Ron

Yesterday my fuel gauge began registering full (16.2-16.4 gallons) despite the fact that this evening I took it to the station and added 3.5 gallons. When I took off it wouldn't even register empty; it just flat-lined . One the way home it popped back up to Full. Going in for an oil change Thursday and I'll ask about re-programming the chip at the same time.

Anyone have a similar experience?

PS: NOT what I'd expect with a $55,000 car...

PPS: Mercedes Benz USA: I hope you are monitoring this site... You need a little honest feedback about the quality of your cars!!

mbtech208

"NOT what I'd expect with a $55,000 car..."

Would you expect it with a $10,000 car? Anything with moving parts is going to malfunction sooner or later. It's a fact of life.

The problem with your car is the fuel level sending units, of which your car has two. Very common problem with the 202 C-class and the CLK. For 1998 and newer cars, the instument cluster also has to be replaced at the same time as the sending units due to version coding issues in the cluster.

J.D.Vandemark

a common problem. MB reputation is reliablity and quality not, OH thats a common problem, happens all the time. Some car companies i would expect quality issues but not as many as MB has. Sorry it a sore nerve.

mbtech208

There's no such thing as a "perfect" car, guys. If any manufacturer built a car that was guaranteed to never break, the price would probably be astronomical. Pick any manufacturer whose cars you think are well-built, and go hang around the dealer's service department for a week. It might change your mind about the cars.

Mach430

Another thing to think about is that MBs typically have more features than other types of cars. The more features you have, the more problems you can run into. Percentage wise, I'm sure that MB still have less problems than other cars.

Ron

You guys are drinking your own M-B brand of Kool Aid. Read your posts!!

I owned a 1990 Honda Accord for 11 years and put 225,000 miles on it before giving it to my brother, whose daughters have put anther 8,000 miles on it with no complaints.

In 11 years that car went in for one (that's ONE) unscheduled service.

In the 12 months I've owned my 2001 CLK 320, I've had to bring it in to get the heater vents re-programmed, to get the rear bumper removed and re-painted (yes, it is a ****ty paint job for a luxury car), to have the air conditioning repaired due to a leak in a vacuum valve and now this.

And you know what? All this BS is going to be accompanied with a smile and a bill for $1285 once the car goes out of warranty.

I am not expecting miracles. Just the same (dare I ask for better?) quality than I had with my Honda.

Ron

It's clear that we are all in the honeymoon phase with our cars (none of us have exceeded the 48 months/50,000 miles, right?).

So, here's a question for the board:

Who's had to bring their car in for an out-of-warranty experience?

What service was performed and what was the cost? Covered by insurance or not.

Cheers, and happy Saturday (and no, I'm not usually this crabby).

karl k

Ron

To get a clearer picture, because your profile is BLANK, - could you please tell us:

Type of car & model;
How many miles on car;
Year of car manufactured; and
City where you live.

(I had similar experience with an SL500.)

tnx

Karl K

mbtech208

You want better quality than 225,000 miles and 11 years with only one unscheduled service? Sir, you can't really get much better than that. I'm not disputing the quality of Japanese cars. I personally have an '89 Accord with 346,000 miles on it. A/C still blows cold, everything works. If you were so happy with a $15,000 Honda, why did you switch brands? Why did you buy what you feel to be a ****ty $55,000 car? I would have bought another Honda or Acura after your experience with them.
Mach430 also has a point. Mercedes are jam-packed from road to roof with technology, features, creature comforts, electrical nannies. All this means is that there are more things that could break. Mercedes-Benz may not make the best-built cars in the world, but most people buy them for their status symbols anyways. To me, I don't care if its an old 190E or a brand-new CL600 Sport. They all break, no matter how superior their owners seem to think they are to other cars.

karl k

MBtech wrote

Mach430 also has a point. Mercedes are jam-packed from road to roof with technology, features, creature comforts, electrical nannies. All this means is that there are more things that could break.
______________________________________________

Agreed.

I was totally disappointed with the new 2001 SL500. MB replaced air compressor, fuel sending unit, visor's el. contacts, light bulbs, oil level sensor, window rub rails all during the first 2000 miles. I was disgusted with the SL 500 , wanted a CL 500! Settled for a new CLK 55 AMG, which I love. Best and most comfortable car I've owned.

With the 2002 CLK 55 I drove 3000 miles now. Only 2 defects so far: Had a fuel menu added, which should had been there in the first place. Had the sunroof squeaks fixed, via re-alignment of the RR section and lube of same.

Needless to say, - NOT ALL MB cars have the same number of defects.

I had many Hondas and Acuras running 100,000 miles with oil, oil filter and tire changes only.

But, there is the Mercedes AMBIENCE/MYSTIQUE, leader in many technical innovations, the ride quality, the safety features, the professional MB personnel, warranty, support, - and dare I say "the ego satisfaction," which make a Mercedes product sooo desirable and attractive.

gray

In response to Ron's original post, I had similar problems with my fuel gauge, it has been "fixed" 4 times. It still does not register accurately, showing full (62 litres) for around 100 km after filling the tank whilst the last 20 litres gets used up in around 50 km.

In response to replies to the original post, most appear to suggest that we should not expect a high quality car - I strongly disagree. I've owned cars for the last 36 years and have never experienced anything even remotely resembling the continual problems that I have had with my 230K in the 14 months since new. I won't go into details of those problems as it would take too long.

I also disagree that the MB has more features to go wrong, my previous BMW and Lexus had similar levels of features and absolutely nothing went wrong with either of them.

Past cars (in chronological order) were:

Triumph Vitesse 1600
Triumph Vitesse 2000 Mk 2
Triumph 2000 Mk 2
Triumph 2.5 PI Mk2
Ford Escort
Toyota Corolla
Suzuki Brute jeep
Nissan Bluebird Skyline
Nissan 240L
Audi 90
BMW 325i
Lexus GS300

It is also worth noting that in a consumer survey carried out in the U.K. by J.D. Power and the BBC about 12 months ago, all the MB models rated pretty badly, some extremely badly.

Yes, I get a great deal of 'ego' satisfaction from driving my MB - when it's on the road.

Ron

Thanks for your post. The only thing worse than a $55,000 car with this many problems are consumers who nod their heads in utter belief that it's ok to make a crappy car and settle for the mystique of the cachet to compensate for poor engineering or manufacturing.

Some stats on my car:

2001 CLK 320 black/black convertible
daily driver, never raced or abused
+17,000 miles
wash weekly, wax monthly
one year anniversary coming up next week
no mods, but I'm thinking about illuminated door sills...

Cheers,

Ron

byip25

my freaking fuel gauge does that about once every 6 months tool. but everytime i tell the dealer, they say they wont change it until the gauge stays below empty for good. oh well.

B