Buellwinkle

These were posted on another forum;

http://www.mercedes-lemon.com

http://www.mercedesproblems.com

Jim Banville

Give these guys a box of Kleenex! As if every other brand out there doesn't have its share of lemons! My $38K Ford Expedition was one problem after the next

Jim

galaxygrrl

Wow, that is pretty funny. Guess were not the only ones Buillie.

I think though that those sites we're set up but the marketing teams for Lemonlawamerica which is a bunch of lawyers that do lemon law suits though.

Cheers,

Beth

Buellwinkle

Found a new problem today. The passenger power window doesn't close automatically like it used to. Trip #7 to the dealer. Luckily I need the 10K service so it's not a big deal.

galaxygrrl

wanna a lawyer, I know a good one.

Cheers,

Beth

MB-BOB

Try resyncing the window before running to the dealer. (Procedure is in the manual.) It's painful watching you suffer...

FrankW

what kind of problem do you guys have?...engine problems? transmission problem? or else?...and did the dealership ever fixed it?

thanks...answers would be appreciated.

besides...don't ever expect a under $30k MB in its first year of production to run without any problems. i would only complain if i have a S-class or CL-class with a lot of problems.

SoCal240/6

You can't be serious . . .

Fuzzo

my car constantly pulls to the right... the wheels have been alinged and balanced and I'm sure it has nothing to do with the curvature.. the dealership told me that they can't fix it and that i'm stuck with the prob... i have written to mbusa to see what they say

you must be joking right about expecting MB's under 30K to have issues... that's just dumb... well i guessi can complain coz my car costed 33K...

DCX Engineer

After I installed my Audio 10 CD the express up feature on the power windows didn't work for an hour or so. Now they are working fine.

galaxygrrl

Frank, please don't take this the wrong, but, why should I put up with than any problems? 30k might not be a lot for a MB, but it sure is a lot for a car.

I won't go through an itemized list (to spare the board), but my car has been in the shop about 25 days since I bought it on Feb 1. That is one out of 4 or 5 days since I bought my car. My problems range from the fuel gauge not working (been replaed 3 times and it still does not work) to the seat belt locking up on me (been replaced more than 3 times).

Tell me now, I should not be upset? But, I'm working on a plan.

Beth

SoCal240/6

I've been pretty lucky, but from what I have seen (here and other places) the quality and reliability of these car really is very suspect.

Yes, it is true that on internet boards, people tend to complain a lot, so you get a skewed view, but I participate in a lot of other car boards for other makes, and you don't hear half the real problems you hear on this board. (And in general about MB quality lately, all over the place). And that's the truth! There are a lot of b!tchers on the various BMW 3 Series boards, who like to complain about everything, but there are maybe 1/10 of the problems I see here. I participated for a while on the Lexus board (clublexus.com (??)), and there were some quality and reliability complaints, but a fraction of what I see here.

Which is too bad. MB can sell cars based on their name and marketing along (and their history) . . . but that won't last forever (although I think it can last a long, long time - its a very strong brand name). I hope MB can pull it together a little better in the future.

MarkL

I've got an '02 C240, and honestly, the only "problem" I would mention is that the passenger headrest rattles once in a while. I know the C230 group has been reporting several recurring problems. I wonder if overall, the 2001 sedans have had more issues than the 2002's. It'll be interesting to see if the 2nd model year 2003 C230's fare better than the first year.

Two other opinions. I know it's frustrating and maddening to have to return to a dealer more than once for the same problem, and I think some of the board members' problems have to do with their service departments failing to cure the problem initially. I also understand that people don't expect problems, but I don't think things like faulty fuel gauges and the like constitute a lemon. That's just my opinion. To me a lemon is a car with serious problems in the major components -- engine, transmission, A/C, etc.

viper

Lets also be really careful about being critical of the brand when you have an incompetent dealer. When you have thousands of parts in todays vehicles it is possible for something to go wrong. However when a dealer attempts to fix the problem more than once I would say the dealer service person either misdiagnosed the problem or made the fix improperly. I don't think its fair to condem the brand when you have some technicians that may not be the best. This of course is the fault of the dealer for keeping or accepting less than top notch mechanics.

