The black pimples of corrosion.....

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GregE240

Active Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2002
Messages
952
Location
Northamptonshire, UK
Car
1990 500SL
Grrr.....

I've noticed it before, and I may have said something on here, but the paintwork of my '98, particularly at the front, is dire. On the nearside wing is a patch of what can be described as black "pimples" in the paintwork, and the front grille is a right old mess.

Is it *really* worth me taking it to dealer only to be told its out of warranty and they won't honour a repair, or do I have a reasonable chance of a result?

I'm 100% convinced that this is not the result of stone chipping, I believe it has come up through the paintwork.

What do you think, chaps?


a) What have you got to lose?

b) Stop dreaming.

Cheers,

Greg
 
If you'd asked me a week or so ago I would have said "Stop dreaming" but after this week, my answer is definitely -

A.) Take to the dealer, what have you got to lose, what's the worst that could happen? They say "No it's not covered".

S.
 
You will never know if you don't ask M8.

Therefore (a) definitely worth asking.
 
If it's corrosion coming through from under the paint it should be covered.
'98 is still within the 6 year warranty as my car will testify to right now. I've been dead fussy but no problems with making claims.

Some dealers will tell you they can only repaint the panels but good ones will insist on fitting new panels c/o MB. :D
 
Thanks for the advice chaps....will pop into MB Coventry and see what they say.

I'll update this once they've seen it.
 
Well, as promised I popped into MB Coventry yesterday.....its not corrosion.

Seems the paint is actually flaking off the front, exposing the primer underneath. So they didn't want to know, in spite of the fact this is a 5 YO car with flaky paint. They even suggested that the front of the car had been resprayed. I'm not too sure of that. It had some spray before I bought it, but that was on the boot lid.

So....ever helpful, they suggested Chips Away, who I've used before. The guy came round earlier today (god bless working from home) and the guy offered me 2 options:

1) Knock back and spray affected area (around NS headlight) for £75; or

2) Option 1 plus knocking back entire front bumper and respraying for £175.

I'd favour option 2 because the front bumper really is quite bad, the lacquer is bubbling in some places and theres been some stony action that the bumper hasn't exactly shrugged off.

There we have it, then. If you have GENUINE corrosion (Rust, to you and me) then I would say you have a case. Indeed, if I had a pound for every time the bloody MB technician said "Can't be rust...Mercedes don't rust" I could probably have the work done straight away.

Sorry chaps, thought I'd have better news.

Greg
 
They even suggested that the front of the car had been resprayed. I'm not too sure of that.
Road Range Liverpool used a paint thickness tester on my car to make sure it was "Mercedes Paint"
They must know precisely how thick "Mercedes Paint" is.
My car was all original and its booked in for the corrosion work this Monday (18th)
They should of had the decency to test your paint thickness if that is what they was insinuating.
 
Greg,

Sorry to hear your local stealer are playing hardball :( It's really weird that there doesn't seem to be any consistency at all to the decisions taken across the dealer network or customers' experiences. :confused:

Maybe you should bring your car to Swansea :D

S.
 
Thanks for the sympathy chaps.

I'm taking it to a local bodyshop soon to get a price from them. The ChipsAway guy seemed keen to tidy up the headlight surround, but not so keen to respray the front bumper.
 
Hi Greg,

MB Coventry are useless and i have nothing more to say about them... I now use Monarch of tamworth. All my extended family drive mercs, and i always take them to tamworth to get the best deal...

So where are you taking it to be sprayed. Id be v interested if you find a good/reasonably priced place.
I know of a lot of places around the area, all v good prices, but none that id like to reccomend on this forum....

There was one guy who used to do all my stuff near atherstone, he was the best sprayer you could find.
Unfortunately, he was TOO cheap for the amount of time he put in. He specialised in restorations (or big jobs), i think he just underestimated the time he needed for each job....
He lived in a caravan next to his workshop and he did a runner the day after he finished my restoration (he did an excellent job for the price)...I guess he had debts mounting up, i had heard he has moved to coventry... His name is Chris Brearley, if you come across him, lemme know, i need to grab him again, i have more work for him!

Cheers

Jay
 

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