Simply shocking!

http://www.msnbc.com/news/699301.asp#BODY

 

Doesn't look like THAT big a deal. I'm still satisfied that I've got a nicer interior than the cars of any of my friends (including those who drive BMWs), and a much safer car than most on the road. Compared to what I know about Ford through my large group of friends with Mustangs, Mercedes is practically perfect. I hope DaimlerChrysler manages to get out of its financial trouble, and I look forward to better quality Benzes in the future. I'll always be a Benz man, though .

 

ME 2. at least i know that i will survive a crash in my car compared to a bimmer.


B

 

Lets face it Mercedes has taken to lots of cost cutting during the last few years and it's catching up with them. Porsche has done the same thing and you can feel and see the difference in quality from the 993 series cars to the new 996's (I've owned both). The goal has been to produce cars for less cost to the manufactuer. My local dealer is Autohaus in Pompano Bch FL and their service drive is always packed with new cars for warranty repairs. I enjoy my 01' 430 (it's my 3rd) and I was happy to read that MBZ is going to address some of these concerns.
RJC

 

RJC wrote: Additionally, reasons for the crowded service drive :

1. Free lifetime carwashes for its customers. I am one.
2. Many New Yorkers & other snowbirds instead of flying to S. Florida, drove their MBs down to their winter residences.

It's good to know that there is an Autohaus that takes good care of their customers, including free gourmet coffees while car is being washed.

Less enjoyable is watching CNN in their customer lounge while the markets keep tanking. Damn!

 

So what else is new?? As long as Chrysler continues to bleed the Parent company in it's struggle for survival, MBZ has no choice but to continue it's vigilance with cost cutting in one way shape or form, at our expense. It's a fact of corporate life. The best thing that can happen ( good for Benz but ultimately bad for America unfortunately) is Chrysler goes belly up, MBZ takes a BIG writeoff , and they can once again start concentrating on building in the quality we came to know and EXPECT. Just don't forward this response to the local UAW office.

 

Brian Yee wrote:As I recall several decades ago, when Chrysler was going down, uncle Sam (you and I) came to its rescue with massive loans & loan guarantees.

But, perhaps Daimler-Chrysler could benefit from the expertize of the AMG division of MB.

I like to see a PT Cruiser 55 AMG.

 

Yup, I remember that debacle...Amazingly it was the "K" car, (named in honor of Karl! ) brainchild of "Uncle Lee"(c.1980??) that saved the company's skin ( in addition to a little helping hand from another uncle (Sam) as Karl mentioned ) I remember Chrysler stock trading as low as six bucks a share....As they say, hind sight is 20/20. The next couple of years will determine if MBZ bit off more than it could chew.

 

Tnx Brian.

Never thought that I indirectly contribute to MB's quality problems, but...what de heck.

A little more "K" trivia:

K-Mart going down.

Rolex's most recent models: "K" series

 

Speaking of Rolexes....I'd love to add a smooth bezeled rose gold Day/date with applied Romans to the collection......Need a major improvement in the market to justify this one to the wife.

 

That's my favorite President model combi in rose gold.

I hope our market/economy is not paralleling the Japanese model, which has been tanking for over a decade now. Global outlook is very bleak indeed. We are in shock. Security concerns/costs are sapping the world's major markets of its positive energy.

 

I don't argue that DaimlerChrysler woud benefit from a spin-off of Chrysler, but you can't blame Chrysler for any of Mercedes' current quality problems. Every car that Mercedes-Benz sells today was designed before the Chrysler merger. The move to cut costs/maximize profits as well as to go downmarket with higher volume products had begun 2 years before the merger took place. Don't kid yourself. This one is Mercedes' fault.

 

Agreed.

 

Lets not forget the accounting concerns and the questionable pro-forma type earnings etc. which are defenitly not helping. We are however quite resilient as a counrty though.

 

Hi Karl, I am going to move this to the General Mercedes forum since it has to do with things other than the CLK. I was going to move it yesterday but I kept getting server timeouts .

Thanks Karl.

 

In addressing the quallity control problem that Mercedes-Benz has been accused of there are many factors involved. Two majors: (1) DaimlerCHRYSLER!!!!!, personally I consider it an outrage! I will never love any other car than a Benz, but my God, is had to be one of the biggest mistakes when we started putting "Chrysler" in our door sills. I NEVER want to have a Mercedes-Benz compared or realted for that matter to that American Piece of Garbage! And the second mistake is quite a controversal issue. (2) In the early 1990's Benz made the decision to build cars on "consumer" wants rather than "THE MERCEDES ENGINEERS' WANTS". This has indeed made the consumer happy and sales have increased. BUT, did it ever occur to us "consumers" that the engineers at Mercedes-Benz might know a little bit more about building cars than us. (Especially us Americans, will build Fords for God's sake!) Maybe if we still built cars based on the wants of the engineers we would be having these "so-called" problems.

I would like to clarify that I am not saying that Mercedes-Benz has ANY quality-control problems. I would never say anything negative about a Benz, I guarantee there is no larger Mercedes-Benz enthusiast in the world. But for those "picky" buyers out there who get upset when their seatbelts get tangled, just remember, Mercedes-Benz gave you what you wanted A CONSUMERS" AUTOMOBILE!!!!

 

In the last sentence of my first paragraph I meant to type:

"WE WOULDN'T BE HAVING THESE PROBLEMS"

Sorry for the inconvience.

 

moxieman2:

Tnx for your thoughtful comments.

I personally experienced what it is like to have the worst (mechanical defects) car out of 20 cars I've owned over the last 45 years - a 2001 SL500, and the best car I've owned: The present 2002 CLK55 AMG.

The defects in the SL had nothing to do with engineering or design, since this SL was in its 10th year of production. It was solely due to LACK of QUALITY CONTROL.

PS:
You can edit by hitting the "edit" button on the buttom of your post, which in addition to editing lets you delete your second "correction" posting.