Mercedes A class paint corrosion

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Tue 21 Aug 2001 23:45
Mercedes A class paint corrosion - Liz Pierce
I have a year old metallic blue A160 Mercedes- I have just discovered the paint on the roof is corroding-masses of small circular areas have appeared.My Mercedes dealer says that it cannot be repaired under warranty as the problem must have been caused by something falling on the car.It has not been kept under trees. Has anyone else experienced this ?Liz
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Wed 22 Aug 2001 00:03
Re: Mercedes A class paint corrosion - Marc
What do the marks look like? You've not left bird droppings on there for any significant length of time have you? If not, a strongly worded letter to Daimler Chrysler HQ in Milton Keynes may be in order if that is the dealer's attitude. A lot of owners of recent Mercs seem to be complaining about the slip in quality of recent years - mainly C and E class
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Wed 22 Aug 2001 00:31
Get an expert to look at it. - David Woollard
Liz,

The roof would be an unusual area to corrode. And it is the area that could catch some contamination or pollution, and you would really notice it on the flat surface.

I (and many others here) could tell you in seconds if it was corrosion or something else. If something else we might struggle to tell you what though.

As this is an important issue why not find a decent but smaller bodyshop where the guy might give an opinion free and perhaps a written report for £30. Would be well worth it.

If you rely on the MB dealer you will rightly suspect he has some bias.

We have discussed such problems before and it is true to say modern paints are rather prone to this.

David
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Wed 22 Aug 2001 08:32
Re: Get an expert to look at it. - Ian Cook
An expert's inspection would be valuable, and I agree with David about roof corrosion being highly unlikely.

Are you sure there have not been bird droppings left on it? They don't take long to eat through the lacquer coat and they leave quite a distinctive mark. The surface within the blemish spot will appear crazed - overall, the colour will be the same but you won't be able to get the same shine as the rest of the panel with polish.
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Wed 22 Aug 2001 10:58
Re: Mercedes A class paint corrosion - Darcy Kitchin
Logic says that if it was something falling on the roof, it will also have fallen on the bonnet (what there is of it). What's the bonnet like?
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Wed 22 Aug 2001 11:35
Re: Mercedes A class paint corrosion - Ash Phillips
I had a black car with white undercoat. Parked it in a pub car park, whilst there a bloke started spraying the weeds around and abouts. Came back, lots of little tiny circular bits eaten thru. to the u/c, nose to tail on one side and bonnet and roof. Was I not pleased. Didn't seem to do a great deal on the weeds tho.
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