I live in Bluffton, South Carolina has a certain location or Mercedes dealer I should be contacting please advise at your earliest convenience

 

Are we talking faded wood trim here? Trim should be covered under the factory warranty. Take it to the dealer for evaluation. CPO and ELW from MB do not cover trim. So after factory warranty expires you are on your own unless they give you some goodwill coverage for it.

 

Excuse the ignorance but what is CPO and ELW?

 

Google is your friend

Certified Pre Owned.....Extended Limited Warranty

Chris

 

Update.

NCAT Hearing this afternoon and Mercedes has insisted that they won't fix it.

I need to gather all information I can that I'll use as in this trial.

If anyone has any info I could use to win this case it would be greatly appreciated. PM me and I'll give you an email address to send to.

This is David vs Goliath defiantly..

 

I believe there is already a class action suit on file. I received a letter in the mail. Since it isn't safety related and you are referencing a used car (I think), I'm sure we're all SOL.

 

excuse my ignorance, what is NCAT?

 

Hi you think you can give me more info int his class action?

 

Hi NCAT is the court part of the Dept of Fair Trading.

 

FYI
MB changed wood suppliers.
The wood trim from 2010 - 2016 failed to have UV protection & sun burning was - & is - common. It’s pretty awful.

The EClass trim from 2010 - 2016 is affected.

FYI, there was a Technical Bulletin issued some 10 or so years ago, & if you were an original owner under the 4 year original warranty, MB would replace the 17 pieces of faded wood.
Subsequent owners are on their own!

On my 2012 E Wagon,
I replaced the faded front cabin pieces at a cost of $1300 PLUS installation at my MB Body Shop of $600.
there is a settlement / see the link to burlwalnut listed below.

Here’s a side note about this failure: my ‘91 300CE & 2001 EWagon had PERFECT wood trim.
I couldn’t stand the awful faded wood in the 2011 wagon & replaced it myself.

 

So much repeated misinformation and assumptions... The faded wood trim in my 2016 E-Class was replaced under warranty in 2019. Other people with facelift (2014-2016) cars have had the same complaints. So, this is a full-run, W212 model problem.

I have treated the new trim with wood waxes that include UV protection. So far no new fading.

And yes, the wood trim in my 2001 C320 is still pristine after 21 years.

 

Have not looked at it closely to determine feasibility but is there no way to take the trim out, sand off the clear coat and reapply with a good quality clearcoat with UV protectant and all that? Would assume could also re-stain the veneer as well unless its just too thin to work with. Not sure if this would be worth doing vs the $1000+ to replace it.

 

Not sure the veneer has enough thickness to start sanding into it to bring the color back. People have covered it with various material, but I have yet to see anyone attempt to refinish it.

 

Yes, this. I seem to recall someone posting that he tried to sand the veneer, but it was too thin. I searched, but couldn't find it.

I would hydro-dip the parts, as they do with rifle stocks.

 

Figured someone had tried it before. Bummer they didnt use a decent thickness. Ahh well.

 

even the 80s/90s Mercedes, the zebrano or whatever was paper thin veneer on ply.

 

Just bought my E550 yesterday and the trim pieces are faded. Not terribly so, but enough for me to look at every time I get in the car. Looks like I’m SOL on the settlement, so I will either live with it or buy the pieces myself. I saw a quote above of about $1500 for the whole kit. Does that sound about right?

 

You can also start your "Ebay project search" for the whole set (unlikely to be perfect for all pieces), or piece meal the available part prioritizing the most damaged ones.

Here is an example, 4 door panels with the trim pieces ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/26506610782...2#readMoreDesc)

You can be very selective, and likely get what bugs you the most first and go from there. I just came across the above looking for an ML trim piece.

 

I saw two full wood kits available on Ebay, one for about $1300 (which sounds about right for retail price) and another listing at $730. If the $730 set is new and legit, I'll definitely just do that rather than screwing around trying to match color variations or pleading with the dealer for any relief.

 

Do you know how many hits on google this subject turns out. Lame. Google then decipher thru google.

 

There has been a class action for Mercedes Trim issue in the USA. I would say they may cover it for you!

 

I bought a new trim kit off EBay and did the work myself. Took about 3-4 hours, wasn’t terribly involved.

