galaxygrrl

I think CR ratings are something like "better than average" 5 out of every 100 cars will in the shop for a give a problem and "worst relibility" is pretty scarey. It's like 15 out of every 100 cars.

As a note when I bought my C-class consumer reports recommended it on predicited relability, but the 2002's dropped to the worst relability rating. It's not just model that matters, it's model year.

But still think what matters is if your happy with your car.

Cheers,

beth

1SICKLEX

Lexus has been #1 for 9 years in a row, that is one of the main selling points (like prestige is a selling point for a Benz).

Trade-offs. Every car maker has a bad bunch, it's just that some car makers have less tolerance for it than others. Also, it seemed Benz got away with bad quality but cause of rising competition, peoples expectations are higher. Benzs will last longer than you and I, you just got to have money to fix it.

Jim Banville

You are deranged! The VAST majority of MB's are basically trouble free. In a worse case scenario, if 20% of the new cars had to go to the dealer the first year for something (could be a loose piece of trim or a blown engine), that leaves 80% running trouble-free. Of course none of us would want to be in that 20% bracket, but if we were, odds are we would be having something like that loose trim fixed. I seriously doubt MB engines are blowing left and right! That would be BMW . My C240 has only had some minor electrical glitches. Every car maker has lemons. Too bad you got one. Well, I assume you have a "lemon". Dealer personnel drowning a sensor on your engine doesn't reflect on MB's reliability, and doesn't make it a lemon. You brag about Ford's reliability, and I too have had a very reliable Ford. ONE! But I have also owned several Ford Expeditions and a Ford Taurus, ALL of which had several problems. All the Expeditions had to have their power windows worked on. Our last one had to have a tranny replaced within a year. My father-in-law recently bought a Taurus that had to have its ENGINE replaced within a month's ownership! So in MY personal experience it is Ford that needs to get their act together. But wouldn't I look like an idot going to a Ford enthusiast board to biotch and moan about Ford's that I know will be trouble, but I continue to buy in order to get free washes and donuts?

Who would that be? I freely admit that my Benz has had several minor problems. Mostly electrical. And NOTHING that kept me from continuing to drive it. I can find fault in ANY car. I mentioned months ago that when we went to test drive a Lexus GS300, which should be PERFECT due to its production age. During a 10 minute test drive, I discovered one of the power widows made a bad noise as it operated. One of the doors didn't shut with a "thunk" that the others did, and there was a chip/scratch in the console. Give me a week with that car and I could come up with a bigger list. But I wouldn't consider any of these as "reliability" problems. They are the same type of "nuisance" problems I've had with my C240. Little things.

Jim Banville

Well, well well
I guess my reliable '02 C240 would be consider much worse than average by CR standards! I have had it in the shop probably 5 or 6 times! Once for warped rotors (I think I did this by spraying cold water on the wheels while they were hot -NOW I KNOW NEVER to do that!), once for the BAS/ESP error, but they didn't have the part so it had to go back, once for a blown taillight, once for a blown tag light (seems you just can't replace the bulb - you have to reset something in the computer) and once for a check engine light that came on once and was determined to be a misfire since nothing could be found and it never came on again. So there you have it, a car that has NEVER left me stranded or had a problem that made it troublesome to drive, but CR would say it was a POS

Guest0001

Jim i pretty much agree with you on all your posts.

very well put!

not lets f.ucking put an end to this thread since its really pointless

moomeh

drove past 10k today, and i'm happy with my benz. don't care about reports that much, i just care what i think and that is that my benz is a keeper.

GDawgC220

Well said...who cares what other people or survey says. As long as you are satisfied with YOUR own car

Outland

My folks looked a 3year old RX300 a few weeks back with my sister, who now that she is getting married wants an SUV...they stopped over by my house while they were out test driving it...its hilarious that you mention the interior peices in the rear, both armrests in back were coming off, a loose kick panel, the glove box didn't close right anymore, and the seats were so slippery and flat that everytime we stopped or turned I felt like I was going to end up on the floor. Still, it rode very nice, and that has to be one of the roomiest rear seats in a small SUV Ive ever been in. SHe didn't buy it...I think the fact that the engine was one of those that potentially could have the sludge problem turned her off, not the slowly disintegrating interior. Perhaps this one just wasn't treated right.

MR325iT

Exactly. It's a car. It's got moving parts. They're all gonna break sometime (even when they say BMW, Benz, or Honda on the outside). If that shatters your pre-conceived notion of perfect reliability, vote with your checkbook and buy elsewhere. Slumping sales is often the only way to get manufacturers attention, and this is where blind brand loyalty does more harm than good.

speedfrk

Jim I assume you never drive in the rain if you can't spray water on your wheels after you have been driving If you like your car, keep it, if you are like me and just couldn't handle the constant trips and lost time of taking it back to the dealer over and over, then trade it. I lost my a$$ trading my coupe in on my Hemi Ram, but I don't regret it at all. My transmission never shifted right, and MB said it was "normal". My engine used a qt of oil every 2000 miles, and MB said it was normal. I didn't have time to fight them or lemon law it, so I traded it. It also had the fuel gauge problem, esp/bas problem, and other little stuff, but the engine and trans problems were the things that made me get rid of it. I won't be in the 65% that is loyal to MB because they wouldn't fix my car, not because it had problems. So they lost me as a customer, and all my family and friends. Whatever... If they don't care, I just make sure I let everyone know how they treated me as a customer. BTW, consumers reports lists the 3 series as their best pick in the near luxury category.

Guest0001

what a surprise

dentrapment

reading this discussion scare me from trading my bmw 3 series in for a c class... what do you guys think?

