Rusting on its laurels

I remember some discussion in your column of the tendency of a certain era of Mercedes to be extremely rust prone. In our extended family we have an 18 year old Volvo 760 estate, a 14 year old Peugeot 106, a 12 year old SAAB 900 and an 8 year old Mercedes E 200K all owned from new and kept on the drive. The only one with rust problems is the Mercedes, which has problems on each wheel arch. The car was owned from new and regularly serviced at Mercedes Brooklands. Just before it reached 8 years we took the rust problem up with Brooklands who said we could be eligible for a goodwill payment. They took photos and sent them to head office who then asked for more photos and then rejected the claim. Appealing through all levels of management up to Germany got no resolution or explanation. We can't see us ever buying another Mercedes but the Peugeot 106 has been a revelation. Please share this with your readership.

Asked on 11 April 2009 by

Answered by Honest John

The MB W210 E Class rust problem, shared with W203 C Class and W220 S Class, is well known, due to cost cutting at the factory. The effect of it and other problems has been to destroy Mercedes Benz reputation for "quality" and led to a tumbling of its used car values. But this is good news for anyone buying a new Mercedes because, like a restaurant striving to recapture a lost Michelin star, Mercedes now has to try a lot harder to get its lost reputation back, so the new cars have to be a lot better.

Tags: rust technical issues owning bodywork

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