Question for M.B. Doc or other dealer person
 

I had some body work done on my car (hood, grille, headlights) and dealer parts were to be used. How do I know if this was really done? For example, the headlights look identical, identical mold marks, etc, in every respect except they say "Automotive Lighting" instead of Bosch. However I have the box they came in and it is a Mercedes box marked A 202 820 27 61. I was assuming I would get Bosch lights.

Mike, I replaced the glass lenses on my 202 last year, and I was told that Bosch had stopped making them. Mine were an Italian brand, but they were of excellent quality. They are the OE replacements now, so far as I know

Somewhere on the part it will have the MB part number, if it is genuine.

I think the lights are the real thing. I found this on "AL Automotive Lighting":
http://www.supplierbusiness.com/uploadedpdfs/Automotive%20Lighting(1).pdf
A joint venture between Bosch and Morelli. They are a major supplier to Mercedes and others. I am still curious anout the sheetmetal. I had a fender done some years ago and there is a sticker on it that says "RODOT" where the first "O" is the Mercedes star. But I can't find anything about them. My hood has no sticker but looks correct. But I don't have another to compare it to. Now I just need to round up all the little parts they forgot to put back on. Everytime I have had a car worked on (body) they always leave parts off, fasteners, little parts. And they leave things loose and disconnected. Is there any body shop in the world that does correct work?

[QUOTE=mpolli Is there any body shop in the world that does correct work?[/QUOTE]

No :(

Hard for me to even want a car after it's had to go to the body shop, because they really never can get it back to original. There's always some issue somewhere

So, specifically, is there a way to determine if the hood is genuine or not? I don't see any markings on it.

If the hood is a OE MB part it will have a R DOT sticker with a Benz logo.

AL lighting is a subsidiary of Bosch.

Do you know specifically where the sticker will be? Under the hood pad? Would a shop ever remove the sticker? Is there any other way to tell if it is real hood, if they claim they removed the sticker? Will the dealer they allegedly bought it from provide me any assistance to verify that in fact they bought a hood from them or didn't?

Can anybody tell me where the sticker should be on the hood? How do I know if the part is aftermarket or OEM? Thanks.

We REALLY, REALLY try to get it right, and HATE to have the customer come back with any kind of issue,,,,, but,,,, we are not perfect, and in 25 years, I can truthfully say, we have never done a "perfect" job. The vast percentage of those imperfect jobs, are issues only a trained eye can see, and are usually inevitable in most repairs. The factory has procedures and equipment that no bodyshop has and duplicating factory seams, welds and finishes is next to impossible, without a lot of personal, time consuming involvement. That being said, the leaving off of parts and trim, screws, or whatever, is totally wrong. Our techs know that when I check a job, I want to see factory gaps, the proper screw and bolts back exactly where they belong, and a finish that no one can pick nits over. And oh yes,,, everything better work the way it's supposed to and align properly and go down the road straight. I tell all our customers on a big job,,, "You will get your car back when I am happy with it." If I'm happy, chances are you will be too.

Looked at 2 new hoods, RDOT sticker was where the hood hinge bolts on.

Hi M.B.Doc,

Thanks for that answer. Can you tell me if it was on the drivers side or passenger side and was it on the inside or outside? Is it covering the mounting holes?

Thanks

M.B.DOC,
Can you say exactly where the sticker was?
Was it covering the mounting holes? What side, inside or outside?
THANKS!!!