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Bubbling roof paint

Carol

Active Member
I’ve been unlucky and experienced this bubbling problem on two vehicles. I experienced it on my first Marco Polo - a Marco Polo Horizon - the body shop on inspection ordered another roof. I actually changed to a new Marco Polo before the work was ever carried out, but Mercedes impressed me with this solution rather than wanting to paint the problem.
My other experience was with a Niesmann+Bischoff motorhome. The Hymer groups solution was to strip and respray all the effected areas which was every bit of fibre glass.(bonnet, wheel arches, rear panel) They did this at their expense. The solution didn’t solve the problem as bubbles reappeared. The second time they didn’t want to accept any responsibility (warrant lapse) but in the end they paid half of the £8500 bill to do the work again.
What I’ve learned during these episodes is the problem occurs when the fibre glass isn‘t left to breath/lose moisture for long enough before its painted and put onto your vehicle. I’m not sure if it can be sorted by stripping, re-prepairing, and re-painting. The problem for me on both vehicles happened over the winter I think caused by frosts. The bubbles actually reduce in size in the summer.
I think worryingly for all of us these problems are well known by our manufacturers, they are caused by problems in their manufacturing processes. They understand the causes but are very reluctant to share what they know (to limit liability)Presumably they can identify possibly effected batches, but they do not do recalls. And finally sadly if enough time goes by they don’t want to deal with the problems at all (because of cost)
Its worth inspecting your vehicle as we come out of the winter as the sooner you start the complaint process the more likely your going to get help and a solution.
 

Carol

Active Member
Yes l am waiting now for my 3rd roof , definitely poor workmanship as l had a VW T5 specialist conversion with fibre glass roof, kept it for 8 years no blistering or roof problems at all , bodyshop new what they were doing
 

Paul Hellawell

New Member
Hi Paul - my experience with this issue tells me that your new roof would have been covered under the vehicle warranty when it was replaced, rather than the 2 years MB parts warranty.
Given this I would expect that any new rectification work would be classed as a genuine "gesture of goodwill".
That being the case, personally, I would seek the goodwill of MBUK by contacting them in a positive and friendly way before pushing the legal button.
Start with you local dealer, then when that bounces customer services, when you get a push back from here you will need to escalate the problem into a formal complaint which will drive it onto the desk of MBUK - aim for your issue to be dealt with by Harry Clarke and see what can be done.

Good luck!
It took a while, but the dealer (who were great the first time the roof was replaced) confirmed today that a second replacement has been approved by MBUK, so now it's just the wait to see how long it takes. Three roofs in less than 10k miles. Anyone wan to buy a Marco Polo? :p
 

thespoddy

Member
I’ve had good news today. I reported my roof blisters a few weeks before my warranty ran out (this will be my second replacement). They accepted the claim, that was a few months ago. The dealership got in contact today and said the work can be done in July and it WILL have a two years parts and labor warranty.
 
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