49coupe

I know rust is a problem on early c-classes, but I had no idea how bad it could get. My my 2003 C320 wagon is well looked after with 78K. After rust started appearing above the license plate insert, I pulled the plastic piece and was astounded by the amount of rust. These are the pictures of the rust. I had the areas silica blasted to see how bad the damage was. It is worse than I thought. Before I even took the panel off, I went by the MB Weston collision centre and they recommended replacement of the entire trunk because its rusting from the inside out. The tech indicated this was a very common issue on these wagons. Most 2002-2003 wagons rust in this area due to a poor design and even worse quality control. They recommended I look for a used one from a scrap yard!

I tried contacting MB Canada and they are not interested in ANY assistance with fixing this problem since the MB rust perforation warranty is 4 years.

I'm bringing the car by a body shop I know, but I may end up actually looking for a better one from a 2004-05 wagon. The challenge is that wagons are relatively rare and finding a trunk lid is more of a challenge.

phister

worst case scenario is you'll have sand it down to bare metal and weld new sheet metal or bondo it. But rust always sucks.

Carsy

It does not look a major problem to me unless you are a fastidious owner. The car should last at least another 10 years or until the mechanicals are worn out.

I would sand bacvk lightly ,soak the rusted area ( inside & out )in a phosphate rust kill solution , seal with a can of spray paint then do a little body filler work & finally a colour matched spray paint.

Bobs your Uncle !!

tommy

I'm not surprised. My 02 coupe is currently being repaired and should be done tomorrow - new front fenders, both sides, flat panel in front of driver's side rear wheel (had the other side done 2 months ago), and passenger's door. Looking at about $2.5k in repairs on it.

My guy said that MB wasn't able to add a certain additive in early W203s that it was able to add back in later in the gen, which is the source of the nasty rust problems.

I agree with you - get it taken care of sooner rather than later, unless you plan to just ride it out.

In my case, the rust is also attacking the structrual arms underneath the engine, so I'm probably living on borrowed time.

Good luck with the repair. Just be aware that it'll probably come back in a couple of years, no matter what you do.

fookoo303

I feel your pain. I've rust on the bottom of all four of my doors. I repaired two of them by sanding to bare metal and applying anti rust agent and repainted, but still have two more doors to go.

amanonfire

Keep complaining at the dealer, see if you can talk to someone higher on the food chain. MB repaired the rust on my coupe far outside of warranty cause I complained as high up as I could.

49coupe

"Good luck with the repair. Just be aware that it'll probably come back in a couple of years, no matter what you do."

That's exactly what I'm worried about because there is a lot of rust on the inside, which is hard to get to. Rust is hard to cure on inside panels. Plan is to acid etch, cut out rust through in 3 areas and repaint the panel.

Just aggrevating since VW offers a 12 year preforation warranty and my 1996 C280, which I sold to a family friend with over 175K on the clock now has a couple of rust bubbles starting to form.

Boom vang

my 2004 has 2 minor surface rust spots also behind the licence plate insert and also looks like something is forming at the bottom (inside part) of the drivers door. I thought that 2004 were galvanized

Mercedes Benz: "Unlike any other" are they meaning rust, electrical faults, component failures, premature suspension problems?

03MBC32

I had rust and paint peeling on my 03 C32. MB Weston covered it under warranty a couple of years back. Car had under 70K KM at the time. GL with your search for a newer 320 wagon. I ended up getting a V70 instead.

amanonfire

I feel your pain. I bought my MB under the impression the previous generation was bulletproof, and this generation has turned out to be anything but.

C32Dan

I am restoring an 02 w203 C32 that is a real rust bucket, even my old 2000 toyata is in better shape, benz have very poor seam sealer, piece of **** carpet in fender well that make it a nest for moisture and rust and very poor rust treatment prevention

Boom vang

I think it was the association with Chrysler when they let quality slip and depletion of corporate funds as everything was in a cost cutting mode to pay for the acquisition

contact148

honestly MB canada wont do a thing my 03 c240 wagon is worse under there

Mb told me i was on my own and i *****ed up the chain

Im looking at just getting a tailgate from the southern us and have it painted my colour

its a stupid to have that rust causeing insert for the plate



I sanded mine down painted it and rust proof sprayed the hell out of the INSIDE the tailgate and underneath that plastic insert

C32Dan

Very same problem on my C32 when I removed the plastic plate holder there was rust everywhere, there is not even a seal around it so water flows in and stay there, and to top it off there not a singne seam that is sealed

amanonfire

From what I've learned it is that the W203 was mostly tested on a computer, very little real world testing. Thus why the W204 platform was extensively tested in the real world.

Jack_2001C240

I also haerd that the earlier W203 models like the one I own were mostly tested using computer simulations. I have been pretty lucky in that I don't have any serious issues so far other than paint peeling from the lower front doors which I touch up myself with Rustoleum from Home Depot then some black touch up paint from Duplicolor.
But Mercedes has been building cars for over 100 years. It is not like the
W203 is the first car they ever built. Even if they use computer simulations to design the W203 they should have enough knowledge about building cars to know which areas have problems.

amanonfire

They also were known to over use the bath used to galvanize the cars, especially for cars coming out of South America. So its hit or miss if you got a car that was dipped first into a fresh bath, or last into an overused bath.

Breeeze

I have the very same issue, rust above the license plate trim piece. How do you remove the trim to get there, I need some advice to pull this trim piece, also how to remove the inner liner of the wagon trunk door.
Thanks for help.

Moviela

Write Dr. Z and ask how come Europe has a 30 year rust warranty and Canada is only four years?