Hi

Ah well car is 22 weeks old, off road 13 days and due to go in again for 2-3 days next week. That will be it, 7 days to sort all the faults or I want a replacement, my money back or do some deal. I have run out of patience.

 

can you at least give us details on what happend?

 

Hi

Many things:

6 weeks old, car would occasionally start in 2nd gear and tiptronic would not work. Merc fitted complete new auto transmission, car off road for 7 days. The issue has now come back again after 20 weeks.

Pulling to left considerably when hand off steering. New part fitted and now resolved. Recognised fault of C Class.

Vibration sound when accelerating hard from left hand bend. Still outstanding.

Rattle in dash, new ashtray ordered. Outstanding from 5th Nov.

ESP/BAS, both warning lights come up together at same time for no reason. Parts on order from 23rd Dec. Non in the UK anywhere. Recognised fault of C Class.

Coolant and washer bottle low lights came up together when not needing filling. Now resolved, corrosion on connectors.

Trim around gear lever came off, resolved.

Don't let anyone tell me that this is acceptable and to be expected. That is bull sh*t and not acceptable for a new car. The dealer has provided good service but Mercedes quality control is substandard. My car was built in South Africa along with most C Class diesels.

Hope this gives you enough detail.

 

Maybe it's because it was made in africa seriously

 

Africa, Brazil, Germany what's the difference, they are all unreliable. Next time stick with a car in the top half of the JD Power 5 year dependability survey. MB fell to the bottom area usually associated with Chevy and Hyundai. I never had a good MB in 20 years (my first was an 1984 I bought in 1983, MB took it back under the lemon law). But I like the car and appreciate it's quirky unreliable nature like Fiat's were known for but they don't sell them in the U.S. anymore. If FIAT stood for Fix It Again Tony then MB must stand for More Breakdowns!

I just hope you get nice E320 loaners like here in the state.

 

I have asked for a new E class loaner. I may get one but they seem to be in short supply. Probably end up with C Class.

 

I believe this was primarily due to the poorly built US vehicles dragging the entire Mercedes rating down. Benz dealers here in OZ still shake in their boots when you mention "ML" to them.
My experiences with Benzes may not be as lengthy as for others but the other Benz I have had the pleasure of driving for several years was a Nov '84 built W201 190E (back 10-12 years ago) and this car was very reliable and survived the beating I dished out to it for several years. On a side note the BMW's I have had the displeasure of being associated with ('85 E30 323i and '89 E34 535i, aswell as the '98 B5 VW Passat turbo) were all lemons !

 

In Germany, FIAT stands for:

Fehler
In
Alle
Teilen

(defects in all parts)

We may not have ol' FIAT to kick around for much longer, they're soon to be toast unless there's a miraculous recovery. I think euthanasia would be appropriate now Or maybe GM will take them over and start making Cavaliers in Torino. Mmmmm, US engineering with Italian workmanship.....

 

JD power mumbo jumbo...They rate everything they can get their hands on. How do they do their surveys? through the public of course. Not many people will waste time on doing some surveys. I know I wouldn't. These kind of surveys don't do any justice unless they survey every single cars sold by each company.

oh yeah, Apollo, other than the transmission problem, I don't think other problems are that big a deal.

btw BMW learned their lesson not to built in S. Africa (the E36 318 disaster). Hopefully MB will soon.

 

That's impossible, would never happen. That's why they do a sample. And samples are usually good enough as long as they are representative of the entire population. For example, doing a survey here would not work because this forum is not representative of the whole population. The people here are car people and some don't come here unless they have problems.

 

Hee ehhhhh... Hahh ajhhhhh ha......

This is a good one

 

I agree with you. But like many of us on the board, some have lemon and some have cars that never have any problems. Personally I could care less about what survey rate what companies. I can decide for myself...

 

to do a good survey you have to take a random sample from the population of MB owners. Maybe the reason MB has poor reliability results with JD power is because the only people who are willing to take the time to participate in the survey are people who are pissed off and want to let others know of their poor experience. I know I usually have alot more to say, and am more interested in a survey or questionaire when I've had a bad experience. everybody is more likely to fill out a card in the suggestions box if their steak was overcooked and they got terrible service. I know this isn't a restaurant we're talking about but in general, statistics can easily be skewed if a survey wasn't handled very carefully. I think the only way to have correct results in this case is to get a random set of Mercedes owners, and somehow make sure they all complete the survey, which would be pretty tough to pull off.

