freakinfreak

Fuel sensor problem. I had that problem as well.

Xpeed

Any car you buy will have some problems it dosent mater if its an MB or a Honda. the only defrence is some will have more some less. speaking of Honda had 2 new 2000 integra abs problem accord 2001 air bags. 99 f 150 trany. 99 infiniti the one int plastic was always falling off i got so mad i wanted to uperglue it LOL. any car you buy will have some problems. oh yea dont mind the spelling

BenzC240

thats ok xspeed, my spelling sucks too but on a serious not, i agree that every car may have problems but not as benz has and not on a recurring bases (meaning year after year) . Thats my point on this issue. I also agree the car is nice and safe, but if an electrical problem causes the car to stall or shut down on u in the middle of the road while u r driving then is it a good car still? these issues have occured to some people in this forum and they are recurring problems. just something to think about

lig

Vince... I'm hanging out on this board because my daily driver is an e class - but this is what I drive for fun. You won't regret it one bit...

Xpeed

Sorry Benz c240 that your having a bad experience with the car. I am not a MB owner yet. I never knew that the c had this many problems. The car stalling while you are driving is a major problem. I never had any good experiences with cars the always breakdown on me.

MarkL

As we've said before, the members on this board represent only a tiny fraction of all M-B owners, and we are generally a "picky" bunch. That said, some people have had problems, and problems with resolution. Sometimes, ineffective repairs by a lazy dealer will cause the most frustration because the initial problem is not correctly diagnosed and repaired.

In 17.5K miles, I've only had 2 problems with my 2002 C240, and only one was a true "nuisance" since it required having the car towed for repair. I don't have a single regret in buying my C, and I think it was built with high quality, and in my opinion, lives up to its reputation.

When I was making my final decision for buying my previous '99 Passat, I started reading their forums. Based on all the problems I read about, I almost changed my mind. The Passat was also one of the best cars I ever owned (and I've owned many!). Don't let the reports of problems on the board scare you away -- MB is a great car!!

MB-BOB

Well said Mark. I count myself in your crowd, because in 2-years so far, I've not had any problems with my car out of the ordinary. The car always works, has never shut down in the middle of the highway, is built like a Sherman tank, etc. I've never had to have it towed, and it has been to the dealer only for yearly service, and the occassional electical glitch. The only replacement of parts necessary has been to replace a module in the overhead console controlling the One-Touch Close feature of the sunroof that was broken, and another set of modules replaced that control the "drifting" in my power mirror memory. But neither of these qualify as a anything more than mile annoyances in terms of enjoying the car itself.

I don't doubt for a second that some people have had problems with their cars, even major ones. But I don't think it's fair to label the entire brand as junk based on the problems of a relative few. I have purchased several "Motor Trend Cars of the Year" in my 35 years of driving, and I can cay I've had some problems with each of them, some problems were major.

People talk about bullet-proof Hondas, but I had to replace a head gasket in my "1976 Import Car of the Year" Accord at 58,000 miles. That came after the front fender tops had rusted through (no fender liners... fixed by US Honda Customer Sat. Recall). By 72,000 miles, the vinyl dash had fractured in 5-places, and the carpeting in the hatch area had baked in the sun to non-existence. All of this is too bad for me, but doesn't label all Hondas as bad... I bought my second Honda in March. Same applies for MBs, IMO.

The best man at my wedding and I bought matching cars in 1974... Mine worked just fine for the 5-years I had the car, but he kept his barely 18-months due to several operational problems that stranded him several times... Just his bad luck.

Buellwinkle

I don't know about that. I have a '97 Honda that has never been in for a non-maintenance issue. I have a '98 Mustang that only had minor cosmetic warrranty issues but never had the check engine light come on. I have 3 MB's and 1 was taken back under the lemon law, the replacement needed a transmission replacement in the first month, the 3rd was OK but not great, the current one has been in 19 times, half or more of which are directly related to warranty claims like check engine lights, SAM module, fiber optic CD changer link problems, oil leaking. Don't get me wrong, I love my MB's just the way they are, quirky and mysterious. To me a Honda would be boring, I would never know every service advisor's name, I would never know what it's like to drive so many loaners and last but not least, I wouldn't be getting all those free car washes.

MB-BOB

Again, Buellwinkle, that's YOUR experience. My tubmate here at work had a 98 mustang convertible... rattled like a sack of bleached bones, tore up two sets of tires within a year because it couldn't be kept in alignment... I'm glad you've had good luck with your 'stang, but my tubmate couldn't wait to trade it in.

My son's '92 Ford Taurus also couldn't keep tires on the car. Turns out it had incomplete provision for adjusting the alignment... Dealer wanted $600 to drill out the spot welds in the shock towers to install aftermarket adjusters. Out of warranty, of course. Think about that one.

My '94 Probe (at 84,000 mi) is still working on its original alignment (no prob there) but commanded three visits to the dealer under warranty to repair "Check Engine" lights (two defective oxygen sensors). At the end of one visit to replace my left rear brake (the entire unit), I was told by the service dept to stop using my parking brake, due to a "known problem" with rear brake seisures with P-brake use, an obvious design problem. Aside from these problems, my Probe (now my daughter's) has been as bullet-proof as any Honda.

