I post the same thread in W203, but it seems like there is a problem. I need you help guys. Here is the case:

I have a 2002 ML320 that I bought on Aug 2002. It has 15xxxmiles on the clock. So far it had only 1 service A which was done in May 2004. Here is the bad part, a couple months after service A was done, I noticed on the battery area become rusty. I am sure that it was caused by the battery fluid was overfilled (that is also the reason I read on the job reports when it was brought to fix on Aug 2004). At that time (Aug 2004) the car was brought in to fix the rusty by my brother cos I was out of country. When the car was picked up my bro didnt check the car cos he's not into car like me.

Then a couple months ago ( March 05) I opened the hood just to clean the engine part, I noticed that the rust become worse. I brought the car for the second time ( April 05) to the dealer and complained about it. Until today the car is still in the shop cos last week when they said the car is ready, it turned out that they ddnt really do a good job. I still can see the mess that was from painting job and some rusty. So I left the car there again.

My problems are:
1. I think beside they fix the rusty part, the dealer need to compensate me with something. The reason is because they did a careless mistake and it should be fixed a year ago and they didnt fixed and now it becomes worse. I am sure if I wanted to sell the car one day and the buyer see the record of the car, the buyer will be not confident to buy or it will effect my price. What do you guys think?
2. If I can get compensate, where or to who should I start? On the very last complain( when I wanted to pick up the car last week), I talked with the manager already but seems like the manager didnt care much. He just want to fix it and not even want to discuss with me. I dont know why he did this to me.
3. If there is any other idea, could you please tell me what should I do?

I know my post is long but I really need your help guys. Thanks a lot for your help in advance. I probably will pick up the car on Wed (tomorrow) or Thurs.

Regards,


KZ

 

I think you're beating a dead horse. If you want compensation, you need to hire a lawyer and sue the dealership. They are NOT going to give it to you out of the goodness of their hearts. Rusty battery trays and clamps are normal consequences of possible poor and sloppy owner-performed maintenance; and you may have to prove it in court that it was their sloppy handling and not yours.

That area of corrosion needs to be disassembled, neutralized with an alkaline solution like baking soda, each part wire-brushed or sand-blasted, then treated and primed with a rust-converter and then re-painted. The easiest thing to do would be to take all those parts out of there, neutralize and clean/paint the mounting holes and sorrounding areas, buy new parts and re-assemble it. I even doubt the dealership will go to this trouble.

Sorry, this may not be what you want to hear but I'm afraid it's reality.

 

Thanks for the reply. I too doubt that the dealer will replace all the parts that were affected by the rust. However, I think I will not do anything as of now since they seems like showing me a good respond. I hope none of the rust will exist in the future though.

Again thanks for the response