| I also have a 112 CDI. I bought it when it was 3 years 2 months old with 40K on the clock with a full Mercedes history. I noticed some rust coming through in places then. Took it to the Mercedes bodyshop thinking it would be covered under warranty(cars usually have a 6 year warranty and some are much longer now). The manager there agreed that it was all manufacturing problems and shouldn't be like that after 3 years. He also said there would be no problem getting it done as my van was obviously well looked after,not abused.(Oh yeah the front bonnet slam rail was badly rusted at 3 years old!!) When he sent the claim to Mercede's warranty department they refused everything as the warranty is ONLY 3 YEARS!!!!!!! How crap is that. They wouldn't do a thing to help even though it was only 2 months past the 3 years.I worked for a Mercedes bodyshop for 3 years from 1998-2001. The old Mercs were excellent but the newer ones coming through were no better than Fords and Vauxhalls of the same period.
I had rust pretty much like yours.Luckily I used to be a painter/panelbeater so could fix it myself. Because of this I was able to spend plenty of time doing the job right which no bodyshop could do unless you paid a fortune for the labour. I ground out all the rust and anywhere I couldn't get into shot blasted it. I put a thick bead of sealer aaround all the wheelarch lips along with stonechip protector before painting. Had to remove all the doors and paint the insides too, particularly the bottom of the doors where they touch the door seals. After painting I stuck duct tape on the bottom of the doors so that the seals can't wear through the paint again and also behind the outer door mouldings which appear to rub through the paint too. Then I trimmed the rear number plate holder so this does not touch the paintwork in the corners.
I had rust in the joint below the roof line on both sides. When I scraped out the sealer it had bare metal under it. In 15 years of repairing cars I've never seen that before. There should always be primer in the joints before sealer is applied. if this is the way Merc cut corners now-a-days there's no wonder vito's rust.
Love the van but hate the rust problems |