Elegance? Which Stealer is this?

I completely agree with flash, how MB can say that some minor defects on the rim has cause the corrosion on the centre is beyond me.

I have the same issue, I only noticed because the caps on mine are looking awful, one in particular. However, when you inspect more closely, the wheels themselves are actually corroding in places too. My car is 2 years 2 months old.... by the way I think the warranty for corrosion is much longer than three years?!

I have emailed the dealer with pics, will keep you posted.

Matt

 

[st13phil]

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!

Regarding corrosion and MB's warranty, you'll find that they introduced new interpretation directions to dealers a couple of years ago that say that if a component suffers only a cosmetic fault that doesn't affect it's operation, then it's not covered under the warranty. Nice :thumb

 

[mattgod69]

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!

Regarding corrosion and MB's warranty, you'll find that they introduced new interpretation directions to dealers a couple of years ago that say that if a component suffers only a cosmetic fault that doesn't affect it's operation, then it's not covered under the warranty. Nice :thumb

ha ha.... I just spotted that! wow...

Ahh, is that the case, whilst that is interesting to note for them (and thanks for the heads up), I will not be accepting that argument. Corrosion is a breakdown and should be honoured. They have not, in my opinion, lasted a reasonable length of time under the SoGA. Will keep you posted!