I picked up my new 2025 G63 from Mercedes-Benz of Richmond last Monday. Toward the end of the week, while getting out of the car, my eyes landed on what turned out to be a noticeable paint chip. Ever since seeing it, I haven’t been able to unsee it.

I immediately went back through the photos and videos I took on the day of delivery, and sure enough, one of the photos in my Recently Deleted folder clearly shows the defect. It’s a tricky one to catch without a bright light or flash, which is probably why I and possibly the dealership missed it at first. I’ve also included a screen recording below that shows a timestamped video capturing the defect on the day of pickup.

My brother has been in contact with the dealership on my behalf. Considering this is a high-end vehicle with a premium price tag, including dealer markup. Something like this should (hopefully) be addressed properly.

I’ve seen other posts about similar issues with 2025 models, such as hairline scratches, where dealers agreed to repaint the entire car or repair the affected area. I’m hoping MB of Richmond will handle this the same way.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Any advice on how to escalate or move forward would be appreciated.

Paint Defect at Time of Pickup
Paint Defect With and Without Flashlight
Video taken when I first noticed the defect

 

Yeah, I've experienced it with MB.I discovered a slight chip UNDER the spoiler of my '15 SLS AMG GT Final Edition when I purchased it brand new from the dealer nearly 10 years ago. I brought it back to the dealer and didn't get any pushback (who checks the paint UNDER the spoiler anyways when taking delivery)... The dealer was highly professional and removed and repainted the entire spoiler as opposed to just the affected chip area.

I would do it sooner rather than later, especially given that you have photographic evidence. Try to have them repaint the entire affected panel because spot painting is never near perfection.

 

They may be reluctant to take care of it because the paint on my G63 is a magno (satin) black, so they’d have to repaint the entire car.

Either way, the proof is there.

 

Every G63 I've had new from the dealer has had some sort of thing on the paint that my detailer tells me about--nothing major but usually a small surface mark but nothing that breaks the paint line. Swirls are very common.

I typically don't do anything about it because usually the spot is somewhere that's not noticeable.

For this it's really hard because it's magno and it's on the body frame. I don't know if I trust a body shop to do as good a job as the factory.

For me I'd ask for some concession from either the dealer or corporate and let it be. I wouldn't really want the whole side or the whole car repainted. Maybe you can compromise with the dealer and get a sooner allocation at MSRP (other than the $9500 2026 price increase) and then they can get a used 2025 back.

 

The way I would look at it is this, Magno is so hard to repaint, I would just do a spot touch up, and I understand the concern about not being able to see the damage and the frustration of not seeing it on the day of delivery

That being said there's lots of people who had on this forum, difficulty matching the magno paint, and even if this chip happened during your own ownership, you would still face that problem of a repaint job and the paint not matching.

if they can compensate you financially for this oversight, that would be the way I would take it, and I would not repaint the car over these chips, regarding the leather scratch that something that I would go after more aggressively, consider considering a replacement of the seat wouldn't render the car with a noticeable paint effect.

and my two cents is that if this dealership is unwilling to work with you in anyway, whatsoever on your concerns or just pushes this off as sorry you didn't mention it therefore it's not our problem, for what you paid for this vehicle it's absolutely ridiculous

 

The only place I've ever seen on this forum who did a flawless repaint of magno is VPC Baltimore

 

Yikes, this is a tough situation, especially since you're dealing with Magno paint, it cannot be corrected easily, and almost guaranteed your dealership isn't equipped to do so. Even if they could or are willing to respray the entire side, the paint can only be factory original once, is it even worth the trouble or the potential of a permanent Carfax ding? I suppose the lesson is if you're taking delivery of a Magno car you NEED to go through the entire car with a fine toothed comb, once you've taken delivery you now have significantly fewer options and leverage.

I think the dealer may be willing to give you some refund or give you an early allocation slot for your next build as goodwill but even then I don't know if I would attempt a touch up in fear that whoever does it isn't capable of matching the finish and you end up with an even more messed up paint.

Were you planning on putting PPF on it? I personally am not a fan of PPF but it might not be a bad idea to do for Magno and maybe the area can be touched up just good enough to where the PPF can cover it all.

One more reason why as much as I love the magno colors I ultimately chose the much more forgiving clear coat options.

 

Had a couple places do perfect Magno repaints in NE Ohio over the last 10 years and they have emerged into one shop now (LJI Collision), there are many Magno certified shops around the country. Sometimes they have to redo it with the help of the paint company rep on site but that is why they charge more for it.

 

I'm with @Hodog16 on this, if you can live with it and get some sort of concession or a priority allocation if you buy another one, that might be an ideal scenario. I would imagine they will take care of it if you can't live with that chip especially if you have pictures. Let us know how it goes either way and good luck.

I had a very similar issue on a 2024 G 63 black magno - didn't catch it until the first detail. It was not a chip, but a blemish in the paint and MB agreed to repaint the entire hood. It took almost 30 days to get it back and heard the certified MB paint shop took multiple attempts to get it as close to factory as possible. In the end, it had a rougher feel than the factory magno, but I had zero issues with resale. I usually trade and my dealer has been great over many years with these types of things and keeps me coming back to them. Hope Richmond treats you well.