amanonfire

Exactly, its a matter of my opinion, just some would think I'm not allowed to express my opinion cause of the title of this forum and the car I own.

As you can tell by the "jackass" comments, forum members don't respect opinions when they are in contrast to their own.

I am presenting facts, about my W203. Those facts form my opinion of Mercedes and the W204.
Members here are expressing opinions based on a few months of W204 ownership. This car isn't old enough to even see if Mercedes got it right this time. Mercedes certainly didn't last time on several models that claimed to have the same level of engineering done on the W204.

So I'm skeptical, and if you've done your homework, you should be too.

Hope you have the extended warranty

Tomek

look this video .. http://sl.netlog.com/go/explore/videos/videoid=539433

R8 VS E amg (Station Wagon)

451/443=EW

YOU DONT OWN A W204!!!! Someone with the new C CAN bash it cus they have at least tryied the new car. Your just a bitter little man who cant deal with your past problems with you car. As for Hypocrite!!!! You have no idea son how stupid you are. You sit hear slamming something that you have not tried and you talk up something like the new Audi that has ALSO NOT been proven. FYI pull your head out of your A$$ long enought to catch some much needed air for that little mind of yours.

mb_horseshoe

You're so bitter about your w203 experience you're sweating grapefruit juice!

Thanks for the warning. Go buy your Audi, I guarantee you you'll be in a loaner more often than any of us (especially during the first 3 months, remember?).

It's getting to a point where one who wastes their time bashing the car a forum is dedicated to, with the amount of energy as amanonfire, has a vendetta - for you, most likely an Audi employee trying to defend your brand, and bash ours.

Honestly, with every post you look more and more pathetic. You've made your point, nobody takes you seriously any longer, and you're making yourself an outcast for what?

YOUR w203 stinks, we get it. Learn to take better care of your car.
YOU think Audi's are better than MB's. Great, as any good Audi employee should.
YOU hate the exterior styling and the interior of the w204 (actually I'm pretty sure you hate the entire car), yet when I ask why you're even on the forum, you claimed "I like MB and don't want to switch, so I hold out hope that I can modify a W204 to my liking."

Nothing you've said is honest. You clearly have an agenda, and you have no reason for being here other than to bash MB under the guise that you own one. Good luck finding credibility.

GDawgC220

oblu

I have a W204. MB should be glad nobody's ever called me for a service or initial quality survey. Mine would skew all their hard fought marketing numbers.

Untertürkheim

+1 At least they avoid contradiction, everything changes from classic elegance to simple and cheap.

Untertürkheim

Most homes, line econo-box cars, do look similar to how to the commercial ends. That being said, my apartment in college looked better than where that commercial ended up. Always having an MB in the garage did not hurt either.

amanonfire

Which way?

amanonfire

LOL

Is that the best you've got? Not one factual statement, just more ignorant opinion hiding behind a god-given right to bash other brands without having to read any cause the magical powers of this forum are supposed to protect you from it.

I'm requesting this thread gets moved to Off Topic so all the W204 bashing can occur without the sacrimonious bull**** of whining W204 members about protecting the sanctity of their forum.

amanonfire

How are you so sure I haven't tired it?

Don't assume anything. Ask.

I talked up the interior of the new Audi, that's it. I have admitted I bought my car based on interior styling, the W204 styling is hideous, and the B8 styling is gorgeous.

I have bashed the reliability of Mercedes, I have said NOTHING about the reliability of Audi. Quote it if you can find it. You won't.

Read what I write, don't make up something that's not there.

amanonfire

Comparing a house with wall-to-wall glass windows to an econo-box car is silly. Modern homes like that cost a lot of money, and reflect today's styling, not yesterdays.

451/443=EW

There you go again, You have tried the W204? WOW I guess you CAN make judgement on the reliabilty of the W204 cus you tried the car.
Have you drivin it for a full yr? Did you have issues. ( Wait I already know the answer to the last one ).

If you were a car id write you off. Im out of here, your a hater, we get it.

mb_horseshoe

LOL. I never once bashed Audi. Only you.

It seems like you're the only one here that has a "god-given right to bash other brands."

360_iti

+1.
However the way I see it, the inferior always resent the superior, that’s the way it works. I’ve never seen in my life MB attacking other brands in their tv ads. Why? Because MB has never felt threatened.
I sure hope MB doesn't retaliate and doesn't get sucked into this game.

amanonfire

Shall I quote the rest.
At least own your words. Hypocrite.

amanonfire

You would know the answer to that if you read my posts.

I'll never buy the first model year of a car or engine again. After a year, there's now threads surfacing regarding w204 quality, hoping that 2009 fixes them.

Hope you bought the extended warranty.

webada

hey guys, I know there has been some speculation about amanonfire being an audi employee but I'm beginning to wonder if he is really an MBUSA employee trying to sell extended warranty....

RLE

The second version of the house had all the inviting charm of my veterinarian's waiting room.

oblu

Unfortunately for me, the first version conjured up the smell of old. Old people funk smell and old musty furniture smell. Also too much visual clutter, I'd go crazy being in a house like that. 2nd version wasn't all that great, but at least it 'felt' clean to me.

Strangely, that also mirrors my image of the brands ... MB, old and cluttered vs Audi, new and clean. The w204 was the first car that's ever drawn me toward MB. And after living with it for a year, it'll be my last. Lesson learned, MB is not the brand of car for me.

lx Raven xl

What Problems? What is he on about? Dude there are no problems with the car. If there is one that was the door pins only in US and that was it.

