superangrypenguin

Not to beat on a dead horse, but since I've been in car researching mode and such, one thing just dawned on me. I had my car up in the air today as I was working on a bunch of sh**, and I was reminded....

Holy moly. My 204 is coming up to its 7th winter here, and we use a LOT of salt in the winter. Plus, I keep my car in the garage and that's not a good idea as you all know from a corrosion standpoint. I was so shocked to be reminded today (since who really thinks about this) that there is 0 rust on any visible part of the car, and close to 0 underneath the car as well (save for some very light rust on the exhaust components).

All this to say, my 204 has held up very very well to rust, and I'm very impressed. Every Lexus model known to man has had more corrosion, it seems, than MB. Anyways, just curious - how are your 204s holding up? Still pretty much rust free?

MB Marko

I'm in the same boat rust free! I do wash my car once a week in the winters just to keep it going longer, its more so just to get the salt off of it.

tekfoc

Very well also considering I live right by the water.
New York City uses a **** load of salt also in the winter.
Very impressed.

Adi-Benz

I live about 100 feet from the lake.
Wisconsin winters, lots of snow, lots of salt.
Daily commute about 50 miles.
Car sits outside on driveway.

Starts can get rough but usually turns on first try. Electronics are slow (eg. Speedo) when it's negative outside while cold.

No rust. Maybe some microscopic orange specks here and there but nothing big nor noticeable, nor risky.

MB Marko

You sure those orange specks aren't brake dust? I had them and bought a product that removes all that crap. I thought it was rust at first hahaha

Adi-Benz

No idea. If I scratch at it with my finger I think it comes off. I haven't had an aggressive sponge so while I can clean, I cant really scrub. And of course I don't want to damage the clear coat. But your face has to be right up to it to tell.

Brake dust I don't have much because my rotors are coated and pads are very low dust. Although when it rains afterwords there is the bit of oxidization on the rotors (as usual) so that could be it, since my car sits outside.

Doa

no rust here so far after 8 and a half years

Alfadude

Same here, no sign of rust anywhere. I have an unlimited plan with a local car wash and usually go at least twice a week in winter after it snows.

I biught this product as a caly substitute and it actually works pretty well. I wouldn't say it it an absolute subtitute, but gets a lot of stuff off with a fraction of the work and can highly recommend it: https://www.griotsgarage.com/product...SABEgL7yfD_BwE

A while back I was realy needed my front pads replaced and started to get some of those tiny rust spots on the car. The product avove got them off quite easily.

superangrypenguin

Yeah typically it is brake dust that has oxidized/rusted. It should come off easily, especially with a clay bar.

tekfoc

Carpro iron x is your friend

Moto_Guzzi

No rust observed.

Adi-Benz

That's interesting, I might have to pick one up. Thanks for the recommendation.

Now if only it was that easy to make my bumper chips dissapear haha.

alecmascot

I have read several reports of the rear sub-frame rusting out :

Rear Subframe failure

superangrypenguin

To be fair that's almost a ten year old car ..

Anyways where exactly is this part so I can check?

alecmascot

But they don't rust out overnight......
And you expect your Premium MB to have a major component failure, because of corrosion, in only 10 years ?

superangrypenguin

No, I certainly don't expect to have a major component failure, and I'm going to take what you have posted at face value instead of dismissing your suggestion that the W204s may have an issue of subframe failure because of only one thread (unlike a lot of internet trolls - giving the benefit of the doubt is important to me). In your research, were these all pre FL 204s? I'm just asking because I have no idea if MB did something to address these. Just like the brake line corrosion issues, I don't think I've seen any post FL with that issue.

That said, pre/post FL aside, the main difference between the two models is time. The oldest post FL model is a 2012 model (Eg mine, as an example), and that's only coming up to its 7 winter. Maybe this really is incentive to ditch my car by year 8

I also, however, will add that while MB are nice cars, the "premiumness" of them has diminished significantly over the years. It wasn't until the W222 S class where I got in one and went..."well, that looks cheap", only to then be told I have to buy the Exclusive package for a real leather dashboard. All this to say is that MB is focused on mainstreaming the brand and has aggressively done so, so while I love my W204, I do know a lot of what I'm touching isn't real leather, so I shouldn't be so shocked if MB has cheaped out elsewhere too.

superangrypenguin

Since I"m now awake and am doing some research, is this what we're referring to?

https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...bushings-2.jpg

alecmascot

No. There are photos in this thread.
https://forums.mbclub.co.uk/threads/...raking.241015/

superangrypenguin

Thanks. I don't think I would miss something like that when I looked under there but will check again.

I'm dying to know if these cars have ever had accidents, but then again subframe damage would require a pretty significant car accident to have caused it.

superangrypenguin

Here are some pics of mine! No rust to be reported.

MBWUSER_0450

Maybe doing some rust proofing would be a good preventative measure on some common areas that rust on the body...

rocketman4321

... it's not bad: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...d-replace.html
Car was in NY before coming to N. Va ~ 2 years ago. Garaged here.
Also a dead parking brake, intermittent speaker, seat tore already, and now the driver's side airbag (which I think is the clock spring ***'y). Not the best, even by German (un)reliabiltiy standards.

Our former W163 (~15 years, garaged) had very little rust.

superangrypenguin

What year is your 204? Sorry on my phone and it doesn't tell me

rocketman4321

MIne's a 2013. So I'm a little frustrated at the "age" items (seat, exhaust) in just 5-6 years.

superangrypenguin

Wow. I am shocked. Yours is the first post FL car that I've seen/read on any forum that has had that issue. Sorry to hear, seriously! That's not acceptable, at all. Has it ever been in an accident?