brt3

I have a serious issue with my new 2011 C63. What I thought was easily removed hard-water spotting turns out to be very serious pitting in the paint of the roof and hood, likely from bird deposits. My detailer is incredibly skilled (ex-Blackhawk Collection) and can't fix it without compromising the clear coat.

There is also water spotting that is so bad as to warrant replacement of certain parts. It's taken him hours to fix the car's glass, and despite his best efforts the spotting on the plastic cover at the base of the driver's side W/S wiper will have to be replaced.

I've spoken with the dealer but they are slow to respond. They are also 200+ miles away; I bought from them because they had the car I wanted in stock.

I've tried contacting MBUSA but they won't put me in direct contact with the Northern CA factory rep, as they say I need to work with the dealer first.

I would genuinely appreciate any help (or suggestions) that anyone might offer. This is a gorgeous car, but the paint damage is severe and I am incredibly frustrated and disappointed to find this in a brand-new (20 miles at delivery) car...

NickZag

Your profile says your in SF and the dealer is over 200 miles away? I know of several in the bay area. Did you buy it from a dealership with the spots on it already? Your problem should be able to be handled at any MB dealership. You might have a case saying your paint is deffective and should be covered. I'd start with any local dealership and go from there. Hopefully they won't say it's due a chemical on the road, acid rain, or something stupid like that and get out of it.

jrcart

Any MB dealer can service your car and perform warranty work on it. There are people at the AMG Private Lounge that get get you names higher up the food chain at MBUSA.

black-clk500

wow sorry to hear about this--try contacting via PM the moderators at the AMG Private Lounge(jcart beat me to the punch)--my car had a scratched caliper (P31) upon delivery and I looked into just touch up paint, but it wasn't available for the part (go figure) and my dealer pretty much threw in the towel.
I contacted the mods at the PL and within a week or so my dealer called and said MBUSA is covering the cost of total caliper replacement for no charge and they ordered the part--guessing about $1000+ with labor and material.
All because of the PL guys calling whomever!

Give the PL a shot and if all else fails, lawyer up and have the lawyer do the leg work--I'm no expert with this stuff, but my gut tells me you're not going to like the outcome--but try it and see if they will "lemon" the car or something--again I think it's unlikely.

I'm sure your detailer is as good as you say, but a careful wet sand, compound, polish should do the trick and yes it will thin out the clear coat, but I'm confident it can be removed successfully--yes it totally sucks that this brand new car will be wet sanded and repaired, but I'm sure in the right hands no one will ever know the difference. I'd defintely make the dealership or MBUSA pay for work and make sure your guy is fully insured in case he sneezes during the wetsanding

I have a feeling a full detail is all MBUSA will absorb, taking the car back or something else like trading it in for a new one is wishful thinking, but with the proper lawyer and pressure anything is possible--just look at OJ

GL--keep us posted

brt3

Thanks for the feedback; I've already posted to the PL and will directly message the mods. Good idea...

As far as my detailer, this guy worked for Ken Behring at The Blackhawk Collection. I've used some great detailers, and even (years back) had a guy who'd worked at Junior's House of Kolor in SoCal; he could take a Mercedes and turn the factory orange peel into a work of art via color sanding. My current detailer is the best I've ever seen, and even he can't safely remove this damage. He has a $1K paint thickness meter and the paint is too thin to work the area any further. This guy specializes in high-end cars -- Lambos, Ferraris, Porsches and the like -- and has the skills.

I've had a lot of high-end cars and have never seen anything like this. I am 100% sure this is a dealer issue -- this is pretty clearly something that happened in the dealer's outdoor storage lot. The water-spotting was clearly from a lawn sprinkler using recycled water, which I'm betting is adjacent to the dealer lot.

The only way to fix the paint issues is to wetsand and reshoot these areas with a new clearcoat...

alqamzi

I had the same issue with my 2011 gt500 shelby i bought 2months ago. I ended up trading it for a different one i couldn't take it anymore it was every where and the best detailers in my area told me its hard to fix it without ruining the paint. and it was endless battle with FORD. I hope your case will be better then mine.

GHAZAN

pics?

brt3

Car is still at detailer's shop; he's taken a lot of photos to document this and I'll post some here tomorrow...

black-clk500

hi brt3--sounds like you have a good case documented by a true professional and his opinion--I think if the guys at the PL can't help lawyer up and shoot some letters from your attorney to the dealership and MBUSA, this may light a fire under them. Sorry to hear it's so bad, what a total pain in the a$$!

not to be a d!ck, but didn't you notice this upon delivery?
seems like this will be their defense if they have one to stand on.
Push with the lawyer and look for a replacement car so you can have an option for them to swap you out of the car--my .02

keep us posted--gl

brt3

Thanks, at least, for phrasing this tactfully...

I looked the car over very carefully and asked the dealer to only wash it and not let their "detailers" touch the car. Everything on the car looked easy to deal with, and the salesperson's response to everything on the car was, "That will polish out". The fact that my detailer's paint thickness meter gives very low readings on the affected area indicates that the dealer has already tried, at some point, to polish these defects out.

I admit it is hard not to feel stupid about this, but the etching on the paint is pretty unusual. I've never seen this on a new car; usually you see this on a car that's been left out in the weather for months with no protection.

