Jim Banville

How many times has this particular car left you stranded?

bagwell

TRUE !! I just bought a 2001 F150 and the dash is plastic crap.

bagwell

I've never heard of a "VERY RELIABLE" Jag - I'll never buy one because I've heard horror stories like your before....why the hell would anyone take a chance on a Jag????!!!!!

mctwin2kman

Funny that Buell says Audi is so good and it has the same amount of complaints as MB. Volvo's are known to be reliable cars yet are rated worse than MB. I would be the most worried if I had bought a Land Rover since they have a ton of issues. Jeeps also show to be worse than MB, but they are so darn popular and last forever on the engine department. You also must look at sales of these vehicles since they are incedents per 100 vehicles. There are far fewer Porsche's out there than Dodge's. Plus some vehicles have more problems in a brand than others. Whose to say that the S class should be lumped in with the C class. My family used to own a Doge Car/Truck franchise as well as Lincoln/Mercury and I can tell you there are a ton of issue in both manufacturers line-ups. It is all the luck of the draw in buying a vehicle. They are all have so many parts that can go bad. I have had my Benz for 6 months and it has 9600 miles on it. I have had no major complaints. Just stupid stuff I would normally ignore until Service A but I wanted to get the most out of my purchase and those free Benz loaners. My Saturn on the other hand has 22,000 miles on it and the transmission is a piece of junk and needed an AC recharge already on a car less than 2 years old. BUt hey that is why I paid twice as much for the Benz, so the noise and crap that annoys me in the Saturn does not annoy me in the Benz. Since the Benz does not have these problems and if it does I get a loaner, plus the joy of still having a comfortable car. I am a tech freak so I guess I just expect certain little annoyances from the more technology present in the Benz lineup compared to others.

Vince

i'm going to have to back up buellwinkle on this one. i have had so many things go wrong with my coupe. So many that i'm trying to get MB to buy it back. So far they have replaced my engine for the oil consumption problem. I've also had problems with my ignition system, BAS/ESP 3 times(but who doesn't have that problem), sunroof 2 times, weird engine noises(not the supercharger, that's a good noise some spring adjuster on the throttle needed to be replaced), the infamous window bounce, and a few other things i can't remember right now. After the engine replacement, the oil was still disappearing. So i took it back to the dealer, with my lawyers backing. He got the MBUSA rep to take a look at my car. And now i have been stuck driving an ML350 loaner for almost two weeks. Now that car is a piece. i can't wait to get rid of my car and get into a S2000.

willis5050

Sounds like your problems stem from dealer incompetence more than anything with the car. So you happen to go to a very good Ford dealer and a not so great MB dealer. What you are describing of your Ford dealer seems to contrdict what a lot of my Ford owning friends say. Their dealers consistently try to weasel out of repairing anything they can, and often blames my friends for their troubles. It sounds like you seek out problems to be fixed under warranty, which of course can frustrate you over the long run. Trust me, I know because I am the same way. But if it really took them 3 trips to fix the same check engine light, then you can take additional action.

The car's depreciation will flatten out after the first year or two. There are few new cars that you can buy where you won't lose your shirt after selling a year later. Wait it out, buy your "reliable" car, and then play the same exact nitpicking game there until you have decided that one isnt worth the metal it was made out of either.

Buellwinkle

I don't consider most of the problems I've had with the MB as nitpicky, heck MB would not have readily taken back my first MB under the lemon law if they had determined that I was being nitpicky. When you get a bright red message that says VISIT WORKSHOP or the check engine light goes on or the CD changer stops working or it's leaking oil or the car won't go over 5 mph and stalls, to me that's all urgent must do repairs. I was just saying that it's just very hard to find fault with any of the Ford's I've owned (no check engine lights, no visit workshops, no rough running engine, no stalling, no stereo problems), you really have to search hard and grasp at straws to find fault with them. So far the score is 4 MB's - bad, 7 Fords - good. Maybe it's because I buy middle of the line Fords but low end MB's.

But that doesn't mean I don't love my POS car, or the dealer, they more than make up for their incompetency with nice clean MB loaners, a nice lounge area, cookies and free car wash six out seven days a week. So if I had these many problems on a Ford or any other brand the inconvinience would be enough to dump it at all costs.

willis5050

I agree, after the fiasco with my two toyotas that were constantly getting repaired, I figured I may as well be treated with respect and get a loaner when my car was in the shop. Hence, now I have the MB (among other reasons). Nothing upset me more than finding my own ride or waiting for the hourly dealership shuttle to get to work when my car was in for warranty service. What a pain.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending how you look at it), I haven't had to subject myself to the MB service experience yet. My only real qualm thus far is my paint - chips are showing up everywhere, oh well.

nboyd

Buell, we konw you have been unlucky with your MB and your Mustang has been fine.

