True, but lower cost indicates lower quality for a similar item unless method of production (automation) is involved.
In 2010 Mercedes had 87 problems per 100 new vehicles. By 2024 that number has climbed to 206 according to J.D.Power Initial Quality Ranking.

MB quality decreased from 206 PP100 in 2024 to 210 PP100 in 2025 according to the JD Power IQS.

 

Sometimes. But lower Labor costs (e.g. Hungary) and lower Electrical and Rent etc don't require automation or again necessarily result in lower quality. The point is that it depends. It also matters on the design specifications and quality control provided by Germany.

 

True but that was in the past. The car of the year now is the new E450. In 2018 I bought 2 E43s for my wife and I. I did not like that slow grindy V6. I traded the car a year later for a CLS53 which is a more comparable car to today’s E450.

 

BS, parts are built to spec no matter where they are built. The old E450 is nowhere the driving quality of the current E450.

 

Petee is back with more of his BS, after his prior C-class nonsense.

The above ("no matter where it is built" theory) is the biggest BS I have ever heard, even though in theory, it sounds plausible. A German built E450, and its fit and finish, were ALWAYS rated to be better than the GLE450 which was assembled in the US.

There are a plethora of threads, right within the MBWorld forums, where people in Europe purchased the GLE53 (US built), and returned it back due to fit-and-finish problems (he published pictures showing how drastic the problems were). He re-ordered the GLE53, and the new one that arrived, also had the EXACT same fit-and-finish problems. He walked around the lot, and his finding was that when comparing the fit-and-finish of the E-classes on the lot, with the GLEs, it almost appeared as if 2 different companies were building these products, showing how drastic was the difference between the E-class and the GLE.

 

You don't have a clue what you are talking about. You have not owned multiple generations of the E-class, to comment intelligibly.

 

The QA specs exists even among the GLEs assembled in the US. But the fit-and-finish is drastically different between the equivalent E-class assembled in Germany, versus the GLE in the US.

The same applies to Hondas assembled in the US or the UK, versus the ones assembled in Japan. In case of their Civic Type-R, the assembly of the prior generation switched from Japan, to their Swindon, UK plant. Due to the extremely poor fit-and-finish of the product from the Swindon plant, they switched back the production/assembly of the Civic Type-R (a halo product of theirs), back to Japan, in the current generation. All of the prior fit-and-finish issues vanished like a bad dream ! I doubt the QA standards were different, between say Swindon and their Japanese plants, but the results on the ground were beyond drastic. Essentially, the promise of the "theory" knocking against the "reality".

 

Lower costs do not always indicate lower quality.

For example skiing: I am am avid skier, over 35 days per year. Almost all high end ski boots are not longer made in Italy. Romania and Bulgaria are where most ski boots are now made.

You will see OEM parts for Mercedes often made in eastern European countries.

What it does mean is the de-industrialization of Germany where parts that were previously made in Germany and now made elsewhere because it is cheaper, mainly the savings in labor.

 

BS, again. Between my wife and I, her 25 E450 is our 29th new Mercedes since 1983. And to respond to the text on the GLE53. I am on my second GLE53 and both have been excellent vehicles. Unfortunately my 24 GLE53 will be my last since it does not conform to CUSMA and subject to 25% reciprocal tariff. MB is absorbing the bulk of the tariff so far but will not be capable of doing this forever. You guys should expect the price of your German made E classes to soon see large price increases because of tariffs.

PS HOW many MB cars have you owned?

 

@roweraay - But isn’t the new E450 assembled in Germany? We were talking about parts, not assembly.

 

I ordered a 26 which my salesman said should be on the water soon. nautical blue over neve grey nappa. just about every option including air suspension and the 20 inch wheels [why the CLE got 20s that look just like the 21s on the E class baffles me. they are so good looking.] the air suspension is recommended in most reviews and its under warranty for as long as I intend on having the car so why not? no stupid superscreen. what a waste of money that is along with the 3d drivers display. cannot wait to get it. gm said its the only E allocated to them and I got it because the prior salesman so badly botched my attempted black Friday purchase.

 

Another couple of sources I suspect, are either China or India. The E-class is made in Germany, China and India, and China in particular can ramp up quickly, to take up the slack from the reduction in German production. And thus I would wager, that a majority of the the 50% loss of German componentry, is being sourced from Asia.

Hungary does assemble some GLCs, but AFAIK, no E-classes.

 

Dealer today confirmed build slot dated 7/17.
wonder how long it will take to arrive….

 

^ I have an E53 ordered that is supposed to be built today as well. Crazy that you were able to get it ordered and built in less than a week!

Once it is scheduled for a ship, your dealer can access the ship name in their system and you can track it on marinetraffic.com. I expect the cars will be held at the port in or near Bremerhaven until tariffs are sorted out, but would be happy to be wrong.

I was planning to reach out tomorrow to find out the status.

 

If there’s any comparison, mine was built on that date last year and was at my dealership for pick up on September 28th.

 

I had a build date of 7/1/2024 and took delivery on Aug 28th. A lot of it depends on the things going on at the shipping ports. I would figure on 6-10 weeks from your build date with it likely being closer to 8 weeks.

 

Hi. New here. Ordered 2026 450 a couple of weeks ago. 7/24 build date. My first MB.

