Expert: William Forster - 8/5/2008

Question
I recently had my car repaired at an autobody shop. They had to replace the right front fender and match the paint. When I picked the car up there were two 5mm punctures to the top of the passenger armrest. This car is a 05 Mercedes C230 in excellent condition. They are trying to convince me to let them patch the damage rather than replace the part. The armrest is part of the door panel so they would have to replace the whole panel. The are not willing to take on this larger expense. I am trying to find out more about this process and how long it will last. Can you give me any advise? I want them to replace rather than repair since I will have the car a long time. Any opinions or advise would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer
I really have no idea how a body repairman would cause punctures in the armrest of your 4 year old mercedes by replacing the fender. That makes no sense. I would personally balk at the idea of being accused of such damage on a car with this much age on it- you would also have a hard time convincing a judge the interior was absolutely flawless. If the technician knowingly did it, he would have surely repaired it without your knowledge so as not to draw your ire- and you would have never known the difference. This is another reason I personally have my doubts. You may just not have noticed them before the car was repaired, or yes, the tech may be careless. It's possible, but I gotta tell ya, I wouldn't give a Mercedes to anyone but my most trusted repairman. But, then again, not everyone is me. So, it's possible- I just don't find it probable. I would call it about an 80-20 split, 70-30 at best- (in their favor) but not beyond the realm of possibility. Either way, Let them try to repair it, and see how it turns out. There are many methods of repairing such damage that will result in a long lasting repair. The key is cleaning the armor all and such completely from the interior panel. They will have the solvents and cleaners to do that. A properly repaired interior part will last a long time. If you are not totally satisfied after the repair, you will have no choice but to try to sue the body shop. Bill