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Car in question 2002 Mercedes C270cdi Estate with 206000 miles.
There is slight bubbling on all four wheel arches one is worse than the rest and fair bit of bubbling round the number plate, these cars are notorious for these rust issues.
I have been quoted about £300 to cut out the rust from the number plate area fill and spray and sort out bubbling on wheel arches.
I know this is a good price but is it worth it ? Car cost me £1900 with full service history one owner etc...and gotta say really enjoy driving the car !
Here's my quandary MOT due in Sept as is a service, should I wait and see how the MOT goes and cost of service etc and then get rust sorted or have done now ? How much worse could/can the rust get in 4 months ?
I don't have the knowledge or time to take on doing myself.
I'm based in NORTH LONDON if anyone knows any good bodyshops !
Many thanks in advance
Mercedes have a bit of an issue with rust, [url= http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=mercedes+rust&oq=mercedes+rust&aq=f&aqi=g4&aql=&gs_l=hp.3..0l4.983.7051.0.7410.19.14.3.2.2.0.266.2825.0j7j7.14.0...0.0.oR_93Vhpr5E&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=fcb9ac591ad832df&biw=1366&bih=587 ]Google[/url] it and loads of links come up.
If it was me, I would wait to see what happens at MOT time.
There is a very good chance that you'll pay out to get the rust sorted and then it will appear elsewhere on the car.
Structural stuff - a stich in time saves nine, etc. Sort out a rust bubble now and it saves having to weld in a new sill later.
Cosmetic stuff, it'll never look perfect, even if you repsray the entire body at a cost of £000's. If you can get it done cheep and well then do it, otherwise I'd be tempted to leave it personaly as it'll never be a classic.
I know it will never be a classic but if its not sorted then it will get worse and I am hoping to keep for a few years if it goes through on the boot then its going to cost loads more to sort out even if I source a second hand tailgate.
£300 sounds fair. is it worth it? Think about if you don't do it now: what's the worst that can happen? And if you do it now: what's the best outcome?
DIY, if you want it done or pay the £300 if you want it pretty
£300 sounds fair. is it worth it? Think about if you don't do it now: what's the worst that can happen? IT GETS WORSE AND COSTS EVEN MORE TO FIX And if you do it now: what's the best outcome? IT WILL LOOK NICE !
& £300 is not going to break the bank
£300 sounds fair. is it worth it? Think about if you don't do it now: what's the worst that can happen? IT GETS WORSE AND COSTS EVEN MORE TO FIX And if you do it now: what's the best outcome? IT WILL LOOK NICE !
So you knew the answer to your question and you can easily afford it it seems. Were you really asking the question 'is this body shop's price right'? There's an easy way to find out - ring some more shops.
£300 would break the bank for me.
As a garage owner told me - Rust is like cancer, once you've got it you'll never get rid of it, it'll just come back somewhere else.
As a garage owner told me - Rust is like cancer, once you've got it you'll never get rid of it, it'll just come back somewhere else
And what did an oncologist tell you about rust? 🙂
of course £300 is a lot of money but in a cars upkeep its not thats part of the deal with owning cars and Id rather not spend it.
if it can keep the rust away for a few years then its gotta be worth it
Why not just buy a new tailgate from a scrapper?
looked at that phoned several none in stock and from what ive seen on ebay they are same condition as mine ! also not many on there
Re the MOT - if the rust isn't affecting the belt mounts then your fine.
Why not pop into your local MOT place- get it up on the ramp (pay him a small fee) and ask his opinion? IF he says fine- get it MOT'd now and/or rust sorted.
Lovely cars and only the rust is the prob IMO.
Re the tailgate- leave it. Its only rust. It'll just comeback anyway.
The joys of Merc's early experiments into new paint and cost savings (undersealing and galvinising) from the early noughties. Obviously there is a huge amount of discussion over on the Merc forums (clubMB) and many people have wings replaced although in most cases at this age of car it's cosmetic rather than structural. I'd agree with the other posters. Go through the MOT then see how that goes before spending more on bodywork.
You can never really sort out rust. It will be back!
between 1999 and 2003 rust has been a massive issue with MB