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Bubbling roof paint

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Hi Grand Tourismo.

Please could I have a copy of the (carefully anonymised) mail that you have mentioned. It would be a great reference.

Thanks
Hi there The Spoddy,
Given your vehicle was my inspiration to get an MP in the first place I think that is the least I can do! Here you go.....

Roof mail.png
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Hi there all I now have my roof replaced and after talking to and writing to Mercedes’ thay have confirmed that :-
as the roof was replaced after warranty ran out and I did not pay to have it fixed then there was no warranty on this roof
if there is any claim then it’s up to the good will of the garage to repair and if not it’s all down to me !
Terrible as if the roof had been available in time then it would have been replaced whilst the vehicle was still in warranty
Hi Rodders,
I’m not entirely sure what you have been told is true.
If your vehicle is out of warranty then the new roof should be covered under the MB parts warranty of two years....I refer you to an email I received from MBUK further down in this thread.
Might be worth seeking clarification from your dealer and MBUK.
 

thespoddy

Member
I’m not entirely sure what you have been told is true.
If your vehicle is out of warranty then the new roof should be covered under the MB parts warranty of two years....I refer you to an email I received from MBUK further down in this thread.
Might be worth seeking clarification from your dealer and MBUK.
I don’t believe it! Well actually I do. I have blisters again. My roof was replaced in March last year so it has only been through one winter. My roof was replaced fairly quickly and I have read that people are waiting close to a year. So I’m assuming mine was old stock and hoping a new one would be new stock and fault free.
 

Scumpy

Member
Sorry for you mate.
I'm not getting any response from dealers in regard to what VIN are affected and still waiting for MBUK to reply.
Is it certain years of manufacture or is that to simple
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Sorry for you mate.
I'm not getting any response from dealers in regard to what VIN are affected and still waiting for MBUK to reply.
Is it certain years of manufacture or is that to simple
Have you phoned MBUK Scumpy, make a bit of noise...."squeaky wheel gets the oil" and all that!
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
I don’t believe it! Well actually I do. I have blisters again. My roof was replaced in March last year so it has only been through one winter. My roof was replaced fairly quickly and I have read that people are waiting close to a year. So I’m assuming mine was old stock and hoping a new one would be new stock and fault free.
:Headbang: :mad:
Sorry to hear that Spoddy, I have now heard of two cases of roofs replaced after autumn '20 which have repeat failed...which is not good as I had hoped that Sept '20 was the watershed moment for failures.
I had my roof replaced by MB Northampton in Nov'21 and they were fairly good about everything so your should be OK

Please keep updating the questionnaire as you progress along and keep us all informed.
 

Scumpy

Member
GT. I sent an email in the week, I'll chase up early next. I'm waiting for final confirmation of my car being written off, then it's full throttle to look and buy.
I'm in Devon but had seen and spoken about one in Grimsby, the salesman to be fair admitted he knew very little. I told him about the roof problems, next day I've had an email telling me there is a fault and they'd no longer be selling the vehicle. No response yet asking why its not being repaired and then sold. Maybe it's easier to sell on to cazoo cinch etc etc??
My position is probably not a normal MP owner as this will be full time until I can have a conversion done 2023 fingers crossed or along the lines of Westfalia Sven hedin but even those are getting bad reviews about insulation on their forum.
There is one on here for sale but until I know about mine I need to hold tight.
I like security so having a years warranty appeals but maybe a MP owner will be more thorough and knowledgeable.
Sorry I rabbit on, I'll never change
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
GT. I sent an email in the week, I'll chase up early next. I'm waiting for final confirmation of my car being written off, then it's full throttle to look and buy.
I'm in Devon but had seen and spoken about one in Grimsby, the salesman to be fair admitted he knew very little. I told him about the roof problems, next day I've had an email telling me there is a fault and they'd no longer be selling the vehicle. No response yet asking why its not being repaired and then sold. Maybe it's easier to sell on to cazoo cinch etc etc??
My position is probably not a normal MP owner as this will be full time until I can have a conversion done 2023 fingers crossed or along the lines of Westfalia Sven hedin but even those are getting bad reviews about insulation on their forum.
There is one on here for sale but until I know about mine I need to hold tight.
I like security so having a years warranty appeals but maybe a MP owner will be more thorough and knowledgeable.
Sorry I rabbit on, I'll never change
I may be wrong but I think I know that car at Grimsby....
There are always nice MP’s about and I know of a beauty coming up on here soon...(not mine by the way!) ...my advice enjoy the ride and only pull the trigger on the perfect vehicle for you!
 

