cbh2

I had kind of a frustrating experience this morning. We have had our new C300 Sport for only a couple months, and when it was new, I told my wife that it has a low front bumper and that we have to be really careful not to pull too far forward in parking spots and hit the curb. I also reminded her many more times, but I am not sure how much attention she gave me.

This morning, I noticed from the upstairs window that the car was painfully close to the curb. I went downstairs, and was a bit relieved that she missed the curb by about a half inch. I did pull the car backwards, though, to relieve some mental pressure that it was that close! I then looked underneath it and noticed a lot of white scratches and a scrape on the underside of the bumper. When I ran my finger over them, they did have a textured feel, making me think that more than the clearcoat and paint were affected. There is at least one area too where the curb definitely went through the paint, and actually pulled up some of the bumper's material. No damage can be noticed unless you get down on your knees and look up at the bottom part of the bumper.

My wife will probably say, and a lot of others may as well, that you can't even see the damage unless you get on your hands and knees and look from underneath. To me, though, a car really shouldn't have any body damage. I don't think I can say that there is an issue of water and contaminants getting under there and affecting the base material, because the base material is plastic, but still, just knowing that there is damage and seeing the damage when I do get down low bothers me. I fully detailed this car when we first got it, wash it every week, and keep it in really top condition. Whenever I park, I park away from other cars, and make sure that I am far from the curb, and equidistant from both side lines in case there is a car that parks next to it.

Would you guys feel the same way if this happened? Would you get it repainted, try to buff out what you can with Scratch X or something, or just leave it? If I leave it, which I don't know if I would be comfortable with, at lease end, do you think Mercedes would charge us? Thanks for your thoughts!

snarlingchicken

Happened to me the second week I got the car. I cringed and shook it off, but deep down in the depths of my heart and soul, I was weeping.

Depending on what color your car is you can always just paint the bottom parts that are white from the plastic showing through with some black spray paint. But on a lighter color car like mine, I just kinda left it as is because it wouldn't be worth sanding it down and knowing that it'll be scraped again. You could always get a front lip to hide the damage, but that'll be scratched up too for sure.

cyberglk350

I can't stand finding stuff like this either. It makes me crazy especially when we "owners" cause our own damage.

Try and look at it this way. If you cannot see it unless looking for it. Then only you know its there.

I have had KTCNF "Keep the car new forever" syndrome for my entire life. What I found is there is no way to achieve this if your car is driven at all. Its like ...

xolinlevh

Had the same happen to me a few days after i picked up my C300, hit a pothole and scuffed the underside of the front bumper. Totally not visible unless you get down under the car. Still sucks that it happened

2nice4me

I really like my car but it's still only a car. if it really bothers you get it fixed, that what insurance is for.

my wife isnt the best driver herself and her car shows it too. anyway, like you said, you cant see it but you know it is there, fix it or live with it. cars are bound to get some minor chips and marks.

Stryker0624

Always good to know I am not alone with the fact that any damage is to much but unless it's a show car you must move on and deal with. I just picked mine up from dealer for routine service and someone there ran into another car and broke a front marker and scuffed the bumper, they are fixing but still bothers me.

LandSeaAir

Very common and very tough to avoid with everyday driving. I would just leave it because once you get it fixed it will most likely happen again, maybe get it fixed right before you turn it in to the dealer just incase their sticklers with the condition.

anticsd

Have it touched up when your detailing (I took it to MB since its only $189 for interior and exterior). I feel your pain though, the cause of my curb rash was the valet at a particular parking garage and I found out about it couple days later when I was washing the car myself.

Remember the broken glass theory same applies!!!

pepto

I hit a parking curb thing about 3 weeks after picking up the car. Bugged me for about a week then I got over it. Car is dark blue, so almost impossible to see and the marks are very minor. Very had to avoid in a daily driver. I personally HATE the cement curb used in parking spaces, but there you go. Not much I can do but be careful when parking!

C300Kid

The undersideof my bumper is all scratched too. I dont really care that much. At some point I'll pick up some black touch up paint.

noka

I bought my '09 new as a leftover on the lot and got a good deal but I took it knowing the bottom front had a couple of scrapes. Nothing terrible (certainly no cracks) but you can feel it with your fingers. It's hardly visible unless you bend down low to look. The procedure I use to prevent this: whenever pulling into a spot that I'm uncertain about, my wife gets out to guide me

Nuru

Me too! LOL! Another thing to watch is the bottom plastic panels beneath the passenger compartment - I was leaving a parking space, and chatting with my wife and then I heard this awful cracking sound I turned too sharply near the curb of a landscaping mound, and cracked the panel. I ordered one from the online MA dealership and put the car up on a rack and installed the new panel. I bought the other one just incase I do it on that side in the future

Nola

I have with the problem with strike plates and bumper lips getting scratched. While I won't scratch them on purpose, to me they are wear items, and don't deserve my going out of my way to protect them (or having someone else go out of theirs).

