session

God this argument is silly. If you like your car, enjoy it. If you don't, sell it. It's ridiculous to argue which brand is "more reliable" since it's all a game of statistics anyway. It's even more ridiculous to get defensive and pissed off about it.

Beth, good luck with the Saab! I hope to see you when I come back out to SF this fall. I would be coming in 2 weeks but I'm having surgery so that's a no-go.

Buellwinkle

Now why can't I like the free car washes, service loaners and cookies soooo much that I can turn a blind eye it's shortcomings. I won't sell it until they stop offering the goodies and my warranty is up. I enjoy driving the loaners, they are great. Now if the goodies went away so will my MB...

I can't explain or justify other peoples stats but I can offer mine. I've owned 4 MB's (not counting Chryslers) and all have been below average reliability with 1 taken back under the lemon law back in 1984 (12 visits same problem) and this one getting very close with 2 problems that took 3 visits (4 makes it sour). I've owned 7 Fords (5 Mustangs, F150 and Ranger) over a similar time period. Not one check engine light, never stalled, never ran rough. The most serious problem that I've ever had with any Ford was I got static on one of the radio speakers and it took 5 visits to get it fixed (that dealer went out of business). the other problems I had with Fords where cosmetic like a privacy cover not aligned right or a convertible top that wore a little prematurely but no problem that I couldn't have waited months to get fixed without enjoying the vehicle. The most flawless cars I've ever owned were from Toyota and Honda, as nitpicky as I can possibly be I could not find anything to complain about during routine maintenance visits.

galaxygrrl

So true! This is a silly debate. Who really cares!!!

You better get in touch with me when you come out here. I'll take your for a spin in the Saab with the top down -- before the beer that is.

Please continue to give Tommy a hard time for me. Never met another lefty I disagreed with more.

Cheers,

Beth

MarkL

OK, I'll chime in... I don't think that it's so much "unjustified brand loyalty" and "love of their cars". Many of us have MB's who have not experienced the myriad of problems that a few have, and for me, the issue is that those with the problems continue trying to convince everyone else that MB is a POS. Some of those people continue to buy the MB brand even though they've had bad experiences before. Therefore, if someone continues to tell me my car is a terrible example of quality, disagreeing by relying on my own experience does not qualify as unjustified loyalty.

Good luck with the Saab. Happy driving!

Jim Banville

galaxygrrl, what's silly is your logic. In your mind> not silly= to talk trash about MB's, as Buellwinkle continually does... is silly= to challenge someone talking trash about MB's, as I have been doing. Hello? You familiar with the term "double standard"?Shouldn't you be telling Buellwinkle to just be quietly content and miserable about his car, yet happy that no one else is having the problems his is? Shouldn't you be telling him that it is silly to knowingly buy a car that he already thinks is going to be a headache just because he can get free car washes and fattening junk food? Shouldn't he feel silly for continually bombarding this board with his sad stories and leave us happy MB owners be?

What's silly (sad actually) is to read someone's posts and get the completely wrong meaning from them. Have I every said MB's, or the C-class in particular was any more reliable overall than any other brand? Have I ever said they were as reliable as Hondas (in general)? I have ALWAYS contended that MB's are average as far as reliability. Mine happens to be very reliable, in that it has never left me stranded (I'm still waiting for Buellwinkel to tell us how many times his current Benz has left him stranded).

Jim Banville

I have no loyalty to MB. In fact, I will be trading our C240 for an Infiniti in the next few months. I just get irritated by people that continually biotch about the same old things while perpetuating some bogus line of thinking that is based on "skewed" (to be kind) facts.

galaxygrrl

Hey, I said it's car by car and year by year. And it is. Some cars are great, some are not.

Happy driving!

Still envious of your Capri blue. My Saab is the Saab version of that color but it's not as pretty

Happy driving!

Beth

maguzma

That's funny I just traided my Infiniti G35 for my brother's MB. What I miss about the G35:

1. Speed
2. Handling
3. Cool Head Lights
4. Not losing power when AC comes on.
5. Bose 200watt stock cd/stereo that sounded better than most after market.
6. Nav system.
7. Speed
8. Handling/speed.

What I don't miss about the car:

1. Loud ****pit noise
2. Strange sounds from engine (had it checked and reported normal).
3. Gas mileage (worse than MB).
4. Color (I hate silver cars) Ordered Blue but discontinued color. Only color with packages I wanted. Thought the color would grow but it seemed every tom, dick and harry had silver.
6. Funky plastic parts in dash area. Would of liked real wood.
7. A/C was too loud. They used japanese squarles. American don't work as hard so you get less noise.

What I like about my new MB (new to me late 2002) only had 11.5k when I traded:
1. Style
2. Cabin Silence
3. People always comment how black on black looks cool with all the chrome mods.
4. Neat smart key functions.
5. Tip Tronic/better than Infiniti (lagged too much)
6. IT'S NOT SILVER.
7. It's not silver.
8. Did I forget to mention that the color of the MB is not silver.

What I hate about the MB:
1. Premium Gas.
2. Could be a little faster/more HP.
3. Stock stereo sucks.
4. Constantly cleaning the black on black.
5. Baby car too much.....

In summary, I guess I better start making more money because I'm hoooooooked on MB's. I have a BMW (330I) and there is no comparision (all around).