Mobilo and corrosion claims

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arai1200

New Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2007
Messages
11
Car
'99 CLK 320
Bought my '99 CLK320 about 2 months ago and my "friend" recently took great pleasure in pointing out a rust bubble on the wing. I hopped on the old interweb to search for quick fixes and stumbled across the many threads here regarding the apparently poor corrosion resistance of Mercedes in recent years.

The car does not have FMBSH (first few years only) and was not bought from a main dealer. It is due a B Service now and I was wondering what to do. I have not yet owned it six months, it is already 8 years old and it is due a B Service. Closer inspection shows all four wheelarches are going, pin-pricks are coming through on the sills, it's starting under the front grill and the usual bubbling on the bootlid near the handle is present. I read on some posts that if the car was registered between November '98 and mid '04 then it was covered by Mobilolife for 30 years, but then I also read somewhere that it was only 8 years. Can anyone please clarify?

I understand that it needs to be serviced by MB to get Mobilolife activated for 18 months. Is this right? Is that continuous FMBSH? Does anyone actually know? I get the impression that even MB don't know.

What I'm thinking is:

1. Get the car B Serviced (I'll do that anyway)
2. Get the car back (probably without them mentioning the rust, but gladly taking the £££ for the service)
3. Go back a week later saying that they didn't pick up on the rust in the B Service and I believe it's covered under Mobilolife due to the date it was first registered and the fact that it has been serviced recently by a MB dealer.

What do you think will happen?

a) Car booked in no questions asked with a courtesy S65
b) A lot of head-scratching and bickering ensues before they finally agree to submit a corrosion claim which takes a few weeks to go through and I become a "goodwill" success story
c) A lot of head-scratching and bickering ensues before they finally agree to submit a corrosion claim which takes a few weeks to go through and I get told to buy some wet and dry
d) They tell me to come back when I've owned it for six months
e) They give me a dustpan and brush to clean up the orange dust I've left on their forecourt where my car used to be and laugh me off the premises

Personally, I reckon d followed by c, but hopefully b. I guess a is not going to happen, but I don't think I can rule out e...
 
e, d and c in that order...



Seriously, you do have half a chance of a sucessful claim. Your car should fall under the mobilo-life scheme, but that deos stipulate servicing to be carried out by authorised dealers, however this is sometimes waived and especially if you get a service performed by a dealer.

Go to the dealer, let them have a look and then see what they say.
 
Sorry to hear there's some rust poking though.

Why don't you call into the dealer, and ask them to take a look at the rust. Mention Mobilolife and the possibility of a goodwill claim? - the latter will make them think you know what's what.

You could then say you're planning to get a B-service, and that it would make sense to have it done at the same time as the rust repair - leading them into a 'get it fixed' frame of mind using the power of suggestion.

Say as soon as they call back with a green light, then you'll book the car in there and then for the rust repair and B-service at the same time.

If it's not a straightforward claim and some negotiation needs to take place, then they may be more inclined try a little harder if they think there's a nice profitable B-service in it for them.

I reckon that will get you off to a positive start - it helps if the dealer is on your side!!

Incidentally, which are you local dealers?
 
Thanks for the replies chaps.

My initial thoughts are always of a more cloak-and-dagger approach (cynical parents), but I think the sort-this-out-for-me-and-I'll-reward-you-by-paying-for-a-B-Service approach sounds good. I guess if it fails I can always take it to another dealer and try my beat-them-up-with-their-own-service approach, although I guess they take down reg. numbers, VINs, fingerprints and conduct retinal scans for the purposes of their customer records every time you visit...

Anyway, my local dealer is the Bristol Cribbs Causeway one. Are they any good?

Thanks again guys.
 
Not used them myself, but Chris Harris (Autocar magazine journalist) had positive things to say about MB Bristol.
 
If your car is a 1999 they will try everything under the sun to get out of repairing the rust. Believe me, my car is a 1999 with a mere 58000 miles and a full mercedes history, and I have eventually managed to get the car repaired, but I have had to go through months of hell to get the job done !!!
 
Hmmm, that's the feeling I got when I visited them earlier today. They said they'll send the pictures over, but that the paint and bodywork were only covered under Mobilolife fro 8 years. Mine's a T so it just falls outside of that age bracket. Anyway, I'll know for certain tomorrow. How did you manage to get them to do the repairs to your then, desilva?
 
First of all they will always tell you that the car is rusting from outside in, regardless of what the poor quality digital pic shows.

My car had a full service history, so basically got the mobilo doc out that clearly states that there is a 30 year warantee and sent it off to Milton Keynes. I also told them that if I have to get an independant examination of the car and it is proven that the rust is coming from inside out, I would bill them for it.

Anyway, with a lot of messing around and having a go at people they eventually backed off.

The fact of the matter is, legally I think they have to repair the car as the mobilo doc clearly states it. There is no ambiguity in the statement.

All I can say, is have patience and don't back down. Thats what they want....for you to back down.
 
Hmmm i just recently bought an s320 cdi 03 and have the car booked in on Nov 7th to have all 4 wings done.

No questions asked.

Thought it was pretty good!
 

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