tiggerfink

When I was getting my cars ready for the auto show in May, I noticed white spots on my wheels. Dealer sent the pictures to corporate on Friday.


http://www.mbnz.org/forums/forums/th...sp?tid=1184588

LovinMercedes

After looking at your pictures this is clearly a defect in the wheel finishing. It looks like it is not in the clearcoat but underneath.

Clearly this is a warranty item and the wheel should be replaced.

SLK 350

Maybe you got some chemicals in your garage, or in the streets while you were driving. Thats messed up though. I can;t really tell though.

LovinMercedes

Is the area smooth and the clearcoat unaffected?

tiggerfink

It is underneath the clear coat. That is what the wheel expert said at the dealer. Now the dealer is trying to get them replace under warranty. I noticed the spots after a month of owning the car. It is like that on all the wheels. On two wheels, you can feel the bumps.

LovinMercedes

I am waiting for my new SL600 to arrive. The dealer has ordered the optional staggered wheels for me and I can tell you, while the wheels are gorgeous, they have gone through several in order to get ones that don't have marks or some kind of imperfection. I am not sure the finishing of these wheels is Mercedes best quality but stick to it and you'll get all good wheels.

blueSL

Of course, Mercedes don't make the wheels themselves but you would think they'd cast an eye over them. If they're defective, it's the supplier who will foot the bill.

LovinMercedes

I agree and that would seem obvious to you and me. For some reason it does not happen that way. Maybe Mercedes still has the ability to return them to the wheel manufacturer as a defect and they save the money on all the quality checks. I'd think the shipping costs would offset checking in the first place but who am I.

There are also similar problems with perfect parts poorly boxed and ruined during "NORMAL" shipping. I can't understand it but that is the way it is. My dealer is great about fixing things like this.

blueSL

Ultimately it's us who pays because the margin on spare parts is huge which is designed to cover this sort of SNAFU.

tiggerfink

Well,

I need help. The dealer sent the pictures to the district manger. District manager said he will paid for them to be repainted or re-chrome. The wheel contractor said he can not make it look like factor, because all 4 wheels will have to be repainted. The wheel expert said his quality is not as good as factory and the wheels will look worst later.

Now the dealer is afraid that the district manager will say it is normal wear from driving, because I am the only one that reported this problem. So the dealer wants me to ask around if anyone has had any problems with their wheels. Normal wear for a 2 month old car? I noticed the flaws when I was getting ready for the car show.

If the dealer can not get the wheels replace, is there a good company that can bake the paint on like factory quailty?


http://www.mbnz.org/forums/forums/t...asp?tid=1184588

LovinMercedes

I am not sure what dealer you are working with but from the pictures I see for a 2 month old car, the wheel is defective and should be replaced no questions asked.

If you don't get satisfaction ask to speak to the Mercedes "Zone" manager. In my opinion it is ridiculous that they are giving you such a hard time over this.

Who is your dealer and where are they located?

StephenK

I cannot believe you are getting that kind of response, but depending on the dealer, you can definately get responses like that. My local dealer in Tallahassee is probably the worst one in the country and a response like that I would expect from them, but a reputable dealer should handle getting them replaced for you especially being only a couple of months old. I would contact MBUSA and ask for a customer liason to help resolve the issue with your dealer. Replacement seems to be a no brainer

LovinMercedes

I agree with StephenK althought I suggested the Zone Manager because that is who MBUSA will send this too. The Zone Manager is very high up and covers entire parts of the country. The dealer will not want to contact him for this so you have a better chance of getting it resolved ASAP once you ask for that person. You can contact MBUSA but it may take a little longer that way.

Just some thoughts. Either way works.

tiggerfink

My dealer is doing their best to get my wheels taken care of. Its the zone manger giving us problems. My friends and I noticed this year that Mercedes is very strict to repair/replace anything cosmetic. My friend had to get a law suit to get his tires replaced on his E class.

I understand my dealer point of view because if they replace my wheels now, my dealer will be stuck with the bill.

tiggerfink

Well,

Below is one of several emails that I sent to my dealer, and they forward the emails to the zone manager. So far Wheelwizzard, pacrims, and RimPRO all said the same thing; Mercedes should replace the wheels because the car is new.




NEW = From the dealer.


Tom Merrifield
President/Founder
RimPRO Incorporated

-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas
Sent: Monday, November 29, 2004 9:59 AM
To: Tom Merrifield
Subject: RE: Thomas' wheels

What do you mean by new?


