08 Mercedes Sprinter rusting

Moomat

Hi all, just wondering did anybody ever encounter a problem with new shape Mercedes Sprinters rusting?

Mostly bubbles the size of pin heads at the moment but I dread to think what it would be like in a years time as they are on every panel.

Have this van from new (june 08) and noticed rust spots appearing on the body around Christmas.

Brought it to be checked in Mutec on the Nass road in January and they took some pictures to send to warranty dept. in Germany.

4 weeks later and still no news from them so i contacted Mutec service department again to see how it was progressing.

The fun started here!

I was put off day after day, told the delay was due to the people in Mutec forgetting to process the warranty claim, put off some more by the service adviser...
Asked to speak to the warranty specialist and was told there was nobody with that position there. They said warranty work was processed by everybody and anybody. this sounded unbelievable the an organisation like Mercedes would not have a warranty specialist in such a dealer as Mutec.

A call to the salesman in Mutec who sold the van soon unearthed a warranty specialist.
Niall, the warranty guy in Mutec called me on the salesmans request and tried to organise a time to get the van in for some more pictures and an inspection AT A TIME THAT SUITED HIM!!! Preferably between 10am till 4pm Monday to Friday.
This times didnt suit me at all because as an owner driver i have to load the van early in the morning and return around 7pm.

I wont go into all that went on in trying to get them to accommodate me but the result was that i had to miss a mornings work to ACCOMMODATE THEM and eventually got the van into Mutec on the 25th Feb.
I was sure that i would get some closure on thge situation now as its plainly obvious that a 08 Mercedes Sprinter shouldn't be like this...

They took the van for 20 min, washed it, supposedly inspected it and took pictures and then returned with their result...

Industrial fall out!!!!!!!! Totally not their fault, just little bits of metal that happen to be floating around the air and have a thing for Sprinters! They then land on the van and start corroding it. Some of the other marks were from stone chips but to see these blisters on the paint you would realise that its something coming from the inside under the paint.

Needless to say I'm not impressed by this result and asked them to compile their report in an email. They said this wouldnt be possible to get the engineer to type it up but after some pressure Niall agreed to get something in an email.

I only want correspondence with email from them now as i need to document this lunacy and lies.

Almost 3 weeks now and still no email.

I'm in the process of organising an independent assessor to have a look at it.
These people and dealers need to learn that the time of taking consumers as ten a penny is gone and start treating us with decency and respect.

I can forward pics if anybody interested??

Tipsy Mac

Do you take it down the beach or bring it near sea water?

Moomat

Nope nothing like that, i worked as a mechanic in carrol and kinsella in blackrock for 6 years and out there alot of the cars would have this effect from the sea.
The paint seems to be extremely thin, probably not enough primer on it or something.

david

Any chance of editing that post to make it a bit easier to read.

If the garage won't help you, go to Mercedes Ireland. Your warranty should cover you for bodywork (not due to wear and tear) for 8 yrs as far as I know.

It sounds like a strange problem if the paint surface is not damaged, you can upload/attach pics when posting

Moomat

No problem, How do recommend editing it?
New to all this.. this morning is the first time I've had a bit of time on my hands lately so sorry if its a bit long winded!:D
Waiting for an independant assessors opinion before I go any further with it but ultimately if I've no joy with Mutec I'll give it back to the finance company as its their van till i make the final payment.
Let them deal with Mutec as I wont be paying my hard earned yoyo's for a faulty van... 36000 of them to be exact!
In its present condition and the current market the van is practically worthless..

david

Paragraphs/bullet points etc.

You cannot give the finance company back the van until you have at least 18k paid off. I'd push Mercedes Ireland for a replacement/full respray if I were you. Start with a strongly worded letter clearly CC'd to your Solicitor. I don't really understand what the damage is though. You should attach pics with your next post so we can give a better opinion.

D

maidhc

david wrote: »

Paragraphs/bullet points etc.

You cannot give the finance company back the van until you have at least 18k paid off. I'd push Mercedes Ireland for a replacement/full respray if I were you. Start with a strongly worded letter clearly CC'd to your Solicitor. I don't really understand what the damage is though. You should attach pics with your next post so we can give a better opinion.

D

The finance co are liable under the Sale of Goods act in the same way the dealer is.

Moomat

Don't really want to go for a full respray as the 3rd party that they get to do it is hardly likely to renew the van to its pre rust state. Overspray, patches etc...
I would also wonder what about the areas that aren't visible at the moment, engine bay etc..
A re shell would be an option but all these are going to effect the resale value.
I'll post some images with my next post, probably this evening.
Thanks
Matt

ninty9er

I've come across it on the inside of the rear doors on a Sprinter I drive from time to time, though it does get used to lug a lot of water sports stuff.

Moomat

Pics as promised, the quality not the best but it will give you an idea.
Some people may think I'm over reacting but rust spreads like a disease.