But will you please stop whining about it. The rest of us are very happy with our MBs.

benz2

Aren't you the guy that posted your wheels for sale in another guys post in which he was trying to sell his wheels.......What does this say about you and your post?

MarkL

I can't believe I'm the only guy with a C-Class that doesn't have problems with it, and that mine is so unusual as to have almost zero problems. I'd buy another one in a minute with no regret. I think most of you guys with repeat problems are dealing with incompetence in your dealer's service departments. I'm taking my C240 in next week for "B" service, and this will be only the 4th time it's seen a service bay in its 20,000 miles.

Does anyone really think Buicks have fewer problems than Mercedes? I don't think so -- I've owned both. As far as 90-day "initial quality" surveys go, they're not worth the paper they're printed on, IMO.

MarkL

AMEN! Talking about the f'king cookies and loaners is getting tedious.

66 Roadster

I wrote an artical years ago on Perceived Quality Vs Actual Quality.

Example of perceived quality is my friend. Bought a new Ford and had to replace his transmission at 30,000 miles, never corrected a leaking windshield, and constant suspension problems. He would tell you all day long how great his car was. It does not matter what brand they have, it is the "mine is better" problem. Some of this is caused by brand loyalty, cost of the product, and name on the product. Perceived quality has nothing to do with the actual quality of a product. Surveys as a whole measure perceived quality and not actural quality. Take them with a BIG grain of salt. My wife bought one of the first KIA Sorento's. Best car she has ever owned..mmm... Kinda against the survey, imagine that.

Before deciding on the C320, I spent many hours reading the Infinity and BWM sites/forums. They all have the same thread going as this one - just change the car name. So this thread does not make me sorry about ordering a Mercedes-Benz - not at all.

Have a great day - and ENJOY your MBs.

taylor192

It sounds like your a 'nitpicky' person. An indent in the door by the seatbelt? and you complained? I bet you're the type who would've sured McDonalds for not explicitly stating "hot' on their coffee!
Sounds more like you got a bad MB, and haven't gotten that bad Ford yet that so many others have.

Jim Banville

Buellwinkle, how many times has your current Benz left you stranded? And please post the reliability stats of C-class MB's vs similar sized/priced vehicles, including Audi, VW, Saab, BMW and any others you'd like to throw in.

And to those that are tired of hearing about Buellwinkle's cookies and car washes, get used to it. He mentions it at least once a week <puke>
Do a search for member name BUELLWINKLE and the word COOKIES if you don't believe me!

Buellwinkle

The closest I got to stranded was the crank position sensor failed and the car would run but not much more than 5 mph, luckily I was on the dealers lot when it happened (another advantage to constant car washes). But it's still annoying having to bring the car in nonetheless. Maybe it's just the MB's made in Germany, maybe the Brazilian C240's are better made, more reliable.

Also for the past year it's been muffins and not cookies. It's rare that I partake in these tasty treats, have to watch my weight. When they did have cookies they were great.

Like I've said, I like my car, despite it's Yugo/Fiat/Kia/Renault like dependibility. My post was just to show the steady decline in MB quality. It affects each and every one of you despite the quality of your specific car. Our car's resale value has been plummeting in comparison to other premium brands and for someone like me that switches cars every 3-4 years that hurts and that's a huge reason I buy MB's. If resale is as bad as a domestic car then I might as well get that. It's also a reason MB has to sell cars for 4-6K off, see if you can get that discount at a BMW dealer....

steffen

I don't know why everyone needs to be in denial about MB's quality being in decline. You can see it in the JD Power surveys, you also notice it in the Consumer Reports survey. Even MBUSA owns up to it and are working to fix it.

While every survey could be considered flawed in some way, they are far more accurate than reading the personal anecdotes noted in this or other threads. There are always extreme cases in each direction, and every reputable survey company will try hard to normalize the swings, producing enough samples and enough variation to come up with a statistically significant measure.

On the positive front, the dealers make the experience of getting repairs as pleasant as possible, and most problems, (I agree with the MBUSA spokesperson) are "inconveniences" and not fundamental engine/safety issues.

