Busta Riles

OP, I'd like to see your undercarriage.

Where do you live? Do you get a lot of snow & does your city use salt on the roads for traction?

Let's see a pic of the whole car.

HRPOWER

Thank you Gentlemen - No I don't know the parts of a car. I can vaguely make out my own *****.

So far the smug dealer actually almost used the actual phrase "told you so" informing me the Mercedes do not deem those pictures worthy of replacement. I was like "you did f*&Ying send them right?"

"Ah yes, well sir I did kind of tell you sir, that sir that was sir going to be the sir issue sir, yes sir not covered sir, rust or no rust sir, they wont have it, that is what I told you sir, as I suspected sir, as I was saying, that sir was what I was trying to tell you sir"

Here is my draught subsequent note to the local ( not USA ) head office...Wait! USA? **** am I on the wrong forum? Oh NOooo...
----

Firstly I wanted to thank you again for your handling of my original call with you last week. Your compassion and empathy made a significant impact into my perception of Mercedes Benz and their attention to the discomfort of their customers.

I have as per your instruction visited XXXX Mercedes Benz for an inspection of the vehicle. They informed today me that you have seen images of the corroded part and have not deemed them eligible for repair or replacement.

Additionally I contacted the dealer, XXXXX, whom my contract is with, and spoke with the Sales Manager there. During the call he indicated that my efforts to meet a satisfactory redress would not be successful, but did offer to speak to his superior about this concern. Two statements he made during the call were "You are not the first and will not be the last" and "Mercedes are a very wealthy company and would fight cases such as these". These two statements upon reflection were interpreted to infer that this corrosion or concern may be something encountered previously.

Both xxxx and xxxx have used the terminology "cosmetic" and both explained the brake callipers are not included as being appropriate for inclusion. With that in mind and notwithstanding those rights granted to me under the sales of goods act 1979 section 2b "durability, appearance and finish". I wanted to ask the following:

(I) Why is corrosion to a clearly intended visible accessory part not considered appropriate for inclusion?
(II) What is the expected manufacturer corrosion lifespan of Mercedes Benz bolts, nuts and metals under normal conditions?
(II) If I purchase a new set of callipers what is the expected life span cosmetically of those and would these be deemed as exempt from the clauses within the Sales of Goods act?
(IV) Would these parts be eligible for "smart repair" at local centre?
(V) If this is regarded as not a peculiar case are all E Class 350 models from 2009 suseptable to this level of corrosion in the same areas?
(VI) Do you regard my level of corrosion to be fair?

I accept that wheel parts are exposed to the elements, and are potentially under more stress than other parts of a vehicle, however you design these parts with visibility AND durability in mind hence the presence of the logo.

I just want my Mercedes to look good, surely that is in everyone's interest. This particular part carries your logo, and is not the best advertisement for your product repute, it seems at this stage I am the only one who cares.

I enclose an image for your further research and I look forward again to your guidance in this matter.



PS _ Thanks for responding I really have been down about this. We drive these cars to look good end off.
PPS_ No snow here, car is garaged, no desert, no sea where I live no salt. Have it cleaned by Polish people every week. Get some Polish people in your life, there's like a hundred of them on the car in seconds. Showroom finish, all new cloths, super meticulous.

"Allo mate again, same sir dis time, tis good ya? £10 in an out, we make special job for you regular customer"

RNBRAD

I understand your frustration but..... I would not call this a warranty issue. All someone has to do is ride the brakes one good time and the paint is gone with rust to follow. I can't believe you would take this to the dealer to fix. Only thing I'm assuming is you can't turn a wrench and brush a little paint on. I could fix that in literally about 10 mins, and that's taking wheel off and removing the rust and painting. Simple fix.

HRPOWER

Fair enough.

Ill pay you to fix it.

Besides I looked at more than 50 mercs so far none the same - its a moral issue a quality one.

nice wheels what are those

RNBRAD

Thanks. 36o Forged.

Now go buy you some high heat rust-oleum and a small 3/4'' brush. Just reach in there brush over the rust. If you use the left foot for the brake, your probably riding it causing the problem.

Quadcammer

mountain out of a mole hill.

sand, paint, done. Should take less than an hour.

jrobgood71

Go get some Naval Jelly (caution: not to be confused with Navel, that's the thing north of your *****) and smear it all over the rusty area. Let it sit for a few minutes or follow the directions on the bottle.

Rinse it off thoroughly, but don't splatter any of it outside the wheel well area. It's a mild acid and would etch your body paint. This would upset your Polish friends.

