mcbc220

The annual CR Autos issue is out today. Is anyone here a subscriber? Based on the free content, it doesn't look like very many MB models are recommended. Probably in part because a lot of the lineup is new or recent?

Jawknee_5

interesting enough, Audi and Lexus made it to the top 5.

mcbc220

Not sure if this is snark or not, but Audi has been doing pretty darn well in CR since 2011. I'm still not entirely sure they make reliable vehicles for long-term ownership, though, as JD Power's three-year survey doesn't rate them as highly (not to be confused with their bogus 90 initial quality survey), and there's plenty of anecdotal evidence out there of recent Audis having issues. But I guess if you're leading, Audi is a safe bet now. If I were buying for reliability, I still wouldn't gamble on them.

I hope Mercedes figures out who they are soon. They're making some great-driving cars, but it seems like quality is dropping a bit.

Zavato

Audi quality is real. I've owned 2 Audis. The first wasn't particularly reliable. The second one, an A6 Quattro, was Honda-like in reliability. The interior was especially well done and the car was a joy to drive.

NYbenzzz

benz will never make it to a top 10 in consumer reports.

think about it, once warranty is done, your car is basically a cash dump.

StanNH

The W205, in particular, scores vey well in CR testing and could easily have been one of their top picks. Unfortunately, first year reliability came back as much worse than average. MB never seems to do very well in most reliability surveys, regardless of how well they may score in other categories.

CR's methodology is based entirely on owner feedback from CR surveys. Generally, the results are useful and have held up well over time. It doesn't mean their top picks are cars you'd want to own, just that they are competent and relatively trouble free.

Zavato

I believe owner feedback over a large enough survey is reliable. That said, I would never recommend any car in its first year of production. Unless you want to be a beta tester.

For me, a great driving car that's not reliable isn't something I would want to have. But that's just me. People love their S class sedans even though they are not a paragon of reliability.

Jay_Chicago

Wow! I have to setup an alarm to sell it before my warranty expires then.

NYCSoiL

Rank Changes to prev. year Brand Model q-ty Score
Most reliable
1. — Lexus 9 86
2. — Toyota 12 78
3. +4 Buick 4 75
4. –1 Audi 7 71
5. +1 Kia 4 69
6. –2 Mazda 5 68
7. +2 Hyundai 7 66
8. +16 Infiniti 4 62
Reliable
9. +2 BMW 8 57
10. –2 Honda 7 57
11. –6 Subaru 5 54
12. +6 Acura 5 53
13. +2 Nissan 9 52
14. –4 MINI 2 47
15. +5 Chevrolet 15 45
16. –2 Porsche 2 45
17. +4 Mercedes-Benz 6 44
18. –1 Ford 14 44
Less reliable
19. –7 Volvo 4 40
20. –4 Lincoln 3 33
21. +4 Cadillac 4 32
22. –9 Volkswagen 8 30
23. +4 Jeep 5 30
24. –5 GMC 7 29
25. — Tesla 2 28
26. –3 Dodge 5 28
27. –5 Chrysler 2 26
28. — Fiat 2 17
29. –3 Ram 2 16

SoDakBenz

Audi is not bad for short term ownership but long term I'd avoid it. And as far as Lexus being up there I owned one and can attest to they are probably the best built car around. I had a 2009 is250 awd and it had the build quality of a s class. I'm not joking the clips for dash panels were felt lined. Could not believe that for a 45k$ car. After hating my current dealership for service and build quality of my w205. I'm going back to Lexus.

NYbenzzz

realiable, yes.

but design of the current IS? exterior is a big WTF 12 year old spaceship look-a-like.
interior is bland and boring. center console looks like cheap plastic all over.

i'm not gonna lie, lexus gives you a hell of a lot more car for the money than benz, but for short term ownership GERMAN all the way!

SoDakBenz

Yea for my money I had hid lights with adaptive lighting they turned with the car and cooled front seats.