Moomat

some more...

robtri

don't get me wrong here, that paint work sucks big time on a van like that,
but did you sign up to boards, just to bad mouth the dealer???
that what it seems like to me...
as you havn't asked for advice, just one question and then a big rant, it seems you just wanted to Bitch about a bad exp. you are having with a dealer...


if its advice you want, go to Merc. ireland directly and failing getting a satisfactory outcome, hand it over to your solicitor to resolve...

xt40

seems to me that the op is well within his rights to bitch here. so what if its his first post here. im sure people here are interested to know about the quality of these mercedes products.
this is nothing to do with a sprinter but i did read a review on carsurvey.org a couple of years ago of the merc cl500. some english guy bought one and it started rusting almost immediately. it turned out that mercedes had worked out that they would save a fortune by only applying a smaller amount of paint and had made a decision to do touchups as and whan people complained.
he was going to park it outside the dealers with a sign on the roof - look at this rusty pos they sold me for 100k£ etc.

robtri

xt40 wrote: »

seems to me that the op is well within his rights to bitch here. so what if its his first post here.

its a motor forum, not a bitching forum....
yes a lot of people are interested in merc products, but to sign up just to bitch about a certain dealer, is wrong, imo.

RoundyMooney

He didn't. He signed up to ask if others had a similiar problem.

I'm sure people didn't assume you signed up to bash Ryanair when you posted in the thread linked below on your very first day?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055340735

Give the guy a break. I for one am glad that he brought this to the table, even if he never posts again :mad:

BlackWizard

Would anything like this happen if it was manufactured a while ago and left near the sea before getting transported to a dealership?

I seen a picture once with 100's of mercedes vans filling up some docklands area.

maidhc

BlackWizard wrote: »

Would anything like this happen if it was manufactured a while ago and left near the sea before getting transported to a dealership?

I seen a picture once with 100's of mercedes vans filling up some docklands area.

Being near the sea shouldn't make an iota of a difference on a modern properly rustproofed vehicle. In fairness how far is any point of dublin from the sea? You don't exactly see every car in Dun Laoighre red rotten, do you?

BlackWizard

Guess not. I was just curious. The article at the time said the vehicles where there for over a year. This wasn't in Ireland though.

I wouldn't be happy with my vehicle rusting after only a year either

pburns

I have a '03 Navara that has signs of rust in some places where the paint is chipped and in the engine bay. It is a rare Kingcab version (half way between single & crew-cab) with a different front-end to most Navaras. The original owner was from a coastal county but I've wondered too if it has been exposed to sea air in a dock somewhere...

return guide

robtri wrote: »

its a motor forum, not a bitching forum....
yes a lot of people are interested in merc products, but to sign up just to bitch about a certain dealer, is wrong, imo.

I have posted a few questions here that were not as important as the posters and i have always got helpful replys- including a few messers.

this is what this forum is about - those whowant to know asking those who know, without fear of ridicule (sp).

Back on topic OP at this stage you should seek legal advice as you seem to be getting the royal runaround.

Hope this helps,

RG

alo1587

That paintjob is bad alright, i'd be raging if it was my 1 year old van! Is that paint missing from the drivers side mirror in the last pic??:eek:

happymick13

robtri wrote: »

its a motor forum, not a bitching forum....
yes a lot of people are interested in merc products, but to sign up just to bitch about a certain dealer, is wrong, imo.

is this guy for real????? its quite obvious that you must have connections with someone in mercedes if you keep moaning about something you aren't even interested in. Bog off if you have nothing educatonal to add to this post, nobody asked you to read it.

I know exactly what this guy is going through, my Mercedes Sprinter van is 6 years old but started rusting when it was only 2 years old. It had the exact same pin holes which used to disappear after a good wash and polish, but now they are literally the size of oranges. Mercedes vans were known for having really crap paint work and they literally skim the paint on to just within the eu limits. but I would have thought the newer model would have had better paintwork. I have seen many new models like this and it has completely turned me from buying one again. I wonder if the 8 year warranty on paint is true as someone else suggested, if so, I'm gonna head to Mercedes and plant this thing outside their door. I do use my van about once a month to go to the UK but the paintwork should seriously be well able to take some sea air. I don't remember, when I was handing over 32000 euros to the salesman, him telling me that I was restricted to staying away from the sea air!!!!
Its completely unacceptable in this day and age to have such shoddy paint, I have never seen a transit or any other van for that matter go the same way.

dirtydiesel

robtri wrote: »

don't get me wrong here, that paint work sucks big time on a van like that,
but did you sign up to boards, just to bad mouth the dealer???
that what it seems like to me...
as you havn't asked for advice, just one question and then a big rant, it seems you just wanted to Bitch about a bad exp. you are having with a dealer...
if its advice you want, go to Merc. ireland directly and failing getting a satisfactory outcome, hand it over to your solicitor to resolve...

We can talk about any motoring issue we like here, I am glad the op made his post here, it makes intresting reading, unlike your post.
Op thanks for taking the time to write your first post on motors and welcome to the madness.

-Chris-

You're 15 months late lads, I'm sure it's all resolved (in some form or other) by now.

Happymick, please read the charter and don't bump old threads.

Thanks

Thread closed