I personally enjoy my C230's engineering and performance and rack up the occasional (every 2-3 months) issues as part of the car's personality and part of the "MB experience".

Now, if going to the dealer would be a huge pain, or I lived in Canada where you only get 1 years warranty, I might not be so happy with the "MB experience". But I'd heartily recommend owning an MB to any of my friends. And I will most likely be a repeat customer for my next purchase.

--S

oggle

After the 4th page I've come to realize that many people are in denial. Come on we need to demand more out of MB. We're paying so much more for just the brand name, so there should be some quality to go with it too. One can sit there and try to guess at the mentality/expectations of car owners, but in the end, does anyone have any proof? If you do I'd like to see it.

neptunespeed

Mark,

The thing is... You're not the only guy without problems. I'm also one of those guys. And with you and I, there's Jim Banville. And with us, lots of other people. Other business men driving around in MB's. Lots of housewifes who drive their kids around all day long in the C240 and their E320 and so on and so on. We're not alone. However, do you think these other people go on this forum to leave testimonials about how trouble-free their Mercedes are running? I don't think so. All I'm saying is these forums are great for finding out information about certain issues. But we can't judge a whole company by the complaints here. People love to get on the board(any car company) and vent about their frustrations. Meanwhile nobody open threads entitled "6 Months and No Major Problems".... which I might start one soon.

People who enjoy their cars will continue to do so. People who feel like they are stuck with an "almost-lemon" car, will continue to rant and rave. And I'm not pointing this at anyone in particular because this is true of any and all messageboards for cars. Spend some time on FreshAlloy for Nissans and you'll see... Japanese cars are not immune either.

This board is NOT representative of the real MB community. In order to get that, you'd have to ask everyone(EVERYONE) in person whether or not they are having major issues with their cars to the point of never buying another Mercedes. I'd like to see those ACTUAL numbers.

Guest0001

i have had my car for about 6 months almost 6,000 miles and i have had 1 sunroof problem and a paint issue. my dealer has been fantastic and my experience with mb has been great so far.
after a yr or two we will also look for an E320 after they fix some of the crap in that car.

CRB

The fact is that a lot of the stuff that does go wrong with Benzes is nitpicky stuff. Customers are a bunch of spoiled babies, but the fuel pump failures and electrical problems are a serious pain in the rear and have been getting worse for M-B.

A Mercedes spokesman said they were not worried because customer loyalty still hovers around 65%. UNFREAKINGBELIEVABLE!!!!

Buellwinkle

What does that tell you about MB's arrogance. We don't have to build a better car because people will still buy it on our clever marketing. Yes, MB survives despite itself. The survey was not my attempt at highlighting my issues, it's about which manufacturers take dependability seriously and which don't. We can all say GM cars are terrible but I applaud GM for having a tainted dependability reputation and having improved to the point of joining the top 3 with their Buick brand. I've had/have Chevy's and I got rid of my Suburban because of lots of things going bad on it and it was costing me more to keep it than buy new but GM is headed in the right direction, MB I'm afraid is not. And regardless of my specific car or any problems I've had, imagined or not, it is affecting our resale values big time and it's affect MB sales values big time. While they may be selling more car I bet their average profit per vehicle is down considerably. See if you can get MB to talk about that. All I can hope for is the Euro skyrockets against the dollar and makes my car valuable so when the new Mustang comes out I can afford to get it.

Rick

shut up.....

mctwin2kman

Buell, BMW does not discount vehicles and I do not see them flying off the lot. As a matter of fact the BMW dealer has more vehicles in inventory that have been sitting there forever than the MB dealers. Maybe BMW likes screwing there dealers and making them pay floorplan for an ungodly amount of time. As for no problems with a C class. COunt me in, mine has had no problems that I would ***** about to the dealer. I have had it serviced twice for stupid stuff because I wanted a loaner car to drive for a few days and my wife wanted to drive a sedan to see how she liked it. My wife and I will always have at least 1 MB for the rest of our lives.

Mike T.

1 year warranty in Canada, eh?

Wherever did you get that crazy idea???

Here is the real Canadian M-B warranty period:

The bumper to bumper is 4 years 80,000 km.

The powertrain 5 years 120,000 km if I recall correctly.

After our C 230 K failed to start just after last Xmas, we invested in the $1000 US three year factory warranty extension, to 7 years 160,000 km. This car's a keeper; we run cars to at least 200,000 miles, more if it's a good 'un like my Peugeot 405, which is already there and still going strong.