IGB

I'll start by saying "you should see the bottom of my front bumper"... And even with as **** as I am about my cars, I only have myself to blame!

I say leave it... At least for now. If you get it repainted, it is bound to happen again before you turn it in!

If its down to the bare plastic (the white part), ScratchX will do you no good!

I say lighten up... Enjoy your car, it is meant to be driven and this is just one of the downsides of regular use (like wear and tear on tires). This is not a hill you want to die on (figuratively) because with wives, we all know it is an issue you can't win!

cbh2

Thank you so much, everyone, for your advice. I think I'll probably just let it go, and not think about it, until it comes time to turn the car in. Maybe even then, it won't be anything serious enough to warrant a charge. I thought I read somewhere that Mercedes has a "credit card rule," where generally, if you can cover damage with a credit card, that there is no charge. The question, here though, will be if we get to use multiple credit cards given the scratches are not connected to each other!! I guess that's a bridge to cross a few years down the line. Thanks again!

ucfbeta92

I'm as **** as you with most of my prized possessions, but here's something I've noticed.. every time I get something new, I fuss about it, I am extra careful, and yet something minor happens. Like you, I got a scuff underneath the front bumper on my previous car (within a week of purchase), and a very small scratch below a rear turn signal. For a while I was very upset - I even bought touch up paint and clear solution from the dealership.

What I realized is, after the first incident or two, I stop fussing and bad things stop happening.. lol. I'm still careful, but not obsessive anymore. And my prized possessions still remain in great shape after I stop being obsessive. For me, this has been true with cars, laptops, cellphones, among other things.

bringtherain

man I'm already crying about my first rock chip I got a couple days ago. I don't know what i was thinking taking the C instead of the focus when i knew i was gonna go on 101 (ton of road fixes and always filled with 18 wheelers). As far as front bumpers go.. oh man lol. Took my C320 to the DMV to take my drivers test. I parked my car and the lady told me to move forward more. Bam onto the cinder block and when i pulled out it tore off a chunk of my lorinser lip kit. I'm extremely **** retentive when it comes to these things and if I were in you're position I'd probably get it fixed eventually.

tpick23

I used to be more particular about stuff like bumper scratches, rock chips, etc. I have leaned to give it a rest on the stuff that can't be avoided and just enjoy driving the car.

On the other hand, I do take issue with stuff that can be avoided with a little attention. Enter the wife....she used to take my CLK63 to work some times. I would wash the car and keep it clean like we all here would. One day I noticed the metal lower mesh was pushed up from the bottom and bent. Here we go...I did not do it, wife says she did not do it. I thought she did but that was as stated before, a loosing battle.

Lots of deep scratches under the bumper, so I took it to her work one day and found that the curb there where she parks is lower than the front lip. Huh, I think maybe she didn't do it. I bent it back straight and it looked fine, unless you get down to look there specifically.

So I am washing the car again a month or so later and WTF it is bent again. I am crazy trying to figure out whats happening. Turns out that the friggin lawn care guys are mowing at her office and she sees them trying to mow grass where the cars are parked. In doing so they were jamming the mower under the fronts of the cars to get all the grass.

In the end she went out and handed the guys *** to him and to this day they make sure the area where the cars are parked is mowed first thing and not when cars are there.

So I say just relax, enjoy the car and pick the battles. Wife and I had arguments about the car but in when the chips fall, she is more important than any car. And, turns out she is a better driver than I gave her credit.

Thanks for reading

jimmythegreek

get a roll of vinyl wrap and trim the bottom to make a skin over the lower lip. I did mine the week I got it and the one little scratch it had didnt go thru the wrap, I just redid it last weekend. they also sell little universal strips on ebay that are like lips, you could mount one below the lip so "someone" parking ur car hears/feels it scrape and stops, before the real lip is scratched. They are 40 bucks on ebay, my buddy did it for his E63 so his wife doesnt kill the lip when she attempts to drive it.. LOL