fusion2007

hi everyone!! recently as you all probably know my car was a victom of a hit and run accident. i was at the body shop and getting an estimate and the guy told me something very helpful and well it was kinda nice of him to tell me since if mercedes found it he told me he probably would have........yeahh anyway.. the racall doors where the paint looks like its bubbling and or if u can see rust. on the door. the water gets into the seel where the window goes in and when mercedes designed this body they didnt design a place for the water to drain out. so u have rust. the thing is dealerships wont tell you about the recall so u have to tell them.. anyone else know more about this?

p.s. i found this out when the guy told me he would have to repaint the door and when u repaint one door u have to repainy the other door as well so it blends in. and i can make them paint the new door for free because of this recall campain thing...

srknutson

Sounds a little funny that the body guy told you he would have to repaint the door to get a match?? Using that logic he should have to paint the entire side of the car to get his match. Is this a dealer body shop? May want a second body shop to give you there two cents.

What year(s) does the rust recall include?

fusion2007

thats true... i think its on the entire w220 body style i k now on 2000-2002 for sure. this was a dealers body shop. il try and find some other place.

cala833

Is it in US? I called dealer in Los Angeles yesterday and they told me that rust warranty is 4 years or 50.000 mileages.

Jayhawk

I am aware of a number of recalls on our cars, but this is the first I ever heard of a "rust recall." My dealer is very good about all recall issues and automatically fixes anything when I go in for a service. And they have never mentioned anything about this matter. I will ask my SA, but I am skeptical. I am also very skeptical about the repaint two doors thing. A good paint shop will do whatever matching is required on the one door being repainted.

fusion2007

it should be covered anyway because its a messup on the design.. dealers wont tell you about it because it costs alot of money. thats why if u try ordering a door for the s class (special the drivers side door)they are impossible to get right now cuz of this.

Big "H"

I am going to my dealer on Monday, I will check the status at that time. More to follow in the morning

bamberger_1

In Germany (or Europe??) there is a 30 years warranty on corrosion of the MB cars under certain conditions. Since in Northern Europe the weather conditions are supporting corrosion there are many cases of warranty for the W220. The thing is it is not a recall action. Only if the customer finds it and complains it will be fixed w/o cost. The most critical areas are the the seems of the doors, which are not sealed, and behind the rubber seals at the bottom of the doors, behind the door sills, behind the rear license plate holder, bottom part of the fenders, where the bumpers are attached to, around the sunroof, around the inside of the wheel well of the fenders. All can only be claimed under customer claims, mostly not pro active by the dealer.

Jayhawk

OK guys, here's the real skinny! I just got this e-mail from my SA this morning: "It is not a rust recall. There was a campaign for applying a sealant at the bottom of the 4 doors on the car to prevent corrosion or bubbling of the paint at the bottom. Some of the cars had developed rust in the past at those spots and that is why this campaign came out. This sealant was applied to your doors 6/9/05. The reason it is called a campaign and not a recall is because it was not federally mandated. Are you getting rust on your car?"

ex-BenzDriver9

Any shot I can get the rust spot on the top of my drivers door fixed? The paint bubbled up over the summer and the rust is now exposed.

If this was not federally mandated I am guessing my chances are slim.

fusion2007

they should do it for free. thats what the body shop guy told me

Jayhawk

My guess is that they have no obligation to do it, but if they are a quality shop they will do it for you because it is the right thing to do, and because there was a campaign involving the same issue, but just a different location. I'd certainly ask them to do it, and if it looks like they plan to charge you might mention the campaign and see what they say. It may come down to how much they want to keep you happy and how good a customer they think you are...

dominator1983

I had rusty front and rear wheel archs and was sulking to myself when I too visited a local reliable bodyshop and simply said - "I've had enough deal! Deal with that rust - I CAN'T STAND NO MORE!" - he said "go to benz they'll do if for free if you have full history".

I took out my manual and there it was '30 YEAR WARRANTY ON BODY' this covers corrosion amongst many other things. So I thought ok I'll take it down see what they say.

When I got there I asked at reception and sat down with a mush.

He got the body warranty claims geezer from across the way - he actually worked at Ford - the dealerships were the same company.

He did an assesment and submitted a claim to Mercedes. He got out some device to check the thickness of the paint on all my panels to make sure had been no cowboy repair jobs - I cringed but all was good.

He submitted the body warranty claim to Mercedes in which he showed them photos of all my panels.

4x weeks passed and then I got the call - "Mercedes have authorised 1 new door, 2x new front wings and repairs to the three remaining doors and the rear quarter panels".

I leaped with joy !

Then they took my car and said that the repairs to the rear quarters may not pan out as expected. If it went ok I'd have the car back in 2x weeks but however if they disintegrate when they try to grind of the rust it'll mean photos to Mercedes of the wings and another body warranty claims.

Anyway to cut a long story shot coz I'm babbling in the end it took 2 months!

But I got :

2x New Front Wings
2x New Rear Quarters/Wings
1x New Door
1x New Boot Lid
3x Door Repairs
All the paint to go with it.

I was amazed and the dealership said that they would of charged around £6000 ($10k+) for the job and that Mercedes has picked up the bill!

I have noticed the slight mismatch on colour of my bonnet and bumpers from the rest of the newly painted car including roof.

CAN'T COMPLAIN ! - So if you have rust get down to Mercedes and get some revenge!

fusion2007

i was right!!! yayyy!!!! thank you for proving my point

koreanpers

so we need to check the bottom of our doors for rust or bubbling?

fusion2007

yes!!!!

Jayhawk

I don't see any rust or bubbling on her! Looks like perfect skin to me... Your dealer should be taking care of that (not her) for you, if you have a descent dealer. If you don't trust them, you should ask.

nickz

I recently bought a 2003 S600 and when waxing it noticed very little bubbling on the top of the drivers door. I will check it out more thoroughly before the initial warranty expires.
Thanks for the postings

fusion2007

it doesnt matter for regular warrarnty like dominitor said theres a 30yr body warrarnty

newton22

On all 220s internationally?

fusion2007

i think so. there were all made in one place with one design so its gotta be!!