 

For there to be cars worse than average, there have to be cars better than average. If your (il)logic carries through, only the pissed off Lexus and Infiniti owners would respond also. But that is not the case. Lexus owners report far fewer defects that MB owners. In my case, I have a total lemon, but I did not return the JD Power survey because I didn't feel like filling out 4 pages of questions. Since these cars are compared with each other, you are assuming that the "randomness" of the MB owners is different than the randomness of Lexus owners. That's crazy. These surveys are actually quite accurate, and the Manufacturers know it.

 

Maybe Lexus owners and Infiniti owners have more time on their hands...

You also need to look at the age of the average buyer. I believe MB is somewhere near 65 and Lexus is much closer to the 40's. Not many older people will respond to a survey IMO.

Erik

 

speedfrk, that's exactly what I was thinking. The people with bad experiences are probably more likely to fill out these surveys, no matter what brand they bought. They just want to let out some of their frustration about how bad their cars are. And it's not just MB people who are doing it. It is people who buy all makes.

Erik, I think your idea there is a bit flawed. I think the older people are more likely to respond. They should have more time on their hands, especially if they are retired. And I think more of these older are more gullible and will think they that they need to completely this survey. But the younger people are too busy working, and will not care about whether or not they turn in this survey.

 

I would agree with you except older people IMO tend to not fill out forms and such. A friend that works at a survey place says its nearly impossible to get an older lady to stop for a minute to answer a few survey questions, even though they have free time, they always seem to be busy.

Erik

 

They must have an important card game to get to.

 

You would be busy too if you had to constantly take your MB into the dealer to get it fixed. I know I am tired of taking my car back to the dealer.

 

Hi

Well I have a new E Class loaner and the ride & quality is better than the C. I also think that value for money wise the car is also better. It really feels like a luxury car. I miss the power mine has though as this is only a E220 cdi, although it is not sluggish and at 45mpg for a car this size is not bad. Dealer is working to 7 day deadline to resolve the issues I have and I cannot fault their service to try to satisfy my expectations so far.

 

I didn't listen to J.D. Powers when MB was #1 and I don't listen to them when they hit rock bottom. What I'd like to see is a model by model breakdown, and remember the 2002 survey is of cars 4-5 years old, meaning 97 & 98 model year cars. Remember the S and M classes were problems when introduced.

On the other hand, I am in no way trying to defend or make excuses for MB, their quality has obviously slipped and they need to seriously make adjustments. Again, I'd like to see a model by model breakdown.

 

Eight or nine more trips to the dealer and you may catch my Honda Accord. At least MB will listen to your problems. That's reason enough for me to purchase an MB!!!!!!

 

Wow I'm surprised you've had some many problems with a honda accord. I guess that no company is completely trouble free when it comes to reliability. I think alot of people have may have unrealistic expectations of reliability when it comes to MB's. Other than those guys who have major engine or transmission problems, I think most of it just comes with the territory of having a technologically advanced car. I know that alot of people say Lexus(toyota) and Inifiniti(nissan) cars don't have as many problems but I will say that I think MB's age alot better and don't seem to fall apart over the years. I see more trashed out early and mid 90's Lexus LS400's and Infiniti Q45's than I do Mercedes. Just a thought.

 

Add me to the list of very people with Accord horror stories. My Accord makes the worst sounding Benz here look like a trouble free car.

Let's see, oil in the antifreeze....burning both oil AND antifreeze, leaking oil...4 sets of front brakes...new rotors pads, etc...2 new calipers on the right. New clutch....lotsa rust before 90K, ignition switch BROKE in the driveway...electrical gremlins...failed to start a few times, dead altenator, radio worked sometimes...rear bumper loose, cranky shifting from 1st to 2nd, hard to engage reverse without big clunk, upohlstery ripped..squeaks everywhere.

Well, at least it got good mileage.

Quote:

I know that alot of people say Lexus(toyota) and Inifiniti(nissan) cars don't have as many problems but I will say that I think MB's age alot better and don't seem to fall apart over the years. I see more trashed out early and mid 90's Lexus LS400's and Infiniti Q45's than I do Mercedes. Just a thought.

All cars have problems....I really don't care what the reliability ratings are...a nice car is more than just an appliance...the Accord isn't a car, its an appliance- and in my case, it musta been a sears appliance. I'm going to buy what I want, what I like...not be afraid of buying the car I want just because someone says its less reliable than brand X. Ive had a so called 'more reliable' car that was a total POS, and a boring turd to boot. Why would I ever go that route again? Given how far cars have come since I started driving(and I'm still pretty young), how bad can even a so called less reliable car be? Certainly couldn't outdo the Honda I owned. My Benz has been perfect...just like the two I remember growing up.