Hole in my 2006 ML350 - repair woes
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Hole in my 2006 ML350 - repair woes
My brand new 3 month old Alabaster White 2006 ML350 was nudged by a truck at a gas station - and the speed is probably less than 5 miles an hour and there is hole in the corner with exposed metal.
I took it to the Mercedes Benz deal authorized workshop and they repaired the car. However, the painted color is different. The shine is different and it looks like an accident car. The body shop says they painted exactly the color code on the VIN with required amount of clear coat.
What should I do? What are my options? This is supposed to be a MB authorized repair shop for God's sake.
I took it to the Mercedes Benz deal authorized workshop and they repaired the car. However, the painted color is different. The shine is different and it looks like an accident car. The body shop says they painted exactly the color code on the VIN with required amount of clear coat.
What should I do? What are my options? This is supposed to be a MB authorized repair shop for God's sake.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
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Man, I am sorry to hear about that. I would have them reimburse you for the work and then take the car to a Mercedes body shop and have them repaint it. If they start to act difficult, I would threaten to pursue legal action against them.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
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I would also take the car to the dealership where you bought it and have them agree that the color is off. If your salesman can give you a written statement that he agrees that the wrong paint has been used, than you will have a much stronger legal case against them and they will be more likely to reimburse you. Good luck.
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From: Atlanta, GA
08 ML320CDI
The vin # only gives the color code but in this industry there are several variances of each color. Also factory bumpers are rarely painted at the same time as the vehicle. It is very rare also that the bumpers that are plastic as opposed to metal hold paint in the same way (meaning that the bumpers on vehicles often do not perfectly match the rest of the car... look closely to the undamaged bumper and you will see it doesn't exactly match the car). The answer is that you can't pour paint from a can and paint the bumper cover and expect it to match. The correct process is to tint the paint to match the vehicle a process that most quality body shops will do but some insurance compaines don't like to pay for. I would go back to the shop that did the work and ask if they tinted the paint to match the car or if they just painted from the paint code. If the shop didn't tint the color to match and use a laydown panel then the color isn't as good as it can get. You will never get perfect but you can get very very close. If you can see the color match isn't right in direct sunlight it will even be worse if you look at it under sodium lights at night in a parking lot... It can be corrected and hold them to it.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
