CLC200 Rusted sunroof arms

[Jelfes]

Has anyone ever had these Sunroof Deflector Arms rust out like this. My car is always garaged with only 85,000 KM on the clock.
I took it to Mercedes last week for a Sunroof recall and they found both arms rusted that I've never noticed before. The left side is actually broken.
Mercedes say that its my problem and won't fix it. I told them that these should never rust out like this on their prestige cars especially when its always garaged.
I'm also looking at selling the car, but now I can't until I fix this.
Any responses would be appreciated.

[T-Modell]

Shocking. How old is your car? Afaik there’s a rust guarantee for quite a few years by Mercedes… didn’t they mention it?
Regards
Thomas

[Jelfes]

2009 Model. I've never heard of the rust guarantee nor was it mentioned by Mercedes.

[Ivanerrol]

2009 will be well beyond the MB rust gaurantee period.
But that seems to be an unusual rust problem.
You obviously don't open the roof often.
Panoramic roof?
I see rust stains and wet areas under the arms. Drain's blocked up?

[Jelfes]

Yes its a panoramic roof that we use in summer regularly.
We haven't used in quite a while due to the cold weather, nor have I ever noticed any rust on the arms before.
I've checked the drains and they appear to working fine.
I find it very odd that they would rust so bad on a prestige car considering the processes Mercedes uses on its cars for rust prevention. Its either a common problem on these parts or just a bad batch.
I'm still in the process of trying to Mercedes to replace them under some type of warranty or recall.

[T-Modell]

… considering the processes Mercedes uses on its cars for rust prevention…

That’s the problem, it doesn’t exist. Look at all the rear subframes of C,SLK, etc. Our SLK wasn’t rushed through, but I conserved it properly myself. They saved a few cents on wax…
Thomas

[Ivanerrol]

Australia is known as a virtually vehicle rust free country.
Even W124's, 126's etc are seemingly rustfree compared to Northern Hemisphere countries.
The dreadful rust prone W210 problems aren't known here.

Those pictures of the supports rust for the wind deflector are quite startling for an Australian car.

I'm reluctant to use the panoramic roof because of the mechanical problems not the perceived rust issues.

A visit to a Mercedes wreckers might be the answer here.

Caveat - any Queensland car residing in beach areas

[Jelfes]

I sent an email to Mercedes Australia to see if I get anything back.
The main problem here is that I took the car in for a recall for the sunroof. The recall was for the deflector which they told me that there was no problem.
After I got the car back I tested the sunroof to see if was functioning correctly. Thats when the rusty arm snapped. When I went back inside the guy showed me photos of the rusty arms on their system and said that it was my problem. The recall didnt cover it.
You would think that they would have said someting to me rather than giving me back the car without saying anything seeing the arms were connected the part that was recalled. The recall was because the deflectors are disbonding and flying off.
Icouldnt imagine if my wife went on a long trip and could close the roof if the weather changed.
Mercedes gas a responsiblity to advise the customer on such issues, especilly when its on a recall.
I have been an aircraft engineer for 43 years specialising in aircraft structures. The rust on these arms havd taken years to get this bad mainly from a poor finnish system or a bad batch of metal which can happen from time to time.
I will keep you posted on mercedes's reply.

[Bartman4800]

I agree with everything you said, from one engineer to another.

If the sunroof was in an unsafe condition, they were obliged to inform you about that. A good lawyer would make mince meat of them.

I don't believe in a bad batch of (sheet) metal, shithouse steel rusts just as fast as high tensile steel. (not talking about stainless)

But the surface coating on these arms leaves a lot to be desired. It's almost if they have been swimming in salt water.

Regards, Bart

[Ivanerrol]

They fixed the issue in later models.
All the sunroof arms and mechanism on my W213 are made of plastic.

The stealers mechanics couldn't have failed to notice the condition of those arms at the recall - they probably noticed how frail they were. They took images.
Should have been at least written on the report you received when getting the car back.

I'd guess the repair bill at a stealers would exceed the viable cost for what a CLC200 is worth.

My W211 is going back for a second sunroof recall.

[Jelfes]

I'm amazed that mercedes australia still haven't responded back to my email.
There was nothing written about the rust in their report I got back after the recall.
I feel like writing something on Facebook about it, but I don't if the Mercedes Australia page is the area I should be posting it on.