1508ian

Member
Well here we go again - we had our 2019 reg MP roof replaced last spring because of roof paint blisters. Checked it today and, guess what, same pin head blisters appearing again, mainly around the edges of the dip where a sunroof would be.
What's the experience of getting MB to replace a second time? Are they sticky about the warranty?
 

thespoddy

Member
Well here we go again - we had our 2019 reg MP roof replaced last spring because of roof paint blisters. Checked it today and, guess what, same pin head blisters appearing again, mainly around the edges of the dip where a sunroof would be.
What's the experience of getting MB to replace a second time? Are they sticky about the warranty?
Sounds exactly like my position! Is your MP still less than 3 years old? If so, you should have no problem. I just reported mine with about 6 weeks to go on the 3 year warranty!
I have made a big fuss, saying that Mercedes have simply replaced a faulty part with another faulty part that has lasted less than 12 months and that this is not good enough.

My last camper was over 20 years old and the fibreglass had no such problems!
 

1508ian

Member
Yes ours was first registered August 2019 and bought in October 2020 from MB Edinburgh as an ex-MB vehicle. Roof blisters were identified soon after purchase, and roof was replaced in March 2021. At the moment I don't have GT's confidence that the issue is sorted if the replacement roofs fail again so quickly.
I'll see how the dealer responds...
 

Steve B

Active Member
Checked mine after washing at the weekend and its still blister free, that's about a year. It is kept under cover though, wonder if this is prolonging the inevitable?
 

Steve B

Active Member
Quite possibly. Does it ever get frosted up?
No, not since replacing. We didn't use it much because of following govt guidelines (not govt practice though!) through the various stages of lockdown , so wasn't left outside, always undercover.
 

1508ian

Member
No, not since replacing. We didn't use it much because of following govt guidelines (not govt practice though!) through the various stages of lockdown , so wasn't left outside, always undercover.
Ours sits outside also and it does seem as if it’s frosty nights in particular which result in the bubbles appearing.
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
On mine the bigger bubbles appeared around the last 1/4 of the roof, just all over and then I found many finer pimples around where the seal joins the roof.
In my opinion there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why it occurs to some, not others...where it occurs on some and not others.
The questionnaire shows that clearly in the results....it seems randomised, age, colour, storage conditions, length of time after replacement.
Maybe frost exacerbates a pre-existing condition (I know it does with me!) or maybe we are all more vigilant in the frosty conditions, somehow looking for the issue more.
The theory that it is somehow related to the fibreglass curing process in construction seems to be plausible but I don't know.
 

1508ian

Member
On mine the bigger bubbles appeared around the last 1/4 of the roof, just all over and then I found many finer pimples around where the seal joins the roof.
In my opinion there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why it occurs to some, not others...where it occurs on some and not others.
The questionnaire shows that clearly in the results....it seems randomised, age, colour, storage conditions, length of time after replacement.
Maybe frost exacerbates a pre-existing condition (I know it does with me!) or maybe we are all more vigilant in the frosty conditions, somehow looking for the issue more.
The theory that it is somehow related to the fibreglass curing process in construction seems to be plausible but I don't know.
Are you on your second roof too?

So far all the bubbles on mine are quite small but I suspect that’s because they’ve only just started to appear. Although it may also be that because it’s so dark in Scotland in December that I’ve only just noticed them….
 

Grand Tourismo

Active Member
Are you on your second roof too?

So far all the bubbles on mine are quite small but I suspect that’s because they’ve only just started to appear. Although it may also be that because it’s so dark in Scotland in December that I’ve only just noticed them….
No, my vehicle was on its first replacement roof, done in Nov '21...but I sold my MP fairly recently.
 
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