2000 Mercedes-Benz CL CL500 from UK and Ireland - Comments

I formerly worked in a MB dealership bodyshop & thankfully left that employment over 3 years ago. My job was office based & oh what a job it was! All those happy customers & the hours spent on the phone to MB Head Office!

My mother & father both drive Mercedes, the older one a 1996 C-Class (been a great car) & the other a 2001 C270 (not such a good car). The older car has rust on the boot lid only, & the newer has no rust at all. The old one looks otherwise like new at 110k miles, & the newer one looks a bit dowdy in my opinion at 55k miles, and is also quite badly scuffed & stone chipped now.

The old car has had no problems in 7 years of ownership, & the newer one has been a real problem car (mainly electrical faults) in only 2 years, & we accept it's only a matter of time before something else goes wrong with it.

What was a reasonably good value car on purchase, has turned into a money pit. None of the problems I add, have been covered by MB warranty. I should have known better, & put my mother off buying this car, but she wouldn't drive another brand of car... until now.

I cannot stress strongly enough... think seriously before buying any Mercedes (from 1993/94 (W202) models onwards).

They all rust very badly (not seen many problems with the A-Class), the steel seems to be of very poor quality (high iron content?) & the paintwork is thin & chips easily. Most have reliability issues from 2000 models onwards, & the quality just isn't there anymore.

I'd have liked an E300 TD Estate, but this will never happen. If you still want a Mercedes after reading all of these posts, check it over with a fine-tooth comb. On the W210 E-Class for example, check the wings, rear arches, tailgate & bonnet, lift the rubber door seals to check under them for rust in the door frames. The roof rusts too. In fact... probably better to walk & find a decent brand of car!

I hope MB might see the error of their ways & start producing good cars again; only time will tell if all the new models that have just been launched are worthy of the 3-pointed star.

I had a 2001 E320CDI, which I had thought would be an excellent car, having a full Mercedes service history.

How wrong I was; the electrics were as bad as my first car, a 1980's Fiat Panda, and the rust was worse!

The straw that broke the camels back was when it was diagnosed with a faulty turbo that was going to cost a fortune to fix. I struggled to get rid of it and lost a fortune; this was my 4th Mercedes and I have vowed NEVER to buy another, ever! If I ran my business the same way as Mercedes run theirs, doubtless I would be taken to court for supplying sub-standard products!

Isn't this thread of correspondence just too sad? Here is MB with all the money and the volume to spend on R&D to produce the very best cars, letting itself down on quality and service - the true foundation of all its success worldwide.

I have owned 5 MBs since 1988. Currently I run a 230E estate - owned from new in 1990 - now done 245,000 miles - no problems, drives 95% like new. I also have an SL500, 1995 model, no problems, drives like new. BUT, whereas I always used an MB main dealer for servicing (for quality reasons), now I do not - the dealership may look like a hospital, cool and clean, but over several services mine couldn't even bother to grease the bonnet catch (I had to get AA roadside assistance out to try to close the SL's bonnet after checking the oil and washer levels at a motorway services - embarrassing and time consuming or what?), stamp the service booklet or replace a cork I stuck in a battery cell as a temporary repair after dropping a cap behind the battery in the trunk - it's still there. So what else did they skimp on, that might really matter? Or what did they do that wasn't necessary? The faith I had is gone. I now use a Mercedes specialist I trust at less than half the price and five times the care & attention.

Having owned a 500SEC previously (lovely car) I was seriously looking at a beautiful CL500 - not any more, having read the above comments. I will hang onto the SL.

I just hope MB is reading this correspondence - it is worth far far more than the meaningless surveys they send (me) after servicing, which just seem to be filed or binned for all the effect they have - in my case anyway.

As I said it is all just too sad and MBs competitors have never been stronger.

As a current Lexus LS owner, I had been considering a new MB or perhaps a used CL500 at the dealership that I had been admiring, but after almost accidentally stumbling on this site I am thankful to all the posters for relating their experiences and will most definitely be reconsidering. It is such a shame that MB has allowed their longstanding reputation for quality to be diminished and now must play catch-up if they have any hope of reestablishing it. It will take quite some time as there may be quite a few rusted out MB's on the road in the public eye for a few years yet. Thanks to all for saving me a headache.

Regarding the poster two comments up. Thank you for your insights into the world of MB ownership experience. I agree with your belief that Mercedes has loosened the grip on producing superior automobiles that made them a premier marque. My comment is to sympathise with loyal MB owners such as ourselves who wish to service our cars with the dealer, but feel somewhat less than confident at times. I will however continue to support my local MB dealer and service dept. The cars that were engineered and built by MB are in my estimation the very best in the world for ride, comfort and handling capabilty as well the many safety features that come standard. On many MB message boards, it appears some folks enjoy the cachet of driving a Mercedes, but are unwilling to support the network that allowed us to benefit from the pleasure of owning such well engineered cars. They refer to the dealerships as "stealerships" and will only use the dealership as a last resort. This I find pitiful, as these ppl love the cars, but contribute nothing to the company. In short, I empathize with the reviewer as they seem loyal and genuinely concerned with the drop off in quality and service. For my part I will do my best to keep my CLK in optimal condition at the dealer and keep supporting the network. Thanx.

I drive an E280 CDi 2005 Model, does any one have rusting problems on cars of this age? I still have a lot of money tied up in Mercedes cars as my wife drives a C320 CDi 2006 Model.

I have driven and owned a lot of Mercedes cars and have always found them to be excellent products, I did notice when I bought a brand new M Class ML270 CDi 2004 that the water based paint was crap and that it got one stone chip on the bonnet where the paint seems to chip off in one large chunk and the rust set in very quickly. I got rid of it quickly!! My 2003 CLK 230 paint seemed OK and there was no rust after 3 years and 32000 miles., mind you the bloody alarm kept going off in the middle of the night so again I got rid of it. I always get my cars serviced at the dealership and find that my local dealer is superb, with a high degree of attention to detail.