Buellwinkle

Ahah! You are the reason we have such poor reliability ratings, you just admitted you brought your car in for 5 or 6 times. Stop it, don't bring your car into the dealer anymore, change your own light bulb, reset your own check engine light and reset your own BAS/ESP error you woos! And yes, I consider having to bring your car to the dealer for any unscheduled visit bad and 5-6 in 1 year is insane and for the past 42 cars I've owned that has to be as CR put it, "much worse than average". All this time hiding behind my problems, making yourself feel good that you only had it in 5-6 times to my twice as many. Sorry buddy, it's only twice as many because it takes my dealer at least 2 visits to fix anything, it looks like we are even....

Guest0001

disregard this thread

most people here are happy with there MBs, dont be scared, go on with your trade

Buellwinkle

Be afraid, be very afraid

galaxygrrl

There are people who have had perfect cars and people who have had lemons and everywhere in between. It depends on your luck.

Most people got lucky, so you mostly likely did too.

Cheers,

Beth

Jim Banville

Aren't you clever
Actually, I think the DIFFERENCE between what I did and drving through rain, is that I put a CONSTANT stream of cold water on a piping hot metal disc. A quick splash evaporates quickly. A constant stream causes the metal to cool too fast, thus creating a warp.

How many separate dealers said those problems were normal? We all know there are good dealer who go out of their way to help you and there are others that tell you to jump in a lake. Did the corporate level of Daimler-Chrysler say it was normal? And if Daimler-Chrysler said it was "normal" at the corporate level, what makes you think they wouldn't say the same thing if you had a similar problem with your new Dodge?

I'd actually be more afraid of a Ford product! Those idiots either need to get their act together, or else start giving free car washes and donuts.

CRB

Hey Buell, you stole my line. I read that post and I thought the "Be afraid..." would be a good line and was chuckling as I scanned the after posts to make sure I wasn't being redundant and, lo and behold, you beat me to it. Oh, well.

BenzOwner02

Hey guys, im new here but have been reading these posts for a while and noticed a couple of things about you guys. One is that pride gets in the way and two is that you like the way the car looks. The honest truth is that its the luck of the draw with Benz when you buy it. With lexus and infiniti the chances are much less of getting problems. Reason is because Benz does not focus on quality any more. They focus on marketing and trying to beat other manufactures in technology. Now I for one have a Benz. However I do want to stress this, I did not buy my car for quality nor for reliability. Benz's are known for their problems. I think what took place in the last 5 years is that most people now can afford one and are beginning to see these problems. 20 years ago most people could not afford a Benz and they had this idea that expensive cars they cant afford must be all about quality. Ofcourse that's not true. So people are beginning to discover these problems and are being shocked. Now someone was asking here if any of you have ever heard of anyone being stranded. I started to laugh when I read that. After doing so many searches on this forum it seems like many people have had their car stall on them in the middle of an intersection and cause them to be in harm and people have not been able to start their cars do to ignition problems and had to have their car towed. The bottom line is pride can get in the way and some people cant handle the truth and do not want to look like they spent all this money for nothing. I am not trying to attack anyone here so please no one get angry at me. I am just pointing what I have seen so far. I bought my car personally because of 2 things, 1 I love the way it looks and feels on the inside, 2 the attention in it kicks butt . As long as we can all share our stories and help each other out things will be good. But also I have complained to Benz about some problems I have. If everyone would complain to them maybe something can and will be done. By the way, sorry for the long post.

jpb5151

Don't worry, we've learned to become fast readers.

We also knew about the poor ratings, but the look (wife's pov) and feel (my pov) of the car was what mattered most.

Now we're not _completely_ stupid, so we bought the extended warranty. Shame we'd have to pay like that just because we're afraid it'll break down, though...

C280Sportster

I'm not going to read through all these msg. so this may have been covered.

The CNNFN.com article stated that it was the 2000 ML and E Class's that scored poorly, I just remembered that E class sales make up 25% of MB sales (I don't know if this is a US figure or International).

Maybe the 2000 E's had production problems, who knows...

When you travel through Europe, you see boat loads of E's as Taxi cabs, this is a good thing. The cars can't be that bad if cabbies use them. When I was in Zurich, the MB cabs looked brand new, so they aren't only using the later models.

And also, remember the ML is made in America...so that could be part of reason it scored so poorly.

I think most people here are happy with their Mercedes.

Xpeed

honda is made in america too

speedfrk

My friend has a 2001 F150 reg cab 6 cyl truck that he beats the crap out of. He does do good scheduled maint. but that truck is bulletproof. He has also wrecked it at least twice that I can remember. I am also waiting on the new Mustang to come out. I've had several GTs and they were all good cars with no problems at all. I actually might buy another coupe in a year or so when they are selling in the low teens. They will be very good deals but I will check the warranty records on it very carefully beforehand.

Xpeed

I got a F-150 V8 i beat the crap out of the car too and the only problem i have had with the car was a trany problem but nothing major. the 4.6L V8 is a very good engine. I dont even take good care of the car. some fords suck but some are very good the 4.6 V8 is very good.

Jim Banville

Tell this to my father-in-law who had to have his engine replaced 1 month after buying his Taurus last year! I already mentioned that our last Expedition had to have it's tranny replaced within a year. Give your friend's Ford truck to a typical Benz owner and it'll be in the shop for weeks while they track down all the creaks and rattles that a typical Ford truck ower would never hear. If he has power windows, he probably has the same window regulator problems we had with ALL FOUR of our Expeditions.

Yes. They are high HP, low-tech machines that would live at the shop if they had all the electronics in a typical Benz.

And now you're known as someone who apparently knows nothing about Benz's
It's Ford that is known for problems. Where do you think Found On Road Dead, and Fixed Or Repaired Daily came from?