I thought only Classics rusted !!

TigerTim · 19-01-2010 01:11PM #1

I went to look at a 2001 Mercedes E220d estate last weekend. Big family barge for wife, kids,dog etc. I couldn't believe the rust. There was more rust on the rear arches than my 1985 MR2. I could have picked bits off just over the rear wheels. Also the top & bottoms of the doors were starting to rust. Car looked fantastic on the web but in real life, it wasn't great. I walked away.
I thought rust was a thing of the past. I was very surprised. ..

T.

19-01-2010 01:53PM

Yeah, there were a few years there, in the late 90's, early 00's, where the Mercs are particularly susceptible to the old tin worm. I think it had something to do with the move from German manufacturing to Brazil?

Alot of the cars that were affected could have been (and may still be able to be) repaired under warranty - new front wings etc. I think the Mercs have a 10 year no-rust warranty.

BUT, you have to be able to prove that the car is all Merc. You have a better chance of getting the rust fixed if you have full Merc service history. And if you're going for a warranty claim (an 01 might still be eligible I spose), they will run paint thickness tests etc etc, and if it ain't all Merc, you can forget about it!

Google will tell you more. There are Merc forums where this stuff is discussed ad nauseam....

ep71 · 19-01-2010 02:10PM

was servicing my aunt's 97 clio at the weekend and its absolutely falling apart with rust, inner wings, sills, boot floor, the whole lot has it bad

8~) · 19-01-2010 02:13PM

Rust issues on this vintage of Mercedes is well documented. Many issues, warranty claims, etc. though I doubt Mercedes is still dealing with them for that model.

Rust still affects modern cars. They don't rust as quickly as the 70s stuff but it's still there. I've seen 90s-00s Opels and Fords with rust starting, Transits in particular. The change over to water-based paints in the 90s caught a few manufacturers too.

Jap and Italian stuff used to have a bad rep for rust. I think they appear to be least rusty nowadays.

kasper · 19-01-2010 02:20PM

the grit they use has a high salt content so over time its going to do harm to cars ,especially nowadays when people only use drive through brush washes in filling stations to clean their cars

unkel · 19-01-2010 02:58PM

603304529 wrote: »

Yeah, there were a few years there, in the late 90's, early 00's, where the Mercs are particularly susceptible to the old tin worm. I think it had something to do with the move from German manufacturing to Brazil?

I think it was MB moving from oil based to water based paint caused the rust in the W210s?

2cv · 19-01-2010 04:07PM

ep71 wrote: »

was servicing my aunt's 97 clio at the weekend and its absolutely falling apart with rust, inner wings, sills, boot floor, the whole lot has it bad

Buy a 98 onwards model. they're made of plastic

MercMad · 19-01-2010 04:25PM

They moved to water based paints AND they changed the seam sealer with disastrous effects, MY99>MY01 were the worst. Silver or white cars and cars from the UK are the worst.

The rust warranty is actually 30 years on modern Mercs, only if the rust has come through from the inside. Chips and previous accident damage will preclude any claims.

W202,W201 and C215 are the cars that are affected and the cars were produced in Germany.Dont know anything about Brazil but they do make certain C-Class cars in South Africa.

On an 8 year old car there is as much change of rust being caused by previous poor repair than anything else !

ianobrien · 19-01-2010 05:45PM

I've seen rotten (well rotten - failing the screwdriver test) chassis rails under the boot floor on a 99 Corolla (UK import). I've also seen rotten chassis rails and sills on '97 to '99 Fiestas, Ka's & Pumas.

The worst I saw was a '95 Vectra. The holes in the floor were so big you could see the carpet. It was splitting (approx 15 inches when measured) along the rear floor next to the fuel tank. It was a deathtrap if in an accident

I've seen loads of "tatty" & rusty sill to wheelarchs on so many different cars now. It seems to be concentrated on the area of cars that are in contact with road dirt/salt. Modern cars need to be washed after travelling on salted roads as well. I did mine on Saturday (no power hose, just loads of water and a mild pressure)

As for vans - God they do rust still! No wonder there is no Mk1 Transits left!

carchaeologist · 19-01-2010 07:20PM

Metal is still metal!Rust proofing and underseal only goes so far even nowadays,i think alot of people with cars these days treat cars as totally disposable and expendable.

BrianD3 · 20-01-2010 08:00PM

Car Mechanics magazine has a section in every issue devoted to Merc rust problems. Also when they are doing articles on servicing/buying other cars, rust is often mentioned. Recently there was a 00 Almera with a badly rotten front crossmember.

IMO Ford has probably been worse than Mercedes in recent years for rust. I look after a small fleet of Fiesta vans that have an easy life and low mileage. They are 8 years old and there is surface rust all over the undersides, spots on the sills and lots of rust on the fuel tanks. Going back a bit further, I have seen Fiesta mk3s with shocking rust at relatively young ages. Holes in sill and wheel arches at <10 years old on one owner Irish cars. On other cars, huge holes around the fuel filler cap, valances disappearing, collapsing boot floors, big hole in a front wing etc.

I thought only Classics rusted !!

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