Mercedes Vito Rust Warranty. This is what you get..

[akhan48]

This is absolutely disgusting customer service from MB. I really hope I don't have to deal with them in this way. I expected more from a luxury car manufacturer. I think you should tell everyone humanly possible about how crap they are. Watchdog, local paper, MB director, etc.

 

[davidjpowell]

I don't even think they give a toss.

If they did, they would be putting right this kind of thing ex-gratis, where the rust has not been caused by accident damage etc.

The fact that they wont even proceed under the 'rusty car guarantee(d) within 30 years' policy - is laughable.

The sad thing is - I love my car and it would have pursuaded me to buy another - but I wont be risking buying something that will rust after 3 years so they've lost my custom as well.

I wonder how many others feel the same - but even if it a large number, I imagine they find it hilarious to hear about....

I do wonder if they have calculated their exposure to rust, and decided it's too bitter a pill to swallow.

 

[Dieselman]

I do wonder if they have calculated their exposure to rust, and decided it's too bitter a pill to swallow.

Absolutely, just like Ford accepted death payouts as part of selling Pinto's.

It makes me laugh all the postulating from individual members with older cars about how Mercedes has lost their custom.

Mercedes is enjoying record sales. Do they give a ????

 

[nick mercedes]

Mercedes is enjoying record sales.

Only (at least in the UK) by selling cars at a loss.

 

[The G.F.P]

this is awful

no wonder you had other things on your mind around sept/oct last year

basically once they have your money you can f off if anything goes wrong

life is like that, all smiles and cups of coffee to lure you in then do one if its faulty

stick to old mercs

 

[ringway]

this is awful

no wonder you had other things on your mind around sept/oct last year

basically once they have your money you can f off if anything goes wrong

life is like that, all smiles and cups of coffee to lure you in then do one if its faulty

stick to old mercs

Yes, September/August were hectic..

Older car seem to fare better. My 21yr old 124 has moderate corrosion on one front and one rear wing. Apart from that it is in remarkably good condition for a car so old.

I think MB have decided the warranty claims (not just for corrosion issues) have cost too much and have decided to get tough in refusing such claims on their substandard product.

 

[st13phil]

Absolutely, just like Ford accepted death payouts as part of selling Pinto's.

Perhaps MB should take a look at the ultimate consequences that Ford's "cost/benefit analysis" re the Pinto had?

(BTW, rusty cars aren't quite in the same league as burning people alive!)

 

[MOCAŠ]

I wonder where MB source vans for their own used vehicle network?

They have upward of 80 panel vans available registered between 2004 to 2007, several with 6-figure mileages, yet none that I've looked at seem to have any visible signs of rust. Admittedly the photos available online aren't particularly detailed, but you can generally tell that they look pretty straight.

Perhaps the really scabby ones that have been posted on this thread have just had a hard life, or have had damage neglected/poorly repaired.

 

[nick mercedes]

I wonder where MB source vans for their own used vehicle network?

They're the ones that come off MB lease.

They would not try to retail a scabby one, any rust or damage would be sorted out beforehand.

 

[nick mercedes]

Perhaps the really scabby ones that have been posted on this thread have just had a hard life, or have had damage neglected/poorly repaired.

All Vitos and Sprinters rust, they don't seem to need to be mistreated or damaged, they're just badly made.

 

[BTB 500]

I wonder where MB source vans for their own used vehicle network?

They have upward of 80 panel vans available registered between 2004 to 2007, several with 6-figure mileages, yet none that I've looked at seem to have any visible signs of rust. Admittedly the photos available online aren't particularly detailed, but you can generally tell that they look pretty straight.

Not to mention all the Vianos, which are the same vehicle (apart from interior trim) built in the same plant. I really don't think an M-B dealer would put a vehicle with any rust whatsoever on their forecourt.

 

[BTB 500]

All Vitos and Sprinters rust, they don't seem to need to be mistreated or damaged, they're just badly made.

Rubbish.

 

[MOCAŠ]

^^ see what he did there?

 

[nick mercedes]

Rubbish.

If they were built properly, they would not go rusty.

 

[BTB 500]

If they were built properly, they would not go rusty.

The vast majority of them don't.

We've been through this before - there seem to be occasional instances of rust on most modern M-Bs. It's far from good, and if I had an affected vehicle (be it a Vito/Viano or an S Class) I'd certainly be gutted.

But to state that they all rust is rubbish. It's nothing like the situation with M-Bs in the late 90s / early 00s.

 

[MOCAŠ]

Clearly not all MBs rust. I can't have just been lucky with my 2000 R170 and my current 2004 R171 - both of which have been rust-free.

As BTB has said, MB need to sort out why some of their vehicles still seem to be suscpetible to tin worm, and it certainly sounds like they need to do something about how they handle their warranty claims/customer care; but it's not true to say that all their cars (or even models) are prone to rust.

 

[BTB 500]

Yup. Poor Wobbly has issues (again) with his 2006 ML:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/bodywork/126486-dealer-declining-rust-claim.html

Which is terrible, but doesn't mean that all modern MLs are rusty heaps. There are (tens of?) thousands of them around, and the huge majority are fine.

It's interesting that the issue affects so many different models made in different plants (on different continents). Otherwise it would sound like a simple QA problem ... isolated surface contamination of panels before painting, or something like that.

 

[nick mercedes]

The vast majority of them don't.

Almost *all* late shape Sprinters have rusty rear doors, rust on the front door corners and rust on the arches.

Almost *all* Vitos have rust above the moulding on the tailgate, rust at the bottom of the tailgate, rust on all door bottoms, rust on the quarters, rust in the seams of the roof and rust on the rear slam doors around the lock and around the number plate light.

And there is no excuse for the rust, Mercedes vans are sold at premium prices, and "lesser" vans from "lesser" manufacturers don't rust.

 

[nick mercedes]

MB need to sort out why some of their vehicles still seem to be suscpetible to tin worm

Four key reasons:

1 They're badly made.

2 Poor design.

3 Poor materials.

4 They just don't care.

If you consider that back in 1999, a couple of years after the Vito was launched, they started to rust, Mercedes had the chance to solve the problem with the launch of the Cdi Vitos, but didn't. Cdi Vitos rust just as well as the pre Cdis.

Fast forward to 2003/4 when the new shape Vito was launched, MB had a new model and the chance to get away from the rusty van image, again they didn't bother, and Vito 639 rust worse and in more places than the 638s.

They've had over 15 years to solve the problem, but they've simply not bothered, and the 8 year corrosion warrenty seems to exclude corrosion...

 

[BTB 500]

Almost *all* Vitos have rust above the moulding on the tailgate, rust at the bottom of the tailgate, rust on all door bottoms, rust on the quarters, rust in the seams of the roof and rust on the rear slam doors around the lock and around the number plate light.

Presumably all Vianos too (since they are identical and made in the same plant)? Complete and utter rubbish.