well everyone.. i just sold my car to carmax... no matter how many issues the car had, it was still hard removing all my stuff from it.... oh well it was bound to happen...

hope you guys don't mind me sticking around... i'll keep the offtopic forum busy

it was a fun ride.... except when it was pulling to the right

 

Of course, we want you to stay around. Are you preparing to return to Sri Lanka?

 

I really hope you'll stay around! Who else would keep the OT-forum alive?

 

Sorry to hear that.

The amount of lemons that this crop of C Class cars is truly amazing. Just the number of people on this list that have lemon lawed, sold, etc. is incredible. Never seen anything like it.

What are you going to replace it with?

 

Fuzzo - How much did Carmax pay for your car?

 

yes i am planning on heading back soon in the coming months... I got 27.5K from carmax.... I'm sure I could have gotten more had I waited a bit longer but didn't want to risk it... and carmax is very convenient as well....

so I will be riding around in the datsun till I go home...

 

oh and as a souvenir... i decided to keep the first aid kid from the car

 

Stick around, Fuzzo!!....Don't want to suffer from trivia withdrawl!!

 

SoCal240/6, Your capacity for negative overstatement is the only thing that amazes me here.

More than 40% of all the posts on MBWorld.org are made in the C-Class (W203) forum, indicating that there are a disproportionate number of C-Class members among the nearly 3,700 members of MBWorld.org. Let's say for argument's sake that 1/3 of the membership has a C-Class (approx. 1250 members). I've counted about 5-7 lemon lawsuits mentioned here. That hardly constitutes a ground-swell of lemon C-Class cars... about one-half of 1%.

As for the number of cars sold, I believe it's a matter of demographics. IMO, the majority of individuals on this forum with C-Coupes are "early adopters," consumers who buy what's hip today and ditch it tomorrow (literally) for the next new thing, like moths to a flame. This group of people have no loyalty to any car (and none is expected). The constant talk here about new cars just around the corner (Mini Cooper S, 350Z, C6 Corvette, Matrix, Subarus of one ugly sort or another) indicate that many here are looking to their next ride before the ink is dry on the paperwork and the payment book arrives for the current MB.

Among this group, I fully expect 90% of them to be gone from this forum within a year, so the current level of churn does not surprise me at all. My new issue of AutoWeek just arrived today with a "First Drive" story on the new Nissan 350Z. I fully expect that several will leave for this car, once it is identified as the "IT" ride of the month. I'm not throwing rocks at this group. All of us are early adopters of a wide variety of consumer goods.

SoCal240/6, it amazes me that you have kept your C240 this long, given that you hate everything about it so much.

 

Fuzzo... 27.5k, does this mean you will be getting a C-Coupe?

 

It's special.

It's a permanent hardtop "Cabriolet".

That must be the reason...

 

Its not negativity, its just fact. I've participated on various MB, Porsche and BMW boards (all of which have FAR more volume that this one) for almost 8 years now. (Which is like 100 years in "Internet years.")

I've never seen so many lemon law claims, returned cars, defects, etc. That is just an objective observation. The amount of trouble reported here, some of it serious, it incredible. You can bury your head in the sand, try to justify it, but its just a fact.

If my particular car had the problems that a lot here report, I'd be bummed. Fortunately, mine only had some minor problems early on, that seem to have been fixed.

But, I am a little worried, as I plan to keep the car for 15 years (as I do most of my BMWs and Porsches). I hope it holds together as I expected a MB would. Time will tell.

 

One example. I have participated on the E46 (current 3 series) board on bimmer.org since the car came out in 1998. That list has at least 5-6 times the posting volume of this list. Over the years, it probably has had 10-12 times the number of "regular" posters.

Honestly, I don't recall reading about one car that was lemon lawed, or even anyone that ever seriously considered it. Or anyone that sold their car because the dealer could not fix it, or because of too many problem.

Were there problems reported over the years? Of course. But nothing like the number and severity of the ones here.

That's just honest reporting by me.

Also, there are not 1250 "members" here. There have been maybe 20 "regulars." At the far outside, say 50. Of that number, a surprising number have considered or done lemon law, or just sold the car because of so many problems. Those are extreme measures, IMO, and in surprisingly high numbers.

 

Wrong, simply wrong. I've had very few problems with my car, none of them reliability issues. The vast majority here have no reliability problems, either. If there is any fact, and you know this as well as I, it's that this forum (like any other) brings out the folks who have issues, while the silent majority say nothing. It paints an unjustified sense of negativity, a situation in which you seem to masochistically revel.

Really? To hear your constant tirades, one would think yours is one of those few cars that spends more time at the dealer than in your hands.

Do us a favor, please. Stop cheering on those who are having problems with your cynical terms of agreement. If you can't do that, then please sell your C240, buy a Lexus, and set up your moan and groan shop on a Lexus board... Lexus' are perfect, but I'm sure you'll find something wrong, along with a fresh audience who might care to listen to your glass is half empty view of the world. As far as I'm concerned, you're wearing out your welcome here.

 

SoCal240, stop saying "Over the years", because we have not even been using these forums for one year. The Bimmer.org have more overall volume for two reason; they have been around a lot longer (Nearly seven years), and there are far more BMW's in the english speaking world than there are Mercedes-Benz. Bimmer.org has far more traffic, and do you know why? Because it has been around for nearly seven years. Here at MBWorld, we have not even been using these forums for a year, only eight months. And in those eight months, we have amassed to become the largest Mercedes-Benz discussion forum in the english speaking world. There are far more BMW's in the english speaking world, than there are Mercedes-Benz.

