My MB is rusting
 

I recently purchased a '00 C230, a MB lease return from Michigan (I live in Arizona and bought it from a used car lot there). I didn't notice any rust at first, but after the first good wash, I noticed a slight amount of rust on the lower driver side panel and the trunk lid edge. I called the local MB dealer thinking that all cars had a 5-year rust/corrosion guaranty. After some digging, the answer was "no, we don't cover rust". I looked in the manual and there was no mention of rust/corrosion being covered. I can't believe a '00 Mercedes is rusting out.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Is there any paint missing that got scratched & should have been touched up ?
The keyword here is " Michigan ".
Can you say rustbelt?
Lease vehicle owners are NOT known to take very good care of cars, that's why I would never buy a previously leased vehicle. ;)

In Europe Mercedes has a THIRTY year rust warranty on their cars. ( think started in model year 2002 but could be earlier )

go to their international site to verify, not that it will help you,.

Rusting
 

This is unfortunately a known problem with late MBs due to bad paint. In Europe MB is changing the doors, trunk lid and hood + repaint in bad cases. More discussion on rust and warranty issues in European forums, e.g. here:

http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=18

Here in Michigan, we prefer to buy cars from places like Arizona. Most of us would find it a bit strange that someone living there would buy one of our castoffs; our Department of Transportation has never met the vehicle its salt trucks couldn't eventually get to!