I will try to post photos to illustrate the problem. In the meantime, here's my detailer's advice/warning to everyone else -- do not inspect your car out in the sun! With a metallic paint that's on the lighter side, the reflection from the paint actually makes this defect harder to see. Indoor viewing, with fluorescent or halogen lighting, makes this sort of issue easier to see. I think Griot's even sells a light that's designed for this purpose (they call it the "swirl finder tech light").

Environmental damage has become a huge issue, it appears. Audi requests that dealers leave the shipping film on the car until it is prepped for delivery, and Aston-Martin is very aggressive in this regard as well. I believe part of the reason for this may be the newer environmentally-friendly paints; at the very least a current M-B car has much thinner paint than on cars of old. I had a 420SEL that was very badly scratched (amazing story for another thread), and couldn't believe how careful color-sanding made that car look better than new, as it eliminated the standard-from-the-factory-at-no-extra-cost orange peel...

black-clk500

my thoughts exactly on the thin clear coat measurement--sounds like the dealer (or possibly the VPC) detailers went to town on the car before you got it.
It's very possible that this car got dirty on the way over here on the boat or train ride to the boat and the VPC might have tried their handy work on it.

I've been a car nut since the day I had my first car and now I have the knowledge and resources to do all of my own detailing and paint correction--not a pro by any stretch, but having owned a couple 040 black benz and other black vehicles I can say for sure that paints can look good to the naked eye until you hit them with the halogens--I noticed all kinds of light swirls and abrassions on my car after delivery, but most all of it buffed out of the finish.
Have you told the dealer what you want as resitution?
You may have a lot of trouble finding another blue one with p31.
I think it's time to sick the "fanged creature" on them--unfortunately, today you have to sue everybody (or at least threaten) to get anything difficult done--my .02

If MB and AMG care one bit about their brand loyalty, they'll do the right thing by you.
I hope it all works out for you!

black-clk500

my pleasure

i_am_amused

I'm wondering why you parked your vehicle adjacent to a bird sanctuary that is irrigated with "recycled water", didn't care enough for the vehicle to wash it promptly when it became soiled, and, after becoming aware of the potential for future soiling, neglected to terminate your practice of parking there *and* protect your vehicle with the appropriate car car products.






ok, now that you are ready for the MBUSA response, good luck...

brt3

Just visited the M-B dealer down the street from my detailer. He confirmed that the damage was pre-existing from the selling dealer and is sending MBUSA an estimate. He believes the only way to fix the car is to repaint the hood and roof, which I'm guessing will run at least $5K.

IMHO this is not acceptable, given that the car is brand-new -- 20 miles at delivery and driven straight to the detailer. Mercedes dealers won't CPO a car that has a Carfax history, which a repaint will generate. I have notified MBUSA that I don't consider a repaint acceptable on a brand new car.

Furthermore, both my detailer and the body shop foreman have no doubt that either the port or the dealer worked extensively to fix these areas, and must have been aware of the problem. The detailer uses a very accurate paint thickness meter that costs $1K. The affected areas had paint that was close to half the thickness of the paint on the rest of the car.

More to follow...

black-clk500

so the damage occured before or in transit to the dealer getting the car?
damn VPC guys probably went to town on the car--total hacks

Sounds like MBUSA's problem--hopefully they'll take the car back and get you a new one w/o any out of pocket on your end--then they can just unload that car on some unsuspecting customer or better yet maybe they could send it to the AMG Academy for fools like me to beat the snot out of--see how easy that was guys!
man you can tell I'm a "fixer" everyday for work--hahaha

gl--keep us updated on the progress

brt3

I think it's impossible to tell whether the damage occurred at VPC or the dealership. I truly wish MBUSA were liable, but my guess is the dealer will be held responsible. The car was delivered to them and they had every opportunity to notify MBUSA of any damage. I was only trying to say that someone has been trying to fix these areas, either VPC or the dealer, so someone in the chain was aware of the problem, yet chose to ignore it.

The dealer who inspected the car showed me the VPC record on the car. He wouldn't let me have a copy, but he showed me that this was completely clear without any notations of damage or repair.

Perhaps they should give me a new car, take this one back, get it fixed properly, and have an AMG PL contest where the winner gets to drive a C63 free for a year. Wishful thinking? We shall see, we shall see.

I have to say that this is where the rubber meets the road. I've owned eight Mercedes-Benz cars over the past 18 years. If they don't do the right thing, there are a lot of other good cars out there. Mind you, I like AMG -- but I think I could learn to live with a Porsche...

USCGTO

Bringing this back from dead since I am trying to buy this particular car from a dealer. Need to know about the paint issues. I know you're a busy guy but please let me know, if possible with pics, as regards the damage / visibility / fix.

Roswell

Seems very common now. My niece bought a brand new TSX A-spec & we noticed at delivery that the car was full of yellow spot everywhere (looks like trees sap).

They attempted to remove them, but some area was still showing. They wanted to repaint some panels, we refused & asked for a new car.

black-clk500

Not sure what was done to his car. I know brt3 spends most of his time on the PL now, but I'd suggest sending him a PM here. He, brt3, seems like a really straight up guy, so I'm sure he will tell you whatever he can about the car. GL

DuaneC63

Although I hope you get a roll back to the dealer on the car, knowing MBZUSA I doubt that will happen. Your observation that the respray on a Carfax is going to put a ding in resale value is correct, however there is the diminution of value concept. Perhaps they can make suitable repairs and discount the purchase price of the car to reflect its lower resale value.