AndrewK

Buellwinkle - we had a similar problem on our 00 C230, and it corrected itself after I removed the key and started it again. BTW a though on problems happening 3+ times, if the dealer doesnt know how to correct the problem or M-B has not made a revised product (if its a design flaw), then replacing the old part with the new part probably isnt going to help. I'm NOT defending the dealerships, we have had bad experiences with all but one M-B dealer.

FrankW

i definitely agree with you, but i also i think that problem lies not with the dealer on how many times have they try to fix the problem but the buyers' knowledge on is the problem that they are trying to fix a design flaw or not because if it is a design flaw it will likely to happen again and again. like the window switch problems on the ML, the driver side one-touch power sensor on the CLK, and the seating memory problems on C32 (don't know if that happens on the other C-class). i'm sure that there are much more design flaws in not just the MB but all the different manufacturers out there.

Beth, i do know that 30k is still quite much for a car, but you have to understand that the car that you bought is ONLY in the FIRST YEAR of production and it is the product that was produced after the MB start their cost cutting on material that are used in their cars. the fuel gauge problem are known to most of us because that problem have existed since the last gen C-class. fuel gauge problem are also found on the CLKs, Es, and even the Ss, so don't be too upset about it the fuel level sensor is one of the few design flaw that can be find throughout MB model line up.

BTW what do you mean that the seat belt locking up on you?...if you are refering that when you stop at the red light and tring to bend foward to pick up stuff, that has happened to me in my car too. my solution was simply loosen the foot pressure that i was putting on the brake and let the car moves a little bit. i think that happens because the seat belt is brake sensative. under medium and heavy braking the seatbelt will lock up to keep you in place but it is very stupid to realize that you already have stopped and continues to lock in place. as long as there is no mechanical problems that will endanger you when driving the car i think you'll be fine.

Frank

BTW i wrote this message at 5 am in the morning...so if it doesn't make any sense, it doesn't make any sense...

Buellwinkle

The C230 Sports Coupe has been in production worldwide since 2001. It's only new for 2002 in the U.S. The motor has been available in the U.S. since 1998 yet I've had it in 3 times for thermostat problems. The scary model will be the 2003 with a genuinely new 1.8 liter motor. It's a Mercedes, it's got to be prone to problems. How else would they have so much practice in excellent customer service. If it never broke it would be a Honda and I would never know about their great customer service. That's why they charge me way more at Honda for maintenance than MB, since their cars don't break they have to make money by ripping you off on maintenance.

galaxygrrl

Say it aint so....please

Fuzzo

well you would think that with the issues that MB has had with thier cars, they would get this right.... wishful thinking i know

galaxygrrl

Dare I say....Hondas look better all the time.

Mike T.

If you're not an M-B enthusiast, you definitely own the wrong kind of car.

Buy a Toyota if little glitches bother you that much, preferably a small, simple one like the Starlet (N/A in USA, too bad). They are the most reliable cars in the world.

Hondas are not that much more reliable than M-B, according to European reliability surveys, in some cases worse.

It's too bad that Maytag and Sears-Kenmore don't make cars...

galaxygrrl

Gezzzz, Mike, it was just a joke.

Cheers,

Beth

Lynn

How about Sears Craftsman cars? If you break it, you just take it back for a no questions asked replacement.

galaxygrrl

Lynn,

lol

Sounds better than needing to hire a lawyer.

Beth

Mark08859

Unfortunately, Jim is correct. The plus side of a forum such as this is that you're aware of potential problems and can watch for them. The negative side of a forum such as this is that you're aware of potential problems and constantly in a state of paranoia thinking your car is next.