Rust on Mobilio covered cars

[glojo]

Rust re-appeared on one arch (the rear 'old' wing) which was fixed under warranty. Work was satisfactory ('invisible')

Thanks very much for the update and I am sorry to hear about the underside of the car. This has made me now ask another question.

How confident are you that putting waxoyl onto a rusty surface will actually resolve the problem? I ask this out of complete ignorance as I have never seen this done on a vehicle with perhaps 'chronic' rust problems. Did they actually sand-blast the underside of the car and remove ALL trace of corrossion? Would a waxoyl specialist have done this? I accept that the advertising material states you can apply the solution on top of rust, but I could never do that and would want all signs of corrosion eliminated.

Hopefully your remark about having the wheel-arch repaired for a SECOND time will allay the worries of some of the forum members? Having said that, it should definitely NOT have been necessary.

Again I repeat, I am totally aghast at the deplorable state of ALL (thinking of Dieselman ) modern Mercedes-Benz motor cars. Shame on DaimlerChrysler.

Regards,
John

 

[saorbust]

Dieselman has raised a very interesting and very valid point about rust on ALL the recent range of Mercedes-Benz. This has now got my complete attention.

How many of us that own vehicles that are still COVERED BY MOBILIO have experienced corrosion problems and have now made a claim to get the vehicle repaired?

Was it a satisfactory repair?

Did they replace panels?

Has the problem re-appeared and have you made another claim.

On a different forum (US based, so no Mobilio) I had asked 30 (Thirty) W210 owners if they had experienced corrosion problems and I believe it was something like 80% had!!! Now I haven't surveyed any other models, but if they have anything like that then surely Mercedes-Benz will have problems that would cause major, major financial problems?.

I think my poll merely highlights that on a forum you will get an awful lot of members that are there purely to complain about an issue so the 80% figure is not indicitive of four out of five 210's having problems.

I still find it difficult to accept that the C, CL, S, SLK, CLK and ML are experiencing problems that are equal to the horrobile 210's.

I am NOT doubting Dieselman's statement, like everyone here, I hold this persons knowledge in the very highest of regard. I am merely doing my usual quest for more information and educating myself about the extent of this issue.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the beautiful 124's that came to Torquay and I am disgusted that Mercedes-Benz has allowed this terrible situation to develop. The 124's will be around long after some models are a mere pile of iron oxide

I totally agree with Dieselman's observation about long term damage to the marque. Rust killed the Vauxhall Victor and the Ford Anglia, the names of both models were removed from the range, such was the damage to their reputations.

Thanks for any contributions,

John
A sunny hot afternoon in Torquay

Interesting selection of points John, however I think your line about 'getting an awful lot of members there to complain' is perhaps more relevant than we think.

MB make a shedload of cars a year, and frankly you might wish to argue we should be grateful they provide such a good level of cover for our body work, and further, rarely query it. Even better they've recognised that they have an issue and they are taking steps to sort it out, whilst providing good will to their existing customer base. All they ask in return in that you get your car serviced according to the owners manual.

Okay; I've not taken a sniff of the weird stuff this morning (unless Costa Coffee counts ) but I do feel we see the blunt edge of the sword on this forum.

I've been lucky enough to have 7 MB's - all of which are mentioned as being 'problem cars'. However only two had problems, both minor. One you know about - the other occured on a CLK 208 class, which was small.

Put it this way. If we brought another brand of vehicle, do you think they'd be as good as MB at a; acknowledging the issue and b; resolving it - especially so publicly.

Personally, I don't have a sour taste in my mouth, and I would never consider going to another brand if I can afford MB's.

PS. Sorry to rant !

 

[glojo]

Personally, I don't have a sour taste in my mouth, and I would never consider going to another brand if I can afford MB's.

PS. Sorry to rant !

Totally, totally, agree.

It never fails to amaze me how owners want things for nothing!! The warranty we have is second to none, if I were Merecedes-Benz I would have organised a database of all their vehicles sold in the UK since the commencement of Mobilio cover and kept it updated as to the servicing of these vehicles.

There are going to be customers buying dealers stamps off of e-bay and then stamping service booklets. By having a database this issue can easily be avoided.

Customers that do not want to have their vehicle serviced by an authorised agent, clearly have that option. I don't see anything wrong with getting vehicles serviced by an independant, but you are then clearly terminating the FULL Mobilio warranty. It is a black and white issue and it is really cheeky to complain when or if Mercedes-Benz turn down a claim.

I have no problem though with goodwill repairs, on vehicles that are no longer covered, that is commendable, but not obligatory. Mercedes-Benz should be careful though of opening a huge stable door.

Finally DaimlerChrysler are clearly guilty of producing some 'rust buckets', my hat goes off to them for taking responsibility. Unlike other manufacturers including Bentley.

Just my little rant!

John

 

[uumode]

How confident are you that putting waxoyl onto a rusty surface will actually resolve the problem? I ask this out of complete ignorance as I have never seen this done on a vehicle with perhaps 'chronic' rust problems. Did they actually sand-blast the underside of the car and remove ALL trace of corrossion? Would a waxoyl specialist have done this? I accept that the advertising material states you can apply the solution on top of rust, but I could never do that and would want all signs of corrosion eliminated.

Not very, at least the with the application I had. Hence my original desire to take it to a waxoyl specialist.

No sand blasting, but they did use a wire brush to remove the loose bits (I doubt they injected it into box sections). I don't think a specialist would remove all traces of rust, as waxoyl by nature neutralises the rust and prevents it.
http://www.before-n-after.co.uk/techstuff.htm

 

[Shude]

I suppose I could start two threads, one for hte C, and another for hte E, but there are a number of CLK's and of course SLK's.... heck, how many threads should I create?

The number of R170 SLKs and W208 CLKs that have had corrosion issues is small when compared to the W202 c-class and the W210 e-class, and the W202 has mainly been estate tailgate problems.

My previous W202 had a tiny amount of paint-bubble around the bootlid lock (water gets trapped there) and my current W202 only has corrosion where the paint has been damaged due to stonechips.

The car to concentrate on is the W210.

 

[glojo]

The car to concentrate on is the W210.

Totally agree, but try telling Maff to ignore the problem with his car!!

The 210 is without doubt way ahead of any other model and questions are no doubt being both asked, and hopefully answered as to why it is manifesting itself so badly in one main model.

How many other models are built using the same methods and steel?

John

 

[mickeymacs]

I live in Holland where there are loads of W210's batting around both as taxis and private cars. I haven't seen any rust problems with any of them unlike my own E320 which has rust spots on doors and rear wings. Are LHD vehicles better than RHD? But then why are there problems in the US? Any ideas?

 

[Shude]

I live in Holland where there are loads of W210's batting around both as taxis and private cars.

Lots of them will be 1995-1997 W210 models which AFAIK have never had any rust issues.