rjm

You haven't been reading the news. The engines fail on those things and the tails drop off. They are made of a composite material that the pilots are not too fond of. Remember the Airbus in NY city (American AA) that took off and the pilot "overcontrolled," causing failure of the vertical stabilizer (tail)? That was an Airbus.

Like I said...........Mercedes-Benz = Airbus

PHXATC

What about Bombardier CRJs? Wooooohahahahahahahaha.

Just kidding. They suck from our standpoint.

You guys crack me up. I don't know whether to go hug my Lexus or my MB. Decisions, decisions........

rjm

My MB was perfect for the 1st 3 months too...except the seat rails were loose and the seats physically moved when I went around corners. They replaced all the seat rails (my 1st 4 days with a loaner) and they were fine. The fun stuff started later. My car was always garaged and driven with respect and maintained by the dealership...it was never abused. The transmission still failed at 24,000 miles. And, as I later found out, this type of failure was somewhat common and known to Mercedes. It was caused by a transmission seal leaking into the Transmission Control Module. Guess they never bothered to check that when it was in for service. It was in for my yearly service and oil change exactly one month before the transmission failed.

rjm

Just keep that great sense of humor....we are just having some fun!

BudC

Isn't this the failure of the radiator where coolant got into the transmission?

rjm

No, that's another problem entirely. On mine, the transmission seal leaked transmission fluid into the harness feeding the Transmission Control Module. The Transmission Control Module fails, causing the transmission to become inoperative. You can still drive the car in "Limp-Home Mode" not exceeeding 30 MPH.

Vader55

Rjm,
The lexus sedans are some of the crappiest looking cars I have ever seen. It is funny that anyone would compare lexus to MB. I roll a S500 and any lexus looks like junk next to it..At the end of the day you are driving a rice burner that tries to copy the leader MB. 80 K on my ride and brakes,rotors and oil have been my only issues. Now put that in your pipe and smoke it

ps. A JD survey is based on who is paying the most for those kind stats.

rjm

The J.D. Powers Ratings are the hallmark of the automotive industry. Would you like to clarify exactly to whom and how they are paying for those stats? Do you really believe that Lexus or any other manufacturers are "paying" for those ratings?

Keep on drinking that Kool-Aid!

Vader55

Stop hanging with Jim Jones my friend. If you do not recognize the underbelly of business then nothing I can say will change your opinion. The Auto makers are as ruthless as anyone and all of the Survey type companys are on the take..Wise up.

rjm

Gee, I wonder why Mercedes-Benz doesn't try to pay them off?? They have lots of money. Get real!

CE750

I wish you guys would raise more of a fuss about them... damn things are putting us pilots out too.. They're taking good paying jobs from the mainline and sending it to the 50-70K/yr captains at the "regionals".

I flew the CRJ, but damn if those things aren't everywhere now!

rjm: Airbus that failed was an A300... the newer busses (especially the 320) are doing well in service, and the airlines are liking them better from a ($$ operating cost) standpoint which is kinda like your Lexus argument.

BTW... windshield repair guy was out doing my w/s just now, and I asked him his thoughts on Lexus vs. MB in terms of build quality as far as he can tell (he's got 33 years replacing glass in cars).. and he said "Lexus is good, but MB is MB.. much better"

rjm

Honestly, would you expect him to say something else to a customer whose car was a MB? What do you think he would say to a Lexus owner if asked the same question?

CE750

MB tried the payoff thing in Africa, got them in deep crap with the German Govt.

I agree, there is a lot of this hanky panky... even in the Car Mag world.. Rice is popular, no doubt about it... but walk up to the average man on the Street and ask them.. "Would you prefer this MB E500 or this Lexus LS430 at no cost to you?" what do you think they would say?

HELL ONA HARLEY

Give it up Sam.... Most MB owners here know what a fine car we are driving. May not be perfect, but nothing is. The folks that you are debating with are MB haters... Nothing more, nothing less. Check the history rjm's posts (I have) and they are nothing but complaints from the day he joined. As far as lig goes, well he's no virgin to the complaints either (gotta love him though)... That being said, I have to respect both on the point that they both took business in to their own hands and solved their problems..... THEY BOUGHT ANOTHER BRAND OF CAR..... I think thats awesome for them both, but why hang here and bash???? Thats the one one thing I guess I'll never understand....

Sam, no matter what you say, what survey you post and the links to Lexus complaints (awesome work by the way), you will never win.
These two fine people or any other person with complaints will never "rain on my parade".... My car has been absolutly perfect (well almost) and I have had the complete opposite experience with my ride as with the "haters". Guess its true that misery loves company... Its a pitty that some join the website to do nothing but complain and the people that are here to do honest to goodness research on a car have to wade through all the B.S, whining and crying as I did when I first joined, but I guess this is true with most any auto website as the "haters" surely know.

CE750

about time you showed up! Wife must-a run out of Magazines to read

Anyway.. I agree 100% with what you say... and you KNOW I had my own criticisms of MB (mainly the marketing side of MBUSA), but I think some of this stuff borders on loony

btw.. they're talking about the V-ROD towards the end of this thread.. HERE

guitarplayer

Hey! Leave my V-Rod alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

I love my V-Rod, it smokes!!!!!

CE750

o'oh.. now I've done it.

JohnAMG

Finally an intelligent response. Lets just enjoy our vehicles, all brands, and appreciate the uniqueness of different manufacturers. However, Mercedes will always be my family's primary vehicles. 1997 E320 was the first vehicle I bought with my own money and I have been a loyal fan since. I am an open-minded person and I will try different luxury branded vehicles at different times. Life is too short not to try everything, even the rice-burner! I love my wife's comment: "As long my AMG is park in the garage you can try what ever the hell you want" My wife is a very sensible person.

John

Vader55

Because they have "the brand" and make a quality product. Long before the box o rice

tgblakeman1074

Purchased CLS550 2009 new for 75K.. I've probably put 20K of repairs into the car and it only has 138K miles on it. Electrical problems, complete failure of air suspension, AC issues, automatic trunk stopped working, key fob stopped working.. I mean I barely drive the car and keep it in the garage, but every year something new goes wrong and its expensive as hell to fix. I will never IN MY LIFE BUY Mercedes again. I have a honda and toyota from similar years and I've never had a SINGLE issue from either.. its unbelievable the difference in build and design quality that comes from these companies. Mercedes are so over-engineered and designed to FAIL. I've considered driving it off a bridge for a youtube video I've got so disgusted by all the problems it has.

rapidoxidation

A prime example of someone who joined to complain.
Personally, I've enjoyed ownership of:
1985 300D: Built like a tank, drove like it had a boat anchor attached, and easily the classiest car I've ever owned. Super easy to work on, reliable as a brick. Gave it to my nephew with 140K on it.
2005 E320 CDI: Built like a tank, drove like it had rocket boosters attached, and easily the fastest car I've ever owned. Easy to work on, reliable as a brick. Sold it with 180K miles and it still got 35-40mpg and pulled like a freight train.
2013 E350 4matic: Built like a tank, drove like it should. Not super fast, but would easily enough hit the speed limiter. Super comfy, easy to work on, reliable as a brick. Traded it after only one year of ownership at 65K miles because I wanted something with a bit more clearance.
2013 ML350 Bluetec: Built like a tank, drives like an SUV. Faster than the E350, plenty of clearance, tows my camper like a dream. So far, easy to work on, reliable, and comfortable. Gonna keep it for a while.

Some folks just need to have a Toyota, and that's OK. I don't.

Edited to add:: Why the hell would you join to find a 17 year old thread to bump and complain??