conti_boy

Hi everyone, I am a newby but have a serious problem with the paintwork on my car. See the pics attached.

Started noticing bubbles in the clearcoat on the rear fender/skirt and also particularly on the front lower fender area.

As the car is not 2 years old yet I took it into to my MB workshop for their opinion. They took lots of photos and sent them in to MB.

They agreed that the rear would be repainted under warranty but reckoned the front was caused by stone chipping.

Despite having an independant assessor look at the car and stating that it was caused by poor adhesion and not stone chips and that the problem at the rear is identical to the front MB still declined to repaint the front under warranty and have in their words closed the case.

They would not send and engineer/paint expert to look at the car so I took it to the MB authorized sprayshop used by my local MB agent.

Verbally they agreed that it was indeed poor adhesion and wondered whether the car had been damaged/repaired before I got it. (They would not put it in writing through fear of loss of work from MB!)

I explained that the car was delivered by trailor to my home with 2 miles on the clock. They could find no signs of a previous repair.

To cut a long story short I am now about to take legal action against MB.

I will let you know how I get on. (reckon it will take a good few months to resolve though)

many thanks for reading this far.

Boris0126

Hey man good luck and you should take legal action especially against a big company like this, trust me you will win your case!

conti_boy

Hi, thanks for that.

I have been told that MB usually settle the day before it goes to court. It doesn't say much for there customer service or goodwill!

Boris0126

Seriously so just go for it cause they don't want to have a bad reputation so they will settle with you outside court

Derspeed

Man, that is terrible. I have had cars with rock chips years without them resulting in peeling clearcoat. That is a BS excuse. I can't believe they would think that anyone is naive enough to belive that!

IGB

I am not a paint expert by any stretch but there is absolutely no way that a rock chip would cause it to peel like that...

Good luck, keep us updated.

exdes

wow wtf
good luck

jcash60

ouch! sorry for your bad luck. That is no rock chip problem. The interesting part is it`s in 2 different parts of the car. I do not believe Mercedes paints those exact parts at the same time. So
becomes a bigger mystery.

There is a posssibility the car was damaged in transit and repaired
before it was delivered or it was repaired by the dealer.

In any event you bought a new car and the paint is screwed up, I would sue their a$$ off. No time to screw around get a attorney

absolutleo

i really wish MB customer service wasn't this bad.
i have also had many very bad experiences with their customer service.
i really love the cars... but because of the bad customer service, i might be steered away from the brand in the future

i definitely think the paint should be taken care of under warranty... whether by MB or by whomever it was bought from. If it was bought used, it does appear that there is a very good possibility that the clearcoat was resprayed.

bulletspec

I have the very same color .... Mars Red in my '08 C350... And i have the same problem ... it's in the lower rear bumper, close to the wheel well of the driver's side .... although a SA looked @ it and told me that in the next service the car can stay and the problem would be corrected because it's under warranty..

In the front, there's no peeling... but i was told by a friend that a red car needs constant maintenance as far as Wax, sealant and w/e ... because the paint can fade easily... and i haven't had that problem in the rest of the car .... SO FAR... but i would be pretty dissapointed if it were to happen again...

Keep us posted and good luck.... i will take pictures as soon as I can

Sportstick

I would simply write a letter to MB, describe the history, your request for a full car repaint and not money, and in the alternative, what address they use for the service of process and subpoenas. You will want to subpoena their records on any repairs made to the vehicle prior to delivery. Those questions alone may expedite the consumer relations process.

In addition, I would try to get an outside expert paint opinion in writing, notarized if possible and if your witness is not willing to appear. Your goal is small claims court, where the parties self-represent and attorneys are not permitted, if that system is similar in your country. Your goal would be the cost of your having it repainted elsewhere.

Carsy

Must have been painted in the factory on a Monday. Good luck, it is worth fighting for .

Its a big pity that you have to .

Keep us informed.

C300Sport

I am amazed that MB is not taking responsibility for this. There is no way that anyone with any knowledge whatsoever would say the problem is from stone chips. If you do have to go through with litigation, I think the person that "closed the case" on your car is going to have a bad day.
Good luck on this and let us know how it turns out.

slammer111

^ The bumpers are painted elsewhere, then added to the car on the assembly line. Only the metal parts (ie body) are painted together.

Looks like a bad batch of paint. Good luck.

RLE

All colors are clearcoated with the same paint and the base color is irrelevant.

We have heard for a long time now how bad a company Mercedes UK is. This is reminiscent of the diesel injector stonewalling.

Keep after them and don't accept ANYTHING a service writer says because they have no more authority than a coffee shop barista.

envyxc350

Same thing is happening on my passenger side fender, ill have to see what they say about it. ugh not looking forward to it.

conti_boy

Hi to all of you who replied to my woes. It is gratifying to know there are many of you interested in my paint problem.

Just had the quote in the post for repainting the front and rear fenders. Interestingly the paintshop said they could not put in writing that it is poor adhesion due to the volume of work they get from MB. However the quote did state that:-

"For some reason the lacquer coat is peeling from the colour coat on both bumpers and the way it appears, I would suggest we would need to remove the complete top surface to make good the adhesion between layers."

They also said that although this is the first C Class (W204) they have seen with this problem there have been many E Class models (not latest model) that have had the same problem.

Anyhow they want approx $1400 to do the work (ouch!)

I will use their letter along with the independant assessors report when it gets to court.

I will keep you posted

conti_boy

Well, 2 days after Mercedes received the papers from the Small Claims Court they agreed to do the paintwork under warranty and paid my costs.

Shame they aren't interested in customer goodwill!!

Sportstick

Good work on getting this one resolved.

How shortsighted of MBUK to have probably lost a customer over a paint repair.

eminnet

I've never seen such a bad paint work in my life not even on poorest, oldest, cheapest car till now. This is one BIG shame for Benz.
About ten years ago I painted myself front and back bumpers using a BRUSH on my now 23 years old Audi 80 and the paint is still there today.

olemissrbl5

I am having the same problem with mine. I bought it brand new (had 8 miles on it) in April 2008. The paint is chipped off all over the hood, the front of the car, and on the top near the sunroof. It was a beautiful black car when I got it. I am extremely disappointed in such a poor paint job from Mercedes! The best or nothing? They need to rephrase that.