Tiny blisters on roof

Just got my MP back from Mercedes Benz of Reading after the roof was replaced. I have to admit to being very nervous about this replacement given the tales of woes on the forum ! It is still very early days, but having inspected it from both the inside and outside, having raised the roof and closed it (all in their undercover Service Handover Bays) I have to say that my nervousness was unfounded. They have completed the job very thoroughly and I am mightily relieved !! I know they have carried out this work on other MP’s and that they also have a lead technician that specialises on the Marco Polo. I’m sure this previous experience helps !! I cannot fault the work done by MB of Reading.


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Andy B said:
....I know they have carried out this work on other MP’s and that they also have a lead technician that specialises on the Marco Polo. I’m sure this previous experience helps !! I cannot fault the work done by MB of Reading....
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Haha, my MP was the first to have the roof swapped at Reading. It took them two weeks to swap over as they had to figure out how to do it and also order some rails I believe. Not a problem as I had a nice loan car and their service people were as professional as they always have been from my past 15 years experience with them with various MBs. So far everything seems to be working fine
 
RFT said:
My replacement roof is now blistering and technician coming out next week to view and place a claim. I understand that every replacement roof carries a 2 year warranty. Must be costing Westfalia a fortune. Never seen this on a GRP boat.
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What’s the progress like , l now have to take to body shop for them to check blistering on my new roof, the roof only 11 months old , looked ok when l washed just before the first frosts ,is there anything written stating the roof has a 2 year warranty
 
Just been told that body shop will order the correct part , seemed to dismiss fact that it will be my 3 rd roof , now got to contact CEO MB uk , so will write to him , also told cannot have a warranty on a warranty , ie if l get another dud roof it’s my problem not MB
 
Dig your heels in and go in hard when writing to the CEO. Tell them that the local dealer’s statement about about “warranty on warranty” is completely unacceptable.

MB have knowingly completed a repair with a faulty part which was not fit for purpose.
You are entitled to a guaranteed repair.
You might also wish to also indicte that you have incurred costs; as a minimum the pro-rata insurance and road fund licence when the vehicle was not available to you. A courtesy vehicle is not an adequate substitute unless they offered you a camper for sufficient time to go camping !

A chat with local trading standards and Citizens Advice Bureau might be useful.
 
Just written a letter to CEO at Milton Keynes we need to know that the replacement isnt going to blister when its out of warranty . Since new had 2 replacement roofs already . I think all members with this same problem should write to the CEO at Milton Keynes .as MB need to address the problem. Otherwise we will all have blistered roofs out of warranty and our vans will be devalued .
 
I wrote to MB UK in Dec2020 ,regarding the continual roof blister problem, I said all I wanted was some guarantee that my next roof does not blister. They were adamant that I must discuss with my local dealer and if I felt it was a technical issue he would have to raise the issue on my behalf.He came back to stating MB was not aware of a roof problem ,which I am surprisedat as I counted 38 owners on this site and a further 8 on facebook.
 
MB dealers in the UK have replaced 100 roofs now and my MB approved bodyshop is doing their 11th (my 2nd). He is being disingenuous..
 
Tell the dealer to go and check again! There are 7-800 Marco Polos in the UK, if 100 have had their roofs replaced, that's a BIG problem which they will definitely know about.
 
Mine is in at present having the roof replaced, so another one to add to the list. MB are authorising the roof replacements so maybe a junior clerk is doing it without senior people knowledge!! A bit like DAB radio (my hobby horse), had to dumb down comand to FM only as you can't fit an aerial to the MP according to MB - that is until you can fit an aerial,like today.
 
It was more a reference to the fact that today's models have DAB, so somehow the amazing technicians at MB solved that world beating problem of a fibreglass roof stopping it being fitted. I intend to upgrade the comand to CarPlay so will get it through that.
 
Steve B said:
A bit like DAB radio (my hobby horse), had to dumb down comand to FM only as you can't fit an aerial to the MP according to MB - that is until you can fit an aerial,like today.
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I’ve previously had 2 cars fitted with DAB that had the aerial in the windscreen.
 