 

I already traded in my 2025 e450 all terrain wagon. I just found it too hard for me getting in and out of the car. I didn’t take the entry access enough into consideration when I purchased the car last November. I had a 2019 e450 wagon before this car and didn’t have this issue. The changes that were made to the 214 is that the doors don’t open as wide as on the 213 and the seat was moved back towards the door pillar and of course the dash sticks out more and I felt more crammed in than with my old 213. I was not crazy about the high level of complexity relating to the center screen and having to constantly interact with it sometimes touching it 2 or 3 times to do what I wanted it to do. I am a big guy and me and my wife felt kinda cramped in the car.

traded in the car for two Subaru outbacks and could not be happier. I got the Turbo XT touring and my wife the premium as she never seems to use tech features. The doors open a lot wider the seat position is much better and the cars both ride a lot better than my E450. When I first started driving the outback I was thinking why is everyone going so slow. Then I realized I was going 45. Felt more like 30. The boxer engine though an old design is very smooth. Fuel economy is not as good as the Benz. 28 highest compared to 31 for the Benz but not much of a difference and the outback holds a gallon more of fuel so about the same range.

the real big thing though is I can comfortably take the outback off road. It’s has a real lot of ground clearance and is a very capable off road vehicle with the asymmetrical alll wheel drive. Why they named the all terrain the all terrain I’ll never know as I never would have dared taking the all terrain off road. Very low to the ground and just not an off road vehicle.

lastly the 2025 outback touring XT has just about all the features as the 214 Benz minus the soft close doors and the multi contour massaging seats both of which are not really missed. Some people complain about the Subaru infotainment system but I find it much more user friendly than the Benz and does everything I want. It also has all the remote features as the Benz for only 150 dollars for 3 years. The one thing I’m going to do is change out the front door speakers and dynamat the doors and replace the rear sub and dynamat the enclosure. The touring has the hk stereo but the speakers are lacking. All in all I’m quite happy with my purchases. The turbo performs much better than I thought and with my wife’s car 180 hp is adequate for her.

I’ll still be on the forums. I still have my 2018 S class 560 with 83k miles on it that I’ll probably never get rid of. No problems getting in and out of that car and tons of interior space.

 

I have noticed people in my neighbourhood who Drive the Subaru, like you, have two of them. Says something about the car. Good luck with your purchase.

 

Back in the day, I used to have a Subaru STI wagon/hatchback, as my 3rd car. With a Planetary gear based center differential, a Torsen front differential, and a helical rear differential. Drove with 65% of the power going to the rear wheels, and 35% to the front wheels. And of course it only came with a 6-speed manual. Still miss it !

Subarus are good cars and are built to last. As long as YOU enjoy the ownership experience, that’s all that counts.

 

Thanks guys. The touring XT is the right car for me. Without the turbo I would not have the car. Makes a big difference. The wagon has the WRX turbo boxer and it’s very smooth and goes like hell when you want it too. I actually like the eyesight adaptive cruise better than my 214. The ride feels better to me probably a lot of it is the high profile tires and large suspension swing with the nearly 12 inches of ground clearance. It handles better than I thought it would with the low center of gravity boxer engine. It’s no match though against the all terrain though in handling the 214 would blow it away on a curvy track. That would be an amusing video to see though pitting a 214 against the touring XT on a. Circle track lol. The 214 would easily beat it on acceleration too. 4.4 0 to 60 vs 6.0 on the touring XT. I may do a Cobb tune on it eventually and an intake and dual corsa mufflers in time. That would bring it close to the 214 in performance and it would sound better too. There’s plenty of mods for the WRX engine.

 

The problem with driving only one make of vehicle for so many years, gives us a very narrow outlook comparing models only of the same manufacturer. Unfortunately for me, I am too old to change now and my friend owns the MB store where I purchase my cars. There are most certainly much better cars out there that I will never experience.

 

I look at all brands of cars that come close to my functional requirements.
Price is not a consideration until the final selection.
However, the esthetics are more important than functionality to me.
I do not wish to drive a car that I consider esthetically not pleasing.
To date that includes the Lexus exterior and the BMW interior.
Those are the first brands I've reviewed for my next purchase.

 

From what I’ve seen Mercedes was the first to come out with features most Japanese and Korean cars have now. The Subaru has nowhere near the solid bank vault feel the Mercedes has. The Mercedes metal is much thicker. You can feel it in the doors and everything. The Mercedes finish is much nicer so all these things are what you pay for when you buy a Mercedes. Even the plastic in the Mercedes is much more scratch resistant than in my new Subaru. I’ve already got some small scratches in the Subaru from my wheelchair touching panels. That didn’t seem to happen in the Benz. The Subaru is definately not a showcase car it’s just a car you drive and it’s comfortable and does what you want it too. It’s much more well suited to the bumpy roads in RI where I live. No problems going down even the areas worst road. Roads I didn’t dare take the Mercedes. At least for my build the seat is much more comfortable surprisingly in the Outback Touring XT. They are Napa Leather seats. Anyhow best of luck to anyone order new cars. I went through that process last summer with the all terrain. I just wish I’d tried getting in and out of a showroom all terrain more. I just got in and out of a lot car once and thought I’d adjust. Wish they had not changed the geometry so much over my 2019 e450. The doors not opening wide enough was the biggest problem for me. The Subaru doors open very wide. I guess there’s the right car for everyone.