Hello Everyone,

Prior to getting my Designo SL I was driving an XK8. I thought the car was gorgeous - It also was a special edition. I bought the 06 car with 40k miles in 08 and sold it in 2019 with 112k. I took pride in keeping the car well maintained. But being a car made in such small numbers, and being a special edition it got harder and harder to find the parts to keep the car looking and running as it should.

I bought my 2017 Designo in Oct of 2019 with 9k miles. It was certified by Mercedes. The car was immaculate. The car had perfect service records from a local Mercedes Dealership. The CARFAX only had the Mercedes Maintenance Service listed - no issues from original owner.

In the 5 years of owning the car other than a tempermental ECU and a headlamp bulb going out - which was a true fortune to replace - the car has been wonderful to own. I live in Los Angeles, the car is parked outside semi covered, and is waxed 3 to 4x a year.

About 3 years ago, the Gloss black paint on the exterior sides of the back window just started to disintegrate. It didn't peel or chip it just looked like someone was sneaking over at night and sanding more and more of it with an 800 grit sand paper. It started on the Passenger side and when 50% of the gloss black was gone then driver side started to do the same thing.

This past summer again on the on the back window on the passenger side the blue



painted pillar on the rear window near the trunk a freckle started in the clear coat. It continued and continues to spread. The another one at the top of the same pillar. Then another one on painted trim over the top of the passenger window. And now numerous blisters appearing on the front bumper cover.

My car has the Designo Off White interior. At two years of ownership the white steering wheel started yellowing at the top. Using just warm water to clean the leather, every time I cleaned it - I did it, I didn't send it out to a car wash. More and more of the color came off the steering wheel. I ordered factory color matching leather dye and was able make it less of an eye sore but now the leather of the steering wheel is actually degrading. Instead of being buttery smoothe at the top front side of the steering wheel - Not an area where my hands rest the leather is like 80 grit sandpaper and the area is groing in size.

I'm a big guy, so the leather on the driver seat bottom and especially the side bolster showing wear is understandable. I have other cars and its not a Merc issues.

I understand the wear, and the cracking. But why is the right side of the driver's seat showing the same wear and cracking? On the seat side bolster at the back edge is a piece of stretch fabric - why does is that fabric loose and starting to disintegrate?

And the passenger seat is showing the same wear signs. My wife is not large, she is not big, and she isnt always with me. So why is the passenger seat leather cracking on the sides of the seat?

On the interior door panels - the lower halves of the doors are off white. I understand that where my knee rests againt the door panel when driving that there would be some wear in the surface. But the panels on both sides of the car has different colors appearing in areas of the door that are not exposed to sunlight, are behind the seat, are below even the back shelf height. Areas where there is not contact with anything on the door panels is changing colors.

On the roof I keep the sun shade out all the time.During the summer while driving on the freeway top up, windows down the passenger side came out of it's track and started flapping all over.

My car has the honeycomb front grills in the bumper. In December a chunk of tire hit the lower grill and broke thru it. In inspecting the damage of the grill. The entire grill has become so brittle that you can snap the honeycomb structures just pushing on them.

The weatherstripping is cracking in so many areas. Even those pieces that are not exposed to sunlight.

And this week when I was vacuuming the car, on the passenger side where the front right seat mount sits on the carpet, the carpet is vanishing....The car has black carpet/floor liner. Around where the seat sits not only is the actual pile of the carpet gone but its bone white. It's as if someone sanded the carpet away and then poured bleach on the smoothed out area. This is under the seat, not exposed to sunlight, a location that doesn't get any wear at all is just gone.

I started another post this morning about the suspension losing it's handling and ride quality.

And 75% of the time when I start the car, it says Audio Off - I never turn off the radio.

There are more things that are just aging poorly on the car. Other than storing the car in a garage. I have taken great care with the car. I've used quality detailing products. I've been on top of detailing, maintenance, everything. And yet the car doesn't seem to be aging well.

Is anyone else seeing these kinds of issues? I read about a recall on the designo red paint but haven't seen anything anywhere online about any other colors.

I sent photos of the paint issues to a friend who is a Mercedes Benz Service Writer at a dealership in a different state. He said that the clear coat peeling means the car was probably repainted. But other than the underside and lower valance of the front bumper there is no evidence at all of the entire car being repainted.

Sadly,

Dave B

 

How is the air quality where the car is parked?

 

The sun is the number one enemy to almost everything which is exposed to, houses, cars, us etc.
We have built a residence in Santa Fe, which is somehow north of LA, you could see the damage of the paint on the cars that, eventually, were parked outdoors, sun is brutal there....and there are some like 300 days of sun every year !

 

Sounds like you got a counterfeit Mercedes off of Temu or AliExpress.

Mercedes did have a problem with the Mars Red paint a few years back with the clear coat flaking off like yours, but that was the only color. If not for the other problems, it might be worth a paint job, but those ain't cheap. Tough call, but with the interior problems and the suspension problems, I would think long and hard about getting rid of the car. It sounds like it will become a money pit.

 

Sounds like a lemon. The cosmetic and mechanical problems are reason enough to consider getting rid of the car while you can.

 

Not to get into a conversation about detailing the car, but overuse of the wrong products can have exactly these effects…

 

outside Los Angeles, semi covered parking.