Rusty '99 C200

[Piboy]

Hi Folks,

Bit of a tricky situation here.
I have just bought a (99)T C200 estate from a non-Merc. dealer, therefore no warranty.
It just did not occur to me that a 5 year old Merc could have rust so I didn't even bother to look. However, lo and behold, while polishing the car this weekend I was sickened to discover a line of rust in the inner bottom lip of the boot/hatch. It has actually got to a bubbly stage and is about to start creeping round to view on the outside. All paintwork is original.

I bought this car because I believe in fair exchange of value and appreciate outstanding quality. But rust on a 5 year old Merc I just can't believe. This really has put my long held belief in Mercedes quality to question.

Whatever the situation, I would not expect a Merc to start rusting anywhere for at least 10 years, let alone one as new as this.

I think I have case here, if for no reason other than to put Mercedes to the quality test.
Are they big enough to fix a flaw? Or is Mercedes no longer synonymous with 'uncompromising quality'.
Don't they mind an advertisment of a Merc driving around with a big unsightly patch of rust under the T reg number plate for the entire world to see?

I can afford to pay for a repair job but do not want to, on principle.

Or am I just living in the dark ages and should I revisit my views on 'penny wise but pound foolish'?

I would appreciate any advice and details of who in Mercedes I could contact.

Thanks

Oliver Hilton

 

[rizal2510]

I think you should have a case to claim from MB. It was my understanding that the rust warranty claim is up to 6 years. There's a few threads on this forums that have discussed about this, such as 3 or 6 . I personally have done the claim on my 98 W210 where they have changed all the four doors and front wings with complete respray of the sides.

You could try to approach your local MB stealer or their bodyshop and asked for the rust warranty claim. On my W210, it does not have FMBSH but the claim was approved.

My only regret is that on my W202 the rust have been noticed after the 6 years period and I have exported the car, hence I would have to fork out the repairs on my own.

HTH.

 

[sym]

Where did you buy from, if you don't mind me asking (just curious as to whether it's my old car!!)

- as for the rust, it is a known issue with the 202 estate tailgate, and members here have had succeeded in getting corrosion warranty repairs approved via MB, although this can sometimes be a bit of a lottery and dependent on the attitude of the dealer in question.

Mine was starting to corrode where you describe when I sold it a couple of months ago.

S.

 

[Aletank]

If it's a 99 T Reg car and as long it was serviced within the last 2 years at the Main Dealer it will be covered under the 30 year Mobilo Warranty!! Click Me
Thats for cars registered after Oct 98.
Even if it hasn't been serviced within the last 2 years or registered before that date, there are people who have made succesful claims!!
Different dealers have different attitudes to!! I beleive MB Blackpool are very good !!
Good Luck and let us know how you get on

 

[Piboy]

Update: My local Merc dealership has had their bodyshop give a quote on the job. The bodyshop says that the rust is so bad that the whole tailgate will need to be replaced!
All that remains now is to see who Mercedes say should pay for this!

PS: Big thanks to the rizal, sym and aletank for your input on this. I owe you all a beer!

 

[Andy W]

My rust claim has now been going on for 7 months, still no joy " your claim is in the system ", have rang now 10 times and have never had a call returned even when promised, and the cheeky swines rang me out of the blue up and offered me a test drive on a new car, I told them to shove it up their ........

 

[uumode]

It just did not occur to me that a 5 year old Merc could have rust so I didn't even bother to look.

Oliver Hilton

It didn't occur to me either on a 4 year old.

Don't forget to look under the door sills - pull the rubber right back on the doors
Bottom of the doors
http://www.wan.st/public/e240/osrear_doorsill_big.jpg
Top of the doors
http://www.wan.st/public/e240/nsfrontdoorframetop1.jpg
Inside of the wheel arches
http://www.wan.st/public/e240/nsinnerfrontarch.jpg
Underbody might look like a Martian landscape too
http://www.wan.st/public/e240/bottom.jpg
http://www.wan.st/public/e240/panel.jpg
and behind the exhaust shield
http://www.wan.st/public/e240/exhaustshieldarea.jpg
and get it waxoyled if you are keeping it for a lengthy of time.

I had mine waxoyled but they didn't do behind the exhaust heat shield - access reasons I guess or danger of the waxoyl igniting, so I'll have to live with that and hope it doesn't corrode too rapidly in that area.