Dry it completely with a towel. Clean wet iron rusts in about 30 minutes when there's no protective layer of corrosion on the surface.

Brush on some high temperature rustoleum or BBQ grill paint like the other poster mentioned.

Learn and understand that something defeated the finish of a high temperature, high abuse part on your car, and this is perfectly normal. It could be as simple as someone using too much wheel cleaner spray and forgetting to rinse it off well enough - this attacks finishes and could have etched the caliper enough to kick off the rust demon.

Learn and understand that the service advisor is a moron for not spending ten minutes doing the above and then educating you. He had a perfect opportunity to do something to retain your business, because despite the fact that they could not claim this particular issue for reimbursement from the factory, there are plenty of other things that you'll need over time that they get reimbursed for. Service revenue is all that keeps dealers alive these days.

HRPOWER

Amazing post @robgood. Now I feel like a moany old fart - I had no idea that a. this was the sort of thing I could fix, or b. if it was something that is not a big deal. But Ive only had it 20 minutes.

Being honest - never seen this on 7 odd BMWs and 3 Mercedes, either that or the type of wheels I had or calipers were hidden. I did have a CLK AMG Deisel coupe, that had five spoke wheels and I don't recall being embarrassed to park it.

Yes I have made a mountain of a molehill, you are right and now I feel a total idiot and wished I hadn't sent the book at MB over it. Lets hope they reply politely and make similar suggestions rather than be as smug as the twit I spoke to the other day at ANOTHER dealer who during the call facetiously asked me if I was after a "refund for my whole car".

So - I have asked for options from MB - including upgrades that might be suitable.

Re mountain - Yes I have a slight affliction to perfection, which is right or wrong and ignorantly if I see a rusty bold next to a wheel anywhere I am thinking... rust = corrossion - corrossion means not good - not good means - not good quality - not good quality might sheer off in an emergency stop. I don't know. Besides it looks **** and hardly works with my pimp image, what if a chick wont get in the car due to it looking more rusty than her dad's vintage MG.

Anyway I will hire a wheel take offing device. And spend a weekend painting. Or hopefully they might offer me something alternative, upgrade, discount, replacement, smart repair.

May I just smugly for the purposes of education in the UK quote from the Sale of Goods act 1979 :


(2B) For the purposes of this Act, the quality of goods includes their state and condition and the following (among others) are in appropriate cases aspects of the quality of goods—

(a) fitness for all the purposes for which goods of the kind in question are commonly supplied,
(b) appearance and finish ( thats right sir cosmetic sir, cosmetic sir )
(c) freedom from minor defects, ( er? )
(d) safety, and
(e) durability. ( er? )

Now the argument however petty would be up to a judge - or up to MB to decide if the word RUST anywhere on a MB is considered a defect, or something they ought to add to the brochure as an accessory.

Anyway really happy for the encouragement, non flaming, and helpful empathetic posts.

I am on the case...

Reporting back for duty captain in due course.

jrobgood71

Looking more closely at the photos you posted, it really looks like something caustic was splashed onto your calipers, based on how the corrosion is somewhat directionally patterned across the caliper and the caliber bolt. I really think something unusual happened there. Does anyone else see that?

You should take some more pictures and post them here once you have one of the wheels off.*


* Not to sound like a jerk, but since you refer to a jack and lug wrench as a "wheel take offing device", I must state for the record that neither I nor any other respondent in this thread are compelling you to perform any act of vehicle maintenance; inspection; wheel and tire loosening, removal, attachment or fastening; crawling under your car, or; generally doing anything that you're not 100% comfortable doing yourself and following the safety procedures to the letter. You assume full personal responsibility for anything and everything.

HRPOWER

Well don't I feel like a twerp!

MB HQ rang me to say NO - Brakes etc and their calipers are not covered under-warranty.

It was indicated that something may have been splashed on them during cleaning. To be fair I cannot prove this is NOT the case and so I loose, like a looser losing and feel a total dick.

I also did not ask them to confirm the above questions in writing as that would be like taking on an argument for the sake of it. I think some spiritual bloke once said..."choose battles wisely" etc.

For the sake of £200 odd repair what is the point. If they paint calipers badly, have cheap metals, that is one thing. I am a bit stuck.

Finally I went to the Polish cleaners, who explained he has seen all sorts of cars with the same issue and that it is commonplace to see this on new quality cars. He also said if it were his acids or whatever they use then all four would be displaying the rust. He indicated that it would not be very good business to use costic items on cars and he cleans up to 300 cars a week. Seemed to be quite nice.

If I had done that in the first place, then spoke to you... I could have saved myself a F*&* load of panic.

Thanks for your support.