GeorgeG said:
I’ve previously had 2 cars fitted with DAB that had the aerial in the windscreen.
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I think the FM aerial is in the windscreen currently, it just baffled me. Would be interesting to see the decision meeting minutes when someone decided to put a significantly outdated solution into an expensive vehicle when there was a simple option available. I was reading the tyre scrubbing thread; hope MB don't read that, they will probably cure it by mechanically reducing the turning circle to that of an oil tanker!
 
ClaireDe said:
As Carol has pointed out in her profile post, we have discovered tiny blisters on the roof of our MP. Has anyone else got the same? Anyone been to MB about it?
We will talk to MB and let you know what they say. FYI our MP is 2018 model.
Thanks ClaireDe
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It’s a common problem but your local MB will only be aware if somebody has already taken one to them. I also asked them about the 2-year gas system service as mentioned in the handbook and they looked blankly back. They don’t normally deal with motorhomes and there are so few MPs around. We discovered our bubbles (some the size of 2p coins so not micro at all) a few weeks after buying second hand last summer, took it to MB in Stratford upon Avon who had their repair shop inspect and photo it, put in the warranty claim and did the work to suit me. Looks like new apart from the lack of Westfalia logo that MD just said wasn’t important which I was a bit miffed about but actually it means it’s not obviously a motorhome and doesn’t worry me.
One point that I asked about was the warranty on the new roof and they said it was still the original 3 years on the vehicle and no longer. I think I read somewhere that it would be more than this for repair work and MD said this might be the case had I contributed. Had I known beforehand I might well have contributed but I don’t know what level of contribution is needed. I will keep an eye in case it happens again before the 3 years is up.

I also heard somewhere that it might be related to ice on the roof and extreme heat. I did notice in the recent freeze that there nice round ice spots in the right size range formed on the polished surface so I wonder if it is related to this - differential shrinkage under the ice spots perhaps.
 
RichardP said:
Tell the dealer to go and check again! There are 7-800 Marco Polos in the UK, if 100 have had their roofs replaced, that's a BIG problem which they will definitely know about.
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I agree with you , l notice on Honest John’s website other M B owners not MP s had paintwork problems
 
David Fearon said:
It’s a common problem but your local MB will only be aware if somebody has already taken one to them. I also asked them about the 2-year gas system service as mentioned in the handbook and they looked blankly back. They don’t normally deal with motorhomes and there are so few MPs around. We discovered our bubbles (some the size of 2p coins so not micro at all) a few weeks after buying second hand last summer, took it to MB in Stratford upon Avon who had their repair shop inspect and photo it, put in the warranty claim and did the work to suit me. Looks like new apart from the lack of Westfalia logo that MD just said wasn’t important which I was a bit miffed about but actually it means it’s not obviously a motorhome and doesn’t worry me.
One point that I asked about was the warranty on the new roof and they said it was still the original 3 years on the vehicle and no longer. I think I read somewhere that it would be more than this for repair work and MD said this might be the case had I contributed. Had I known beforehand I might well have contributed but I don’t know what level of contribution is needed. I will keep an eye in case it happens again before the 3 years is up.

I also heard somewhere that it might be related to ice on the roof and extreme heat. I did notice in the recent freeze that there nice round ice spots in the right size range formed on the polished surface so I wonder if it is related to this - differential shrinkage under the ice spots perhaps.
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On all my roofs the lumps / blisters come as soon as the frosts
 
Its not as if fibreglass bodied cars are new and this is the first time out for it in a range of weather conditions. Not sure why this issue isn't solved? My new roof should be on next week, fingers crossed its able to withstand the brutal extreems of the British temperate climate......
 
you are right nothing new about fibreglass , a few cars lotus , bond equip, reliant , they were all fibreglass , my last camper l had for nearly 8 years was a custom conversion VW t 5 , with a fibreglass roof , no problems with that roof , what about sailing boats don’t think owners would tolerate blisters on them
 
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