The contact owns a 1999 Mercedes Benz C230. The contact heard a banging noise while she was driving approximately 50 mph. Upon examination, the contact noticed that the front passenger side of the vehicle was resting on the front tire. She also noticed that the front passenger side coil spring mount fractured from the vehicle due to severe rusting. The vehicle was towed to a local repair shop where the contact was informed that the undercarriage had rusted severely and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The current and failure mileages were approximately 140,000.

- Louisa, KY, USA

Spring perch (mount) for the front spring on driver's side failed due to corrosion causing spring to be ejected under the car and fender to drop onto tire. Corrosion is undetectable by normal inspection because manufacturer uses a heavy, rubberized coating on underbody parts. Car was traveling at low speed so damage was minimal. At higher speeds, consequences could be severe. Investigation reveals that this is becoming a fairly common occurrence on Mercedes Benz W202 and W210 chassis. Failure has not been repaired, but is believed to require removal of remnants of the old perch, grinding of the frame to remove corrosion, and welding a new perch onto the frame. The spindle assembly and control arms will have to be disassembled to accomplish this and then reassembled and the suspension realigned.

- Merrimac, MA, USA