Over the past 30 years I have been lucky to own 12 Mercedes. I bought my current 320CLK new in September 2002. Before it was 2 years old, the front of the car was resprayed under warranty, due to paint defects. I was about to change the car 3 years ago but unfortunately I was diagnosed with cancer of the eye. Three years later after radiotherapy and 3 ops I am still living and I would like another Mercedes, as the car has now covered 85,000 miles.

However, on close inspection there is extensive rust over both the rear arches and even 3 points of bubbling paint on the boot lid. MB customer service repeats the mantra of over 8 years old, which is fair enough, but do these cars have a history of rust problems and is Mercedes entitled to close its eyes if there is an existing paint problem?