I could tell you about the less than passable electrical system in my Honda, too, but I chalk up my Honda experience to a company just getting its feet wet in the US in the mid '70's, and it took years for them to Americanize it's Accord for acceptable US use. In general they're great cars today, but I can tell you from first-hand experience this was not always so... whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you. When was the last time you saw a 1st Gen Accord on the road, today? Most were relegated to the scrap heap a decade ago.

tommy

Not this debate again. Good gracious!

Can't we just agree that, on average, Hondas are more reliable than MBs, and move on? And everyone can then store their personal anecdotes in the "my reliability/unreliability story really doesn't say sh*t about what your results will be" bin?

MB-BOB

If only it were that simple. The problem is that there is a small clan of folks here whose principle mission in life is to berate their cars, and paint ALL other cars in a similar light. If it weren't for the members who have good experiences offering their "anecdotes" as a counterbalance, this whole forum could be labelled, "C-Class B!tch of the Day" forum, or the "Rising Sun Admiration Society."

And, no, I don't agree that Hondas are inherently more "reliable" than any other car. My brand new '03 CRV (built in Japan) needs to visit the shop soon to have it's transmission linkage adjusted. At present, if you downshift below "D" into 2nd or 1st gear, the lever won't return to Drive, or Park. If you turn off the engine once you get tired of fiddling with the shift lever... and your brake foot is tired of keeping the car from crashing through the garage wall... the car is stuck in 2nd gear, and guess what? It won't restart until the Gear is in Park. T-O-W T-R-U-C-K. Does that make all Hondas bad? Of course not... But does that make them the envy of the automotive world in MY eyes according to my experience? No, again.

tommy

You'd prefer the reliability of the ML?

MB-BOB

Now really, isn't all this generalization a bit chauvinistic? I'm sure that some ML owners are quite pleased with their Alabama-built MLs. I'm also sure that some owners have issues with their cars. An assumption that a US-built MB couldn't possibly be reliable is about as silly as saying that ALL orient-built cars couldn't possibly ever have similar problems.

You can troll the Hyundai forums (I have) and realize that a car you would never consider buying has quite a loyal following among some... people who find them quite reliable.

My only point, after all my diatribes in this thread... for which I apologize... is that it is patently unfair to apply one's personal experience with a car as an overall opinion about all examples of the car model in question.

Each of us are entitled to an opinion, based on our personal experiences... that is how opinions are formed. However, it is quite another issue to assume that your experiences and opinions apply across the board as some stereotypical conclusion.

It's no longer Politically Correct to make generalizations about groups of people... so why do we think it's appropriate to make generalizations about mechanical objects?

brianhn1

M-Class what a car Thats all I have to say.

tommy

Bob, don't be silly (or at least excessively silly).

Open up a Consumer Reports annual guide to used cars, look at the ML section of MB, and count all of the black dots.

To buy a car, of course you have to generalize, one model compared to another. What else would you do, buy two cars, and throw out the one that was more unreliable? Has nothing to do with where the car's made, but of analysis of the output from that specific plant. And the AL plant still isn't the cream of the crop by a longshot.

oggle

We're talking about comparisons in general. Taking exceptions doesn't make a case. Bill Gates never finished college. Does that therefore mean your likelihood of success in the world is the same whether you finish college or not?

Buellwinkle

I think the likelyhood of success is unrelated to if you have a degree or not. Most of my friends that do not have degrees such as myself are in general just as successful or more successful than college grads I know. I think the statistics that are probably generated by colleges are skewed heavily in their favor. Mainly because you have to have some level of intelligence to get into and stay in college. What if you had that same intelligence and perseverance but didn't attend? The problem I see is they generalize and say drop outs make X and college grads make 2X but the dropout group includes all the mentally insane, career criminals (actually make more but don't report their income), drug addicts and those that in general wouldn't be accepted into a decent college. Heck, many of the sr. mechanics at my MB dealer make 6 figure incomes. So IMHO, college is just a place to hang your hat and party for 4 years. Just don't tell my kid who's starting out in August!

oggle

To say that there isn't a relationship between the level of education and the likelihood of success is a bit ridiculous. But go ahead and believe what you will. Maybe when you have kids you'll just give them the choice whether to attend school or not.

yipikaye

hey galaxy, if u want to stick to MB, then i cannot give you my advise, but if u want to change to other brand, I recommend infiniti G35 or nissan Z4. Thats a beautiful carrrr

c230 sport

I didn't know Z4 is made by Nissan.

speedfrk

Depends on how you define success, and what you want to do in life. I know a lot of real estate developers that have never been to college, but I'm pretty sure they will never be brain surgeons or astronauts. If you define success just as making money, college is definately not required. I do however like my Dr. and lawyer to have at least some post high school education

galaxygrrl

Honestly a MB drives better than any Honda I've driven, but every statatic out there (JD Powers, Consumer Reports, etc) says they will be in the shop more. I think that you guys make the same mistake that people who have issues with their car make: "my experince is true for all cars like mine."

The truth is in the stats, not from someone's personal experince. I hope everyone's cars that work flawlessly continue to do so.

But I so don't care anymore.

Thanks for the support!!! btw, yipikaye I really like the G-35, but my heart is set on a Ragtop.

Cheers,

Beth

tom incredibie

galaxy, you should wait till 2004 then. the g35 sports coupe rag top with an all wheel drive option will be out

hphan

The 350Z convertible should be out soon, if it isn't already...

DCX Engineer

I can get you Friends & Family Discount on a 2004 Chrysler Sebring Convertible. Let me know if interested. Comes with 7/70 Powertrain Warranty.