mercedes paint quality

[s4rap]

well my clk is in for a front end respray by a very good mate of mine.Only one problem he can see and its not the rusty scabs or the fact that there are 6 shades of tanzanite blue,its in his words"how can i match my paint job to the orange peel paint effect done by mercedes when the car was built". Why would mercedes try to save money on cars costing nearly £40.000 by such poor paint?????

 

[trapperjohn]

Because from around 1996ish to 2005/6 they chased profit and lived on the reputation of the cars they built previous to that. I believe it is politely called "shareholder value" Corporate America at work.

 

[martyz]

Got to be your choice,orange peel is easy, depends how you want it finished,and yes agree orange peel is not the best of looks,the new ones are even worse

 

[Nasco12]

Because from around 1996ish to 2005/6 they chased profit and lived on the reputation of the cars they built previous to that. I believe it is politely called "shareholder value" Corporate America at work.

Corporate Germany, surely? Daimler bought Chrysler.

 

[Howard]

I have to say that there is no orange peel on my 2001 CLK430 ....

Perhaps yours has had paint at some time ?

Lots of orange peel on new cars though , 212 , 211 , 220 and 221

 

[o2drive]

I too have no "orange peel" on my 2004 E320

 

[Deleted member 65149]

No orange peel on my 1999 CLK, but it is on my 2012 C350! But you have to catch it in the right (or wrong?) light to see it.

 

[Tinkerer]

I wish that I had orange peel ........ so far only pure rust that is not covered under the 25 year anti perforation warranty because MB did not change the oil in the engine!! .... me grumpy? .... well if I had known that you are supposed to chuck the old engine oil around the chassis I might not be spending so much on the body panels !! .......... chill!

 

[s4rap]

its not so much the orange peel,just the quality of the finish.I had a skoda octavia also a 2001 and the paint was visibly thicker and no rust anywear,but im sure the skoda/vw was galvanised.

 

[Hi-Ho Silver]

If you have owned any MB from new/ approved used and you have had it continually serviced by MB, bodywork and rust defects etc are covered by their lifetime warranty. I have been informed by MB, that there are exceptions when they will either cover or contribute towards the respraying and treatment of affected cars but that the car must fulfill certain criteria. Much of this decision depends upon how willing your local main dealership is to engage with MBUK on such matters.

I had a 2000 230CLK (5 previous owners) which was rapidly turning into a heap and MBUK seriously considered helping me out with rust and perforation, although they eventually declined to do so.

I think the next step forward in excellence, is for MBUK to not shy away from facing upto the reality of their manufacturing flaws, which were due to them not using panels which had enough copper in the alloy for a couple of years. When a 12 year old car is rusty beyond economic repair, that is something MB need to fix, not whoever decides to buy a MB.

So endeth todays letter from Saint Hi-Ho Silver to the apostles.