Test Drive magazine (October 2005) - weird
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From: The Earth
Mercedes all the way!
Test Drive magazine (October 2005) - weird
well, picked up a copy of Test Drive magazine and flipped through it. i remember they used to give the E-class 4 stars for "Quality and Reliability" but that has just been downgraded to 3 stars in this issue - supposedly because the "complex electronics" such as the brake-by-wire system can fail.
what i find hilarious though is that right next to it is the CLS review. and despite the two models being identical mechanically, it got 4-stars for the "Quality and Reliability" part, with a comment about how the "proven mechanicals should remain problem free" (i do not quote verbatim).
what it shows is that no one magazine - if any - can be completely objective, even if they use a supposedly objective standard like a starring system.
what i find hilarious though is that right next to it is the CLS review. and despite the two models being identical mechanically, it got 4-stars for the "Quality and Reliability" part, with a comment about how the "proven mechanicals should remain problem free" (i do not quote verbatim).
what it shows is that no one magazine - if any - can be completely objective, even if they use a supposedly objective standard like a starring system.
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From: Central Jersey
2003 E500, 2004 G35X
Originally Posted by ruykava
well, picked up a copy of Test Drive magazine and flipped through it. i remember they used to give the E-class 4 stars for "Quality and Reliability" but that has just been downgraded to 3 stars in this issue - supposedly because the "complex electronics" such as the brake-by-wire system can fail.
what i find hilarious though is that right next to it is the CLS review. and despite the two models being identical mechanically, it got 4-stars for the "Quality and Reliability" part, with a comment about how the "proven mechanicals should remain problem free" (i do not quote verbatim).
what it shows is that no one magazine - if any - can be completely objective, even if they use a supposedly objective standard like a starring system.
what i find hilarious though is that right next to it is the CLS review. and despite the two models being identical mechanically, it got 4-stars for the "Quality and Reliability" part, with a comment about how the "proven mechanicals should remain problem free" (i do not quote verbatim).
what it shows is that no one magazine - if any - can be completely objective, even if they use a supposedly objective standard like a starring system.
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From: Longmont, CO
04 E320 4 Matic, 95 Audi S6, 99 Carrera 4 Cabrio, 12 Fiat 500 Sport, 00 BMW R1200C 10, BMW R1200R
This shows that you can not always believe what you see in print. One would think that if they are selling their reviews and advertise their writing as being objective and well informed they would do their homework.
In Germany, a very reputable magazine stated that the SBC was NOT brake-by-wire! They said that only the rear brakes were electro-hydraulic and that the front were still standard master cylinder activated. Can you see where a moron writer looked at the backup system and interpreted it incorrectly?
I e-mailed the links that BudC has posted on this forum to my friend in Germany who told me about this and believed this writer to be correct. He studied the links and then agreed with me that this writer in Germany screwed up.
So this is to be expected by now. Things are not getting any simpler with automobiles and these writers are just doing the best they can, which is not good enough and wrong.
Thank you for this post, this just confirms what I have always thought,
Steve
In Germany, a very reputable magazine stated that the SBC was NOT brake-by-wire! They said that only the rear brakes were electro-hydraulic and that the front were still standard master cylinder activated. Can you see where a moron writer looked at the backup system and interpreted it incorrectly?
I e-mailed the links that BudC has posted on this forum to my friend in Germany who told me about this and believed this writer to be correct. He studied the links and then agreed with me that this writer in Germany screwed up.
So this is to be expected by now. Things are not getting any simpler with automobiles and these writers are just doing the best they can, which is not good enough and wrong.
Thank you for this post, this just confirms what I have always thought,
Steve
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i drive an ///M6
magazines are *tounge and cheek*-- even consumer reports, i don't doubt their factual info, but how many owners, when satisfied, actually respond to the survey? mostly just the ones that have bad expiriences. one surefire way to see reliability is look at what older cars are still driving around, or ones w/ higher mileage
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From: Florida
E500, Viper, and other less-fun stuff
Consumer Reports is only as objective as its readership, and its readership is not even vaguely similar to the Benz market. Not that I'm saying my E is trouble free, not by a long shot, but I have friends who swear by Consumer Reports, and literally as a direct result, the nicest car they'll ever own is some crappy mid-level Nissan. It's sort of ironic, really.
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From: FL410
'05 E320 CDI, '08 BMW X5 4.8i, '11 Duramax 2500HD
I find the British media BBC TopGear, and CAR to be by far the best of the car rags.
For test drive magazine to downgrade the car, even though the SL, SLR, and CLS but to name three of the top of my head have it shows they don't really test cars.. they just read this forum and spout out the crap most of us dish.
For test drive magazine to downgrade the car, even though the SL, SLR, and CLS but to name three of the top of my head have it shows they don't really test cars.. they just read this forum and spout out the crap most of us dish.
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From: The Earth
Mercedes all the way!
btw, just found out something i never knew before - although some might have known it all along - the mighty Maybach has, guess what, SBC as well! although most mags seem to forget that :p and obviously that car got 5 stars for quality and reliability with the usual blurb about how its mechanicals have done much service in Mercedes cars.
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From: FL410
'05 E320 CDI, '08 BMW X5 4.8i, '11 Duramax 2500HD
Originally Posted by ruykava
btw, just found out something i never knew before - although some might have known it all along - the mighty Maybach has, guess what, SBC as well! although most mags seem to forget that :p and obviously that car got 5 stars for quality and reliability with the usual blurb about how its mechanicals have done much service in Mercedes cars.
SBC is a great system, with no fault other than a poor back up system. Therefore, when it's working fine (99.99999% of the time) it is superior to vacuum systems IMHO. MB should have made an SBC2 and fixed what was wrong with SBC, rather than take the discount route and abandon it.
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