bmms8

o, mb, i thought it was you two, maybe not, i just dont know why he came at you like that for no reason.

Quattroleap

I think at this point anyone who owns an E-Class is a target.

bmms8

yea your right. i would show him the car in real life :p

Quattroleap

I dont think he'll take me up on my offer. It sounds like he just wanted to vent his frustration. Notice he does not have a
email to respond to?

bmms8

click on his profile button, and then mbw can send him an e-mail, or pm hm

etenn

You don't need to email him...just send him a private message on MBworld. Ask if you don't know how to do it.

ogkarma

Any MB car that gets damaged after leaving the factory is repaired
at the destination port. MB should definitely have it repaired with no cost to the customer.

northbenz

I suspect the issue here is not repair but replacement. It sounded like Merecedes has already agreed to repaint (i.e. repair) the door in question. Is the buyer though entitled to a replacement instead? My guess is that if a vehicle is damaged and repaired that information is shared with the customer at time of delivery and he has a choice of not accepting the car or working out a satisfactory discount. The problem here though was that this turned out to be a latent defect and the buyer had already accepted the car. If the buyer can prove that the dealer/VPC or factory knew about the problem and hid it from him then issues of fraud arise with the prospect of awardable punitive damages. It seems BMW had a million dollar punitive award against them for defective paint just a few years ago although as I recall the appeals court reduced it to something closer to $100,000 plus or minus. It is a classic leading punitive damage case and could probably be pulled up on Westlaw, if not google.

STKLAW

I think the BMW case is out of Mississippi and actually went to the Supreme Court on the issue of punitive damages.

My suggestion. Go to a GOOD body shop and have them look at the car and give you an estimate to fix. While doing this ask them to put in the estimate what is wrong with the door. (I am assuming that they will say that it has been repainted and done poorly). Take that document to your meeting with the rep and ask if Mercedes is in the habit of repainting cars without disclosing this fact.

If you don't get a satisfactory response (there would be none for me other than replacing the car--I don't think you can EVER get the same finish on a car as factory paint (especially metalic) then I would send a letter to the dealer certified mail, return receipt requested enclosing a copy of the best photo of the problem that you have along with the body shop report and demand that they replace your car or tell you IN WRITING why not and what they intend to do about it.

With all this in hand it should make it easier to get an attorney to look at the case for you since you have done the groundwork.

Just my 2 cents.

Dr Chill

I just find it so hard to believe that this obvious mismatch was not easily seen when the car was delivered. I think the detailer or service tech who prepped the car at the dealer should have stepped in and never let this car change hands until the paint was correctly matched.

MB-JIM

I picked up an E Class car at the factory in Sindelfingen in 1997 that had a serious paint problem on the hood. There were two about 4 inch diameter
light spots on the hood of my brilliant silver car. I didn't notice them until I
drove the car outside into the sun. Then it was they were very noticeable. I complained and they kept the car overnignt and either re-painted the hood or replaced it. I had no complaints with the paint match but would have been very
unhappy if I hadn't noticed it and had to try and get it repainted at the dealer.
Bad paint jobs can definitely come out of the factory.
On one other occassion, I picked up a 95 E Wagon which was fine but when the
car arrived I found papers in the door pocket listing several trim pieces that had
been ordered for my car. It had probably been damaged in shipping. My dealer
didn't have any information on what had happened.

Rock72

when my car was delivered, it had a small chip in the rear bumper. it was very noticable and the chip went through the clearcoat down to the bumper.

i noticed it within 2 seconds of looking at the car.

the dealer of course agreed to fix it. it was written up on the due bill (along with COMAND) and i stopped by the dealer a week or so later and got a loaner while they got it repainted.

i was told that they were able to sand it down and repaint just that area (not the entire bumper). i was skeptical that it would be a good job but i spent a lot of time looking at that bumper after getting the car back and i can't tell.

i'm not trying to say that a small chip on the rear bumper == mismatched paint on an entire door...but i would let them repaint it and see how it comes out.

Rock.