Barry45RPM

2 Guys Are Sitting in the Service Department, waiting to be written up. One turns to the other & says:

"This is the 8th time I've had to bring my '04 E 500 into this damn place in the last 10 weeks!

The other guy says knowingly: "Yeah, they're a pain in the butt these cars, but driving one really makes a statement."

The first guy shoots back: "Yeah they say 'Hi. For a 21st Century car, I'm an expensive piece of crap' "

vraa

Sounds like a real life experience?

hotwiredbenz

i was picking my car up the other day from the dealer and there was a guy yelling very loudly about how his brand new 06 s class had been in the shop for 3 weeks. He was there that day to pick up his car after being told it was fixed and he drove it out the lot only to find that the same problems still exisited. Boy he was pissed.

lig

Now you are really starting to appreciate the big screen and the coffee in the service waiting area, eh? j/k

Sorry to hear that things haven't really gotten better with respect to your car.

My S4 has been bulletproof compared to my W211. I truly hope M-B gets their sh*t together soon.

SKBENZ

Hmmm. I am returning to the shop tomorrow for the 5th time during the 6 months we have owned our 03 E500. Love the car and the dealer always offers a loaner, but It would be nice if everything worked at the same time.
Issues with climate brightness and Rain sense wiper this round.

SK

rickyfanmdr

I'm sorry to hear of your problems, everyone.

I love my car, but my dealer really is a joke. Every time I go in, they create a new problem. I took my car in back in February for a routine campaign repair, and they gave my car back to me with the clock not working, the pano roof not working, and my cargo nets left unattached.

I put up with that for three months until I could find time to go back to go get that stuff fixed. They ended up having to do another routine campaign while they were at it. They gave me a loaner car, so I went out and killed the day while I was in that area. When I went back at the time they said the car would be ready, they had done nothing. Apparently there was a paperwork glich--someone had done some work back in March at another dealer, and they mistakenly used my VIN number. My stupid dealer wouldn't work on my car until I insisted they fix their paperwork mistakes on their own time.

I waited around in the infamous and familiar coffee and TV area for hours more. When I finally got my car back, the lights in the instrument panel don't work now. Now I have to find time to go back yet again!

It took them three weeks and countless phone calls to finally fix the paperwork error (which implied that I had rolled back the mileage on my car and had already done a lot of warranty work on my car that was done to someone else's car, not mine!)

Mercedes Benz of Long Beach. Laughable--but no fun!!

DWP

... and in walk a priest, a minister and a rabbi?

I dunno. I've got some "issues" with my W211, but build quality and reliability aren't among them. Over the going-on-three-years that we've had the car, it's had very few problems and only one that required more than one day to fix. When the car has been in to the dealer (M-B of Sacramento) for maintenance, recalls or warranty repairs the dealer has done, so far as I can tell, competent work, meaning that any problem gets fixed and new problems aren't created.

LNL

Consumer Reports lists MB dead last for overall repair history. I've read that has improved since 2003, and that MB has been concentrating on improving the quality of their cars. I sure hope so, as I have an '07 E320 Bluetec on order.

In light of the E-Class's poor repair history, had BMW or Audi had a diesel or other fuel efficient alternatives available in the US, I might have gone there instead. I can only hope my experience is "much better than average." If not, more diesel or other engine options should be on the market in a couple of years and I will then have a choice.

Lou

weinschela

Barry45RPM: Maybe its time to try another dealer. I see you're on Long Island. So am I. I have used MB of Southampton since the mid-1980's, and while they are not perfect, they are good most of the time, and it keeps me coming back for new cars. PM me if you will and tell me who your dealer is so I can stay away. My E500 has had occasional minor issues and not more. Giving them the SBs that pop on this forum has been an excellenet way to get the right service too.

BenzVince

wow, I'm surprise of the problem you guys are having. I haven't had anything so far, despite the horror story i hear and read about, but knock on wood on mine. The only disappointment i have is my rear taillights have gaps between the bumper, that kind of surprise me with the MB fit and finish

Brunelleschi

my service people have always been pretty cool with me



knock on wood

Barry45RPM

Actually I'm quite happy with the service department I'm using. They take me in without an appointment, are nice as could be, have no problem having the shop forman come out to talk with me or ride with me to see the problem first hand.

The problem is, most of the problems I am having are not easilly replicated, or are not run of the mill/well documented problems known to MB. Its just been a rough 3 or 4 weeks, with one thing after another slamming me. Often times ocuring when I am picking up my freshly washed, repaired car, so that I drive out of the service dept tunnel, get to the street go 3-4 miles & pull back into the front of the tunnel with something new going haywire.

The car is a joy to drive, but keeping it running right is a full time job. Its a design problem, not a repair facility problem. I tell all the people at the service department all the time thet I KNOW the difference between Poor Service, and a Poorly Designed Product.

Mechanically the cars are as they have always been, "Bullet Proof", over built, and rock solid. The electronic systems are clumsily, and poorly programmed devices, and also have big time reliability problems.

MB is going to self distruct if they do not collaborate with a Japanese electronics firm. The time for 20th century cars ended 6 YEARS AGO!

alewifebp

I hear you guys. While I never had any major issues, such as the car not starting or the brakes failing, I have had a ton of little problems that never seemed to be really fixed. The COMAND is probably the most problematic piece. When I moved and had a ton of stuff in my trunk, I was riding without a radio for several days because it refused to turn on. I knew that I needed to pull fuse 6, but the trunk was full. I've done the fuse pulling exercise multiple times on mine, and a few times on my friends W211. The climate control issues were also an issue. And in each instance that I went in to the dealer for problems, probably only about half of them got fixed adequately. And on one particularly long service ordeal, they found fluid leaks and transmission problems. It wasn't uncommon for the dealer to have my car for a week at a time.

So I would say that it is a service department problem, but as Barry has said, many are design issues for stuff that really shouldn't be breaking. I ended the lease early to take advantage of a good deal on an W164 ML500, and while the COMAND is still not great, and the transmission is a little jerky, it so far has been working much better than my W211 ever worked.

It is funny when me and my friend talk about our old W211's. He mentioned that the way we were talking about them, you would think that we were talking about jalopy's.