You claimed there have never been problems reported on such BMW and Porsche forums that can relate to the severity of the problems reported on these forums. You must not have heard about the spontaneous explosions of the E46 M3 engines, or the fire starting BMW X5's that would set themselves on fire for no apparent reason in the middle of the night in a nice cool garage? Those are SEVERE problems, the problems reported here are nowhere close to the severity of what has happened on the M3's and X5's.

Now let's get back on topic.

 

Yet one would think that the same "unjustified sense of negativity" would be present on BMW and Porsche boards, yet it does not seem to exist.

I think most would disagree with you. The number of lemon law claims and sold cars on this site is extraordinarily high. At least those that participate on other car boards and are being honest would disagree, I think.

Finally, I don't think I have gone on constant tirades on reliability issues. I don't have any real reason to. Although this has been the most unreliable new car that I have experience, I have been lucky and it has been some very minor things that were all fixed in a day (3 trips to the dealer for a total of 3 days).

I have gone on tirades about the dealership service, which has been awful. But those have all been provided with details, and the reader can draw their own conclusions (being lied to by the dealer, having them damage the car, etc. is not a lot of fun).

Sorry if my expressions of sympathy for those who have lemon C classes seem to bother you. I guess we should just all ignore them and ignore all the problems, like they don't exist. I feel bummed for those that have to sell their one year old cars because of multiple problems that the dealer can't fix. Its a major financial hit to lose the depreciation, sales tax, etc after only one year. $8,000 to $10,000 is a lot to pay to drive a car for one year.

Finally, I wasn't aware one needed a "welcome" to be here, or at least needed one from you. Hint: There is an "ignore" feature. Try using it - it will make your Pollyanna world more pleasant.

 

Back on topic...

So Fuzzo, what will you be purchasing when you go back to Sri Lanka?

 

When I say "over the years" I am talking about Porsche Rennlist, Bimmer.org, and others, not this site (of course). I totally agree for your reasons WHY bimmer.org has more traffic. My point was not related to why there is more traffic, just the fact that there IS a lot more traffic.

As far as the E46 M3 and X5, I don't know anything about them, I have not participated on those boards. Maybe you are correct and those cars are as lemony as the C seems to be. I don't know. It just seems that there are a fairly small number of "regulars" here (in the past 6 months) and of that small number, a good percentage have had a lot of problems, many of which resulted in getting rid of the car (by lemon law or otherwise) (I wonder if the same number of regulars at E46 M3 and X5 have had exploded engines or fires, I somehow doubt it).

 

Hey, thanks for the reminder. DONE! Congratulations. You are the first and only member on my ignore list. Have a nice day.

 

SoCal240,

The numbers of the E46 M3 and X5 are much larger than those of the few faulty C-Classes on MBWorld.

Also, you contradicted yourself when you stated above:

Then in your last post you go on to say:

I thought you have been participating on the E46 M3 forums for five years?

 

Hey Fuzzo i know how u feel, i just traded my Jaguar Xk8 in today for a CLK430 i felt so bad seeing them take it, because how well i took care of it and how much i loved it but i had to sell it because if i diden't i would loose more money. So When i saw the CLK430 there i had to have it right now i dont miss the jaguar that much till i see one. . But i do love my new car alot.

I agree the worst part is cleaning out your old car, its just very sad to me.

 

The Roadfly E46 board and the E46 M3 boards are separate, so it is possible to spend time on one without the other.

Considering the great effort that SoCal240/6 puts into debunking things like K&N filters, I am surprised at the absence of scientific method applied in his assumption that the C Class is unusually unreliable. Testimonials are useless in assessing this.

Instead, I'd suggest something like looking at Consumer Reports reliability (the E46 BMW was just demoted to "average" reliability, same as the W 203) or the following: the ADAC breakdown statistics for 2001:

 

I've been bothered by the number of lemon law posts here, but not because of the car, but the owners, one in particular. It seems some people on this board are "using" the lemon law for their own purposes, not for the purpose it was adopted. For example, one owner talked at length how she badgered the dealer into getting her a car at her lowball price, took the car with features she didn't really like, and wasn't too happy about the color. A couple weeks later, after a couple of problems occur, she's starting a lemon law claim, already choosing the next color of the replacement C. Can't remember the other person, but they had a bad experience w/ a dealer who didn't fix the problem. Instead of following up w/ the dealersip owner, M-B headquarters, etc., starts thinking about just "lemoning" it. It's really quite amazing I think.

 

You obviously have not ever even SEEN the E46 and E46 M3 boards.

Because if you have, you would of course know that they have always been separate boards.

And Mark, you are correct, my observation is very unscientific, and may not be of any real validity. I have only observed that the number of sold/returned/lemoned C class cars on this relatively small list of "regulars" here has been extraordinary. You are very sensible and seem to have been around, do you disagree?

You bring up a good point, some may be abusing the system for purposes other than what it was intended.

 

good lord.. i go away for a coupla hours and this thread just explodes

as for my next car in Sri lanka.. haven't really decided.. i don't think it will be a benz just yet.. i think I will go for something sporty intially... the later on I will move back to a benz

any ideas for decent sports cars...remember.. we get the non US spec'ed cars...