--- Tom Merrifield <tom@rimpro.com> wrote:

> Color match is close, but rarely exact because even new wheels from
> the factory come different shades due to batches and conditions being
> different.
> Judging from the very slight discoloration from your wheels, I
suggest
> new!
>
>
> Tom Merrifield
> President/Founder
> RimPRO Incorporated
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas ]
> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2004 12:42 PM
> To: jhigh@mbofmemphis.com
> Subject: Thomas's wheels
>
> Jeff,
>
> Here are two pics of my wheels.
>

LovinMercedes

On an SL, I think what they are putting you through with your wheel is an absolute disgrace. There is no question you deserve a new wheel. I am sorry you are having so much trouble. It really is so unfair.

StephenK

I agree, a total disgrace, personally I would think your dealer would take care of it knowing it is defective and then themselves handle it with their regional rep. I had problems in the past with Mercedes on two cars I had and actually still do have, once I got the rep involved the items were promptly taken care of. As we see so often nowadays, people/businesses like to charge for their product and when you read their brochures, they make them sound fantastic, getting them to stand behind it once your money has been taken is a different thing. Rest assured you always have a court of law to fall back on, no doubt you will prevail in that one.

I would go up the chain of command at Mercedes.

When I purchased my 2001 S500 the day I left the dealer, the drivers seat would make a clunking noise as I turned the corner, I got out of the car and thought something was rolling around under the seat, maybe in the track, but nothing. The dealer kept screwing around with it, breaking off some plastic components under the seat, using the Mercedes FELT they like to use to cover up rattles, and on and on and on. After about a year of the nonsense and still having the problem, I finally starting faxing Paul Halata, the President of MBUSA about my ongoing problems and after numberous faxes, his secretary called to tell me he has received them and that I could stop faxing him and that someone would contact me soon, I said thank you, but I will continue to fax you until I get my issues resolved, my one years worth of being patient had run out. They contacted me the same day. The regoinal rep along with an engineer came and made the dealer get it taken care of. I know that seems ridiculous, but enough was enough already, and problem solved.

I told the two Mercedes reps I appreciated their help and set them up for a nice dinner at one our nicer steak/seafood restaurants in town. On the way going to the restaurant they were rear ended on the interstate and the Eclass the rep had was totally smashed in. I remember the engineer the next day showing me the car, and being proud of the systems working, the seat belt retractors, the teleaid system etc... That man liked his job and the product he represented.

v8plus4

I had the same problem with one of the wheels on my 1st M-class back in '99. Dealer took one look at it and replaced the wheel, no questions asked.

tiggerfink

Dealer said they could replace one with no questions asked, but not all 4. Dealer is waiting for a responce this Friday.

Dealer and I were looking at the wheels on the SL500 in the show room today and the paint job on the wheels look like crap. The wheels on the SL500 in the show room had a lot of dark streaks.

LovinMercedes

Mercedes does not do a great job in finishing their wheels. Your problem is outside exceptable standards but this is one of those areas where Mercedes does not do a great job.

tiggerfink

My dealer called me today with some good news. The district manger will see my wheels in January. Dealer told me that there is a good chance of getting my wheels replace.

I discovered that the government is faster than Mercedes to get problems resolved. I reported the wheel problem to my dealer in June.

jasab

As this is my first Mercedes, does anyone know how the wheels stand up to ageing? I have AMG wheels, are they the same quality as standard MB Wheels.
Had Lexus and found the alloys deteriorate after a couple of Winters, once corrosion starts its difficult to make the wheels look good.

Ken Silver

I had this problem when I bought a staggered set of 18" AMG's a couple months ago from an independent tire shop (one of the biggest in the USA).

They were poorly packed and were damaged as a result - mainly rubbing marks from the cardboard container on the machined lips. I managed to get rid of most of these, but there were small gouges on the lip of one that were impossible to remove.

I took it to my paint shop hoping to shortcut the whole returns procedure, but they deferred, saying that they couldn't bring them back to the same condition. (I do wonder what will happen on my first scuff or major stone ding!).

But the tire shop sent out a replacement pretty quickly, based on my documentation and photographs of the damage.

Strangely enough the replacement rim was packed exactly the same way, despite my emphatically noting that packing caused the problem. Fortunately this one escaped any damage, but I do wonder at the dartboard style of packing that must cause them ongoing problems like this.

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons, AMG facelift to 2002 style.
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate
~1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. black & silver
~1991 Jaguar Daimler, shiny grey/grey leather, best in country!
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5 and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.