Within the first year the paint started blistering. It took a year to finally get Mercedes to get it painted. But they only painted the upper rear passenger panel and where the paint had been peeled off behind the drivers door on the lower edge of the panel. There were other small ares but they did not get fixed suggesting they were normal wear. Now there are multiple rust marks and some of significant size. Also at approximately 93000 kms. I noticed a chirping noise coming from what I believed to be drive shaft or universal joints. I told the service person about it when I was in for a sensor problem, which was fixed under warranty, and he said they didn’t have time to look at it that day.

I brought it to his attention again on another small warranty claim (another sensor I believe). And I was told they couldn’t find anything wrong at that time, although the noise was apparent to me all the time I was driving it. I finally booked a time to check out this ongoing noise from the drive shaft area. On inspection by the technician I was told that the vehicle needed a new transmission at a cost of $14,000. The vehicle now has 103,000 kms. On it and wouldn’t be covered under warranty - so my out of pocket cost. I reminded the service person that I had told him about the problem well before the 100,000 km warranty period. He had no record on his files about the problem. He suggested he would talk to his Ontario supervisor and see what could be done.

After a few weeks he called me and said the transmission would be replaced but I would have to pay for the labour costs. A $1,400.00 cost to me. I complained about this, because if you are replacing the transmission under warranty, does that not cover all the replacement costs? He suggested Mercedes did not legally have to replace the transmission because of the current kms. showing on the odometer. The vehicle now has 107,000 kms on it. Since there was no evidence of a report filed about the noisy rear end issue (even though it had been discussed a few times prior) so I paid for the install.

I leased this vehicle for a 5 yr. term but because of illnesses in the family I have decided to retire early. The lease term is until the end of July 2021. The residual amount is approximately $18,700.00. I contacted the dealer about getting out of the lease and was told that thy would only give me approximately $13,000.00 for it because of the mileage of 150,000 kms on it, which suggests they would have to put a lot of money in to the mechanics of it and also possibly have to paint it. I have a open lease which means I have the responsibility for ownership of the vehicle at the end of the term. When I acquired the van the salesman that sold it to me suggested that when the lease term came due I had three options. I could buy out the residual and therefore own the van, or the dealership would buy it back or Mercedes Benz would buy it. The value of this vehicle on the open market suggests between $19,000.00 and $23,000.00. People who have looked at my van (since l'm now trying to sell it) have all made remarks about the paint issue which has degraded the price to approximately $15,000.00 to 16,000.00.

This seems to me that I’m a victim here and paying the price. Any input on the paint issues others are having would be appreciated.