10 months , 12K on the clock. Not a slightest hint of problem in mine. There was one with the exhaust but it was not the cars fault. It was the MB service who after opening it for chrome modification did not put it back properly.

lx Raven xl

HAHHAHAH LMFAO... speechless.

oblu

I'm actually surprised the R8 kept up as well as it did.

jherbias

I have read some of the posts here and there I definitely get the feeling that a lot of people here can't be coaxed off their high horse.

Audi is unreliable? I've had my 300E shut down ON THE FREEWAY IN THE FAST LANE. One reason why my parents became very, very suspect about Mercedes, and German cars in general. Reliability is going to be a hit or miss thing, if you take out the driver factor. The JD Power reports are also supposedly suspect because even the stupidest little thing people complain about gets the manufacturer a mark.

Audi is a follower? Please. Audi has a much storied history as well. You ever heard of Auto Union? Tazio Nuvolari? Audi didn't build that car that killed 80 people at Le Mans in 1955. Or have Mark Webber (among others) fly 100 feet in the air at 180 mph at Le Mans 1999. Look where they are at in sportscar racing today - they have set the standard, whether you like it or not. Before that, it was the Toyota GT-One (oh noes). Mercedes didn't even build their F1 engines themselves for a while - they had Ilmor do it for them until their recent takeover. Even BMW makes their own F1 engines.

Finally... maybe the commercial isn't taking a jab at MB... it should be a complement. MB has (supposedly) set the standard in luxury cars... and Audi is there to challenge them. Assuming if you get off your high horse. Not liking Audi or BMW on a Mercedes forum is fine... or the other way around... it's the ignorance that pisses me off. You should have seen the Blue Devil vs. AMG SL thread a while back.

RLE

I have a problem with some of these statements and since I bought a heavily optioned FIRST YEAR W203, I am qualified to comment. And this was far from my first new MB, I might add.

<<<I didn't get a lemon, there are huge problems affecting all w203s, not just a limited few:
2003-2005 M271 W203 are all affected by the cylinder head issue
pre-2003 Q2 W203 are all affected by the rust issue
2003-2005 M271 W203 are all affected by the vacuum leak and oil harness leak
2001-2005 w203 with automatic transmissions are all affected by the coolant leak>>

I don't know why you are ignoring the first two years of the W203 but I can tell you that they were trouble right from the beginning.My '01 C320 never had a cylinder head problem during it's 7+ years in my garage. It never had any rust, vacuum leaks or oil in the harness problems but I knew about the last one which was also a BMW problem. The coolant in the trans fluid was caused by a fault in the trans cooler in the Italian made radiators and at my dealer was more prevalent in C-32s and usually called for a trans replacement, not always paid for by MB. What started right away were he never ending electronic failures. Seats, mirrors, steering column etc.

<<Apparently MB did its homework on the W203 too, so why should we believe the W204 will be any different.>>

This is a peculiar statement. It was well known that MB did NOT screen their W203 electronics suppliers adequately which resulted in terrible JD Power results (and the early W211 was worse) and serious damage to their quality reputation (undeserved IMHO) not to mention sales numbers. And, this is one of the reasons CEO Jeurgen Schrempp was canned.

<<Yes, after 6 years of making the W203 all the issues were ironed out.>>

Which should have happened by 2002.

<<Yet the W202 was bullet-proof, so if we're to judge based on the previous model, the W203 should have been a success. It wasn't, so please don't preach.>>

Since I bought a 1995 C280 new (that's a W202) I can tell you that in no way was it bulletproof. It was a hell of a lot better than the disastrous W201 and certainly better than the W203 but it still had plenty of problems. Such as engine oil leaks (M104) which happened in almost every one. Mine was typical with a new head gasket in the second year and of course the front cover oil leak which was almost universal. I won't go into the rest.

<<I'm not defending Audi, I'm bashing Mercedes. Terrible styling combined with terrible reliability, and the introduction of a new model is a recipe for disaster. Good luck, hope you bought the extended warranty. >>

Styling is subjective but your comment about terrible reliability is not backed up by the known data.

<<JD Powers only means something if you're leasing a car for the first few years, those of us interested in keeping a car longer know better. The IQS is only 90 days into ownership, and the VDC is 3 years into ownership. The majority of the problems on the W203 only surfaced after 4 years of ownership, and wouldn't even register on JD Powers.>>

Again, your comment about no problems until the cars were four years old is just ludicrous. Component failures cause by bad design showed up immediately. It's JD Power, BTW.

<<Ignorant - no, arrogant - maybe, informed - definitely.>>

Semi-informed, I would say.

<<Did you expect to bash another brand without someone defending it?
I'm not surprised people are defending their car, I'm surprised they are so ignorant to the terrible reliability of Mercedes of late, and the awful interior design and materials.>>

The W204 has been in service just about a year, now, and is proving, along with the S-Class, to be the most reliable models by a wide margin in decades. My own C300 at ten months plus and 6600 miles has had no problems. And this is typical for the model. Certainly there will be exceptions but there can be no comparison to ANY past model going back as far as you care to. And don't bring up the W123 because I bought one.

Dealer warranty work orders in the shop are down drastically since these two models hit the streets. You probably don't know that one of the BIG California dealers laid off their entire second shift because warranty work , representing about 30% of their work orders had dried up. I asked if my dealer's experience was similar and the answer was yes, but cars like the W203 will keep them in business because they will continue to have problems forever.

<<Then again, the W204 is selling well, so perhaps MB is on the mark with bland styling and plastic interiors, pricing the W204 low to attract bargain basement shoppers that will overlook this to have the 3-pointed star.>>

I think your characterization of W204 buyers describes first time BMW buyers much better.

"Hey man, I just bought a Bimmer." Or is it Beamer, I can't keep it straight.