 

I want to share with this community my experiences with the MB dealers here in Austin, TX. First off, I disclose that I have owned and operated an auto repair shop here in Austin and also in California. Just celebrated 44 years in business for myself and have been repairing any and all makes for 60 years. I am a Master Machinist in engines and have an MB certification (1978) and the love of my life is my 2013 E350 wagon. Bought the car used at 99k as a present for myself for my 70th birthday and the odo now shows 143k. I would say the car has had few issues and runs extremely well. The biggest problem I had was a front propellor shaft that broke (YES, BROKE) and replacing it turned into a nightmare due to a simple mistake on my part which was to ASSUME that MB sold me a perfectly balanced new shaft. My cost---$800 for the shaft. Otherwise have only had to replace the rear airbags, 45 minute job, and sparking plugs and filters and brakes.



I received a notice in March, 2022 from MB corporate that I was eligible to have my milky interior wood replaced. The instructions said that I had to go to the dealer and have them write up an estimate of the total cost, showing the amount I would owe and then submit the claim before September 19, 2022. That year we had only 1 MB dealer, owned by the Continental Group in north Austin. I know a number of folks there including the top service person who has been there for 40 years and was a close friend. So I took the letter to a service person and asked for an appointment. The fellow literally laughed at me. I complained heartily and told him get a second opinion. He did this and came back and said, "No deal. we don't believe in this settlement and have no obligation to agree to it." I then took the letter to my friend in the service dept. who read the letter and then told me that they would not honor it because MB will not settle and the whole lawsuit is a joke. Over the course of the next 6 weeks I tried 3 more times to get an estimate and was refused. Meanwhile I contacted the law firm handling the settlement and they were just plain rude and said that this was my problem and could not help. Needless to say, I missed the original filing date. I called the law firm and angrily explained again and asked for help the answer was that I was "SOL."

Moving forward to 2024, a new MB dealer opened in south Austin and my best friend who worked in the north store Parts dept. moved over. I get an email from him in July that contains the updated settlement information, extending the milky wood replacement date out to 2027----this was court ordered. Amazed, I decided to give it a go at the new dealer and took the document to the service dept. to see if I could get an estimate. Service took the document and said they would call next day with the estimate. I get the call and the estimate is for $6,000 and I have to pay half of that. Would not give me anything in writing. Stunned I called the parts dept. and my friend looked up my cost for the wood trim kit: $720 and 5-7 days to order it. Since MB pays for the wood trim kit, the dealer is quoting $6,000 to change 13 pieces of wood trim. Incensed, I called MB in Georgia and asked the CS person to please explain the $6,000 charge. She then called both dealers in Austin and they verified to her that the cost will be $6,000. She was appalled but also told me that MB dealers set their own prices for their work and the labor rate at both shops is now $300/hr! Next step for me was to check out the difficulty of replacing the wood trim. One of the trim tools costs $9 and one can remove the entire front panel wood trim in about 10 minutes. Door panels take much longer and the center pieces average about 20 minutes. Hard to justify a $6,000 labor charge. My summation of this situation is that MB has put up every roadblock they can to assure they do not have to pay out any money. It is possible that there are some "honest" dealers who would change my milky wood for a fair price, but wherever they are it will be a very long long drive for me.



I am attaching the info I received from the parts dept. concerning the changed replacement date. And I plan to send a letter with all of the above information directly to the judge who handled the settlement, Honorable Thomas W. Thrash, Jr., Senior United States District Judge, Atlanta, Georgia and also a copy to the lawyers, Heninger, Garrrison, Davis who were paid $4,456,987.98 and $43,012.02 in expenses. I will be asking for an investigation into the dishonest business practices of these dealers and for a fair settlement with me concerning the replacement of the milky wood on my car.

Please share any relevant information.

 

Has anybody had any luck with the settlement recently?

As far as I can tell the website isn't even working anymore. I figure I will ask about it when I go get a second key for our "new" e350, but I'm not willing to pay $1000 for it. I will likely keep my eye out for an e350 at a wrecking yard with the black trim and replace the faded trim with the black version.

 

If you find a way to get a second key well below $ 1,000, please share it.