So far after 1 year I have had no problems with the EClass (great car, fast good fuel economy) the C Class bonnet spring broke off, but it's a fantastic car and very fast again. Any comments would be greatly appreciated on 2005 cars onwards.

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone has a problem with MB S320 03, regarding a faulty seal on the radiator, which has allowed the coolant to get into the gearbox. I believe it is also in the E class 03, 04, and some 05's.

Hi there, I own a 2001 C230K sports coupe and I wish I had stumbled across this forum previously as a warning. I cannot believe the rust that has accumulated around the wheel arches and guess what MB are not going to fix the problem as I have missed a MB service.

The car has just 50,000 miles on the clock and the rust is unbelievable for a car of this caliber.

Well I'm collecting my new BMW tomorrow and can state I will never be a customer of Mercedes-Benz again.

I run at the moment a 2001 vw passat dieso estate "no rust" at all and was thinking of the new 2008 MB c200 estate or should I get another V DUB, is the rust still a problem in the 2008 MBs, jb.

The problems discussed concerning rust appearing under the paint on the rear quarter panels, seams, wheel well lip, doors and other areas of 2000 and up Mercedes Benz's is due to a combination of corrosion resulting from dissimiliar metals, lower quality metal with inadequate carbon content, poor design that does not allow moisture to escape, lack of adequate sealant and in particular lack of adequate corrosion proofing materials such as Zinc in the assembly of body panels where they are joined. Instead of addressing this thru a recall Mercedes has taken the position of non-acknowledgment and fix the problems as they occur hoping no one will notice.

Well, with all those rusts you guys have mentioned, MB is still ranked top in accident survival rate alone with Volvo. What I mean is, rust is ugly, but so what, it will not kill you like Hyundai's do. MB is still the best car out there, just with a slightly uglier appearance thanks to those brown spots. Personally I don't care about rusts or stonechips (oh well, even if my S-class got door-banged by the car parked next to me, I wouldn't bother to fix it). I don't buy MB for its apperance, but for its mechanical engineering, ie;things that relates to driving only.

And also think about it, MB is one of the greenest car in the world (according to TUV), so even though those paints don't lasts, at least they are not poisonous, they don't kill u, nor the planet.

Here I have to raise a point is that, Japanese car makers just don't care about your health nor the planet, they utilise ASBESTOS as noise isolator through out 1990's, some are still using them now. (for ppl who don't know what it is, ASBESTOS breaks down and if you inhall it, which you do cuz its placed right next to the aircon, it stays in ur lung and will cause cancer, with very high chance). The paint they use for car is DEFINITELY NON-EVIRONMENTAL friendly, and the dye for their leather is also very poisonous, that ppl with sensitive skin or inhalation system could easily find uncomfortable. (myself). The plastics they use are non-biodegradable. There are many examples like these and MB is just examplary: 95% of the car parts is recycleble or bio-degradable. All Lexus cares is SALES, and they achieve it by giving up your health and the plant's in the long run, also by the ignorance we have. For this reason alone, I never buy a Japanese car whatssoever.

I suggest readings into Porsche, MB, Volvo in relevance to their environmental schemes. I am very touched by these factories' deep feeling of responsibility into our planet's future, and as a human, I will certainly respond to their great thinking by supporting them.

C'mon, it's for our children too.

I am a owner of 2 Merc and I am chinese.

I currently own a 1998 S 280 with 95k miles. I have owned the car for 5years. Last year I had to renew the a/c compressor which I would think is normal wear and tear for a car that runs the a/c all the time. The car is built like a tank and there is no rust on it what so ever.

Today I went for a test drive in a 2003 CL600 bi turbo. What a fantastic ride, what performance! However as I climbed out my eye caught the bubbling paint on the wing just in front of the rear wheel. This caused me to have a closer look all around. Yes there was the same bubbling on the other side of the car and on the drivers door. Next stop was to look at a 2000 CL500. Yes it had rust in the same places. When I got home I found this site. I don't think it will be a merc that replaces my excellent old S class.

Regarding a previous comment defending Merc dealers and a rather strange comment that seemed to infer that by not using a merc dealer for servicing we were somehow taking money from Mercedes R&D. All the Merc dealers are independent and the money is certainly not going back to Germany. I too had a very bad experience with mercedes servicing. I am sure they were using YOP's trainees to do the work and certainly not £90 per hour mechanics. They managed to break every plastic part under the bonnet!

The inference wasn't that we were taking money from MB R&D. But that those people not willing to support the network and stand by the marque that supplies these cars, were perhaps contributing to the decline of the company. With so many complaints about shoddy service and minor rust driving people to abandon the dealer network, it does not look good for the future of MB.

Water-based paint is mentioned above. As I understand it, MB started using it in August 1995. However, for what it's worth, the boss of the bodyshop I use is not convinced that it is the explanatory factor in the shameful recent history of MB corrosion problems. The other factors mentioned above certainly to seem more likely to be the culprits.

Earlier MBs do rust. The W124 goes at the front wheel arches, as does the W126, which also goes at the base of the rear screen. However, they have all lasted a great deal longer than the more recent victims.

Things are reported to have improved since galvanizing came in in 2003, but there are still reports of corrosion emerging on later models.

I work in a large car body shop that carries out warranty work for Mercedes Benz. We constantly see the same rust problems on fairly new cars - door bottoms rusty - boot lid rusty - front wings rusty - rear wheel arches rusty.

Be aware of the problems before you buy - Merc's ain't what they used to be.