Paint Failure - Any options?
Discussion
I've got a 22 plate A class which has paint peeling off a panel below the drivers side doors.
It was checked out at Leeds by their warranty manager and he came back and said that it wouldn't be covered and that I should take it up with Stratstone Bradford where I bought it from as they would likely repair under good will. However that dealership has shut down. I then tried Huddersfield but they have said they wouldn't do anything under goodwill as they have budgets to work to and not their responsibility to repair a car bought from somewhere else.
I then took this up with Mercedes Benz customer service who came back and said there was nothing that could be done after trying Leeds and Huddersfield under goodwill.
Do I have any other avenues I can take this claim down or is it just one of those that I'll have to suck up? Certainly puts you off buying another car from them.
It was checked out at Leeds by their warranty manager and he came back and said that it wouldn't be covered and that I should take it up with Stratstone Bradford where I bought it from as they would likely repair under good will. However that dealership has shut down. I then tried Huddersfield but they have said they wouldn't do anything under goodwill as they have budgets to work to and not their responsibility to repair a car bought from somewhere else.
I then took this up with Mercedes Benz customer service who came back and said there was nothing that could be done after trying Leeds and Huddersfield under goodwill.
Do I have any other avenues I can take this claim down or is it just one of those that I'll have to suck up? Certainly puts you off buying another car from them.
Have they explained why it's not covered? Are they suggesting it's the result of damage?
I'm sure you know this, but it's worth remembering that the warranty is with Mercedes-Benz UK themselves, not the individual dealership who simply do the work and then recharge it to the warranty. Any Mercedes dealer can carry out warranty work on a Mercedes vehicle, so one dealer fobbing you off to another is unhelpful.
Have you contacted Mercedes UK customer service? That would be my next port of call. If it were me I would expect a proper inspection of the car, and a written response explaining why they believe the warranty doesn't apply. You could then get the car inspected independently and pursue if the findings were different.
I'm sure you know this, but it's worth remembering that the warranty is with Mercedes-Benz UK themselves, not the individual dealership who simply do the work and then recharge it to the warranty. Any Mercedes dealer can carry out warranty work on a Mercedes vehicle, so one dealer fobbing you off to another is unhelpful.
Have you contacted Mercedes UK customer service? That would be my next port of call. If it were me I would expect a proper inspection of the car, and a written response explaining why they believe the warranty doesn't apply. You could then get the car inspected independently and pursue if the findings were different.
sam.rog said:
Has it had paint before?
If not the. Its merc problem and should be covered under the corrosion/paint warranty.
Not during my ownership but there's lots of things which make me think something has gone on prior to my ownership. Here was my email to MB customer service with a full background storyIf not the. Its merc problem and should be covered under the corrosion/paint warranty.
Good evening,
I purchased an A Class (Reg ) from Stratstone Mercedes Bradford in February 2024. Apologies for the long email but I just wanted to give the full back story.
I had problems immediately as when I got the car home I found some significant damage to the bonnet which I had somehow missed at the dealership. This seemed strange for a car with only 2000 miles on it and I found it disappointing that the dealership had tried to keep this quiet and hope I wouldn't notice. I did consider rejecting the car but as I found myself in a position where I had already sold my car it was easier to let the dealership repair the damage and accept it. To be fair to them this was done quickly but there were still multiple minor defects in the bonnet paintwork to which the salesman said "if you wanted a new car you should have bought one". Not a great experience and one which meant I had no intention of ever using that dealership again.
A couple of months later I noticed some paint starting to fail and peel away below the drivers side doors. See photos attached. As the car was due its service a few weeks later I decided to wait until then to show it to someone. The service took place at the end of June and was carried out at Mercedes Leeds. A person from their bodyshop team came out to take some photos and said they would send them to the warranty department for them to make a decision. I chased this up every 3-4 weeks and eventually they asked me to call in on the 9th September so that the warranty manager could have a look.
The warranty manager said that he had never seen anything like it and felt that I had caused the damage in some way. Given that the panel is set back from the rest of the bodywork it would be near impossible to damage that area and not anywhere else. It is clearly a defect with that particular panel. He took some photos and said that it is unlikely to be approved by warranty but that there was a good chance they would do it under good will. I finally received a decision on the 21st of October (4 months after the service) which said that it will not be covered under warranty and because I had purchased the car from Bradford it would be on them to authorise a repair under good will. During this time I also noticed that the alloy wheel centre caps are different on the drivers side vs passenger side, see photos attached. The ones on the passenger side are the correct ones which this model/year of A250 came with from the factory whereas the ones on the drivers side (where the paint damage is) are not. I cannot find the original advert from when Bradford had it for sale to prove this was the case and I'm hoping that you may have some way of finding this?
I contacted Braford on email at the end of October and didn't hear anything. I have since found out that the dealership has closed which is why I'm now contacting yourselves to try and reach a resolution.
It seems extremely strange to me that a car with only 2000 miles on it, which was transferred from a dealership in Milton Keynes to Bradford (not sure if this is normal practice?), had a damaged bonnet, had different wheel centre caps and has paint failing/peeling on that same side. It seems to me like it may have been in some sort of accident, has been repaired and the paint now peeling off is the result of a poor repair. Unfortunately I have no way of proving this.
This is the first Mercedes I have owned and to say it has been a poor experience would be an understatement. I appreciate that the A Class is the entry model and that you sell cars for many multiples of its price so it doesn't really take priority when people have problems but I really did expect better from a premium brand.
I look forward to hearing from you and hope that you will be able to help.
I'd push a bit more on the "Approved Used" part, asking for the original inspection report etc.
From what you've described (and that it's a 2022 car which only did 2000 miles in a period when cars where in high demand) I'd suspect it has been damaged in an accident and repaired badly which is now showing up. With the shortage of parts over the last two years, it could easily have been waiting for parts for a year or more particularly if it was on a fleet rather than private owner.
I don't think there's any requirement for "Approved Used" cars not to have been repaired after an accident, but they should have been done to manufacturer's specification if they are.
Only other possible cause of that damage I can think of which could have been more recent would be if someone had been trying to lever that bit of trim off below the sill. People do try to steal exterior parts off cars sometimes when they're parked overnight in secluded locations, a mate had his door and bumper trims stolen when parked in a not very nice part of London a few years ago. A close look should be able to check for this though- if all the damage is only on the sill and none on the trim below it couldn't be that.
From what you've described (and that it's a 2022 car which only did 2000 miles in a period when cars where in high demand) I'd suspect it has been damaged in an accident and repaired badly which is now showing up. With the shortage of parts over the last two years, it could easily have been waiting for parts for a year or more particularly if it was on a fleet rather than private owner.
I don't think there's any requirement for "Approved Used" cars not to have been repaired after an accident, but they should have been done to manufacturer's specification if they are.
Only other possible cause of that damage I can think of which could have been more recent would be if someone had been trying to lever that bit of trim off below the sill. People do try to steal exterior parts off cars sometimes when they're parked overnight in secluded locations, a mate had his door and bumper trims stolen when parked in a not very nice part of London a few years ago. A close look should be able to check for this though- if all the damage is only on the sill and none on the trim below it couldn't be that.
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