Mike5215

Owning a Benz, any Benz, out of warranty is a very bad idea. Dumping it before the warranty expires is actually smart. Ditto for BMW and Audi. Our 2014 Q7 has a laundry list of open warranty repairs: Blind spot detection failed. Undercarriage shield fell off, keyless go is inoperable, gas door frequently refuses to open, glove box door will not open, steering column tilt is inoperable, engine is using oil between service visits. It's got 36k miles on it.

My first CPO S Class had $13,000 in warranty repairs over two years, then 3k miles after the warranty expired, I laid out $6,000 for a reman tranny (for a car worth about $15k at that point).

My second CPO S Class didn't blow up but still had $10,000 in warranty repairs over three years. It got dumped before the warranty ended. (Fool me once).

My 3rd CPO S Class was doing pretty well as far as repair expense, and I almost regretted spending the money for the extended CPO. Then it had an AirMatic failure, cam position sensor failure, and a gauge cluster failure totaling $6,000 for one visit.

There's a reason new MB's depreciate like rocks. The market has built in the poor reliability and high cost of ownership.

auditoamg

Well, Audi is awful. I've now had three.

First was CPO'd and had $28k for a new transmission, but also needed a new pwr steering rack, coolant reservoir, etc., all totaling over $35k. It took 7 visits, plus engineering, regional and corporate to get involved to resolve the issue. Dumped @ 28k miles.
Second was CPO'd: Side lane assist failed 7 times and also took regional, corporate and multiple people to resolve, but then had their remote data systems fail (you know the 3g connection), etc. So I dumped it @ 10k miles.
Third I still have as I await arrival of my C63S: Air Conditioning doesn't cool properly and they cannot find the issue, so we end up sweating in the summer, has already been in the shop 4x to correct navigation issues and they finally replaced the main nav computer, now the car doesn't consistently recognize the key or open the door when you touch the handles, etc. Car will be dumped at 17k miles and was a brand new 2015 model.

Audi is only reliable is you do not expect it to work reliably.

hans007

i had a 2010 A4. Which was the b8 generation (the b9 came out this year and is basically the same chassis / engine still).

mine was the 2nd year it came out. turned out they had defective pistons that burned tons of oil. had an injector blow on the freeway after 9k miles. had my catalytic converter replaced at 35k due to the oil burning destroying it.

2009 A4s also had a suspension issue where front control arms had to be replaced.

Yet somehow audi is reliable now.

My bmw on the other hand, rock solid. I don't really trust these surveys honestly. I'd rather look on something like truedelta which breaks down what repairs were done etc. friend had a w204 that was bullet proof until an SUV crashed into it.

auditoamg

My wife’s W204 (2014 C250) is bullet proof, with one minor issue we need to get resolved.
Survey’s are just that.
Reports are just that.
Only as good as the sample data and often that’s plagued by advertising, etc.

So - it’s all B__LS__T.

Sam Manuel

They said Mercedes is being pulled down in these rankings by the s class and c class which are t doing so well with owners , the w205 makes it in the top 5 cars available on the used car lot.

CR 's favorite Mercedes is currently the GLC

Mike5215

I (obviously) love S Classes despite how cruel they've been because when they're sorted out they drive like nothing else. Each of my S Class stranded me at least once. The 06 220 when the tranny imploded, the 04 220 two hours from home when the park interlock failed, and the 2010 221 when the starter quit.

It's not a big deal under CPO, just get it to the dealer and get a loaner. Some minor inconvenience. Outside of warranty though they can nick you pretty hard.

flagman

My 2009 C350/4M (returned at lease expiry) had a few issues, but nothing major. My 2012 C350/4M (bought out the lease) has been bullet-proof. Main reasons I bought it out and gave it to my son include the reliability, solid build and safety systems - but I was wary of post-warranty repair costs, so we forked out the $2700 for the 3 yr extended warranty.
I've reported on both cars on TrueDelta since they were new. I trust TrueDelta stats, the only issue is they often have problems getting enough vehicles. So far, their stats on the '09 and '12 W204's and a couple of Mazda's we've owned have been exactly in line with our own personal experiences.