Car quality: Japanese dominate / You might want to read this artical.
Read it and tell me what you think.
"But Chrysler, Dodge and the now-defunct Plymouth brand all outranked Mercedes, which had 318 problems per 100 vehicles. Ivers said Mercedes' troubles were concentrated in its M-Class sport utility vehicle and its E-Class sedans, which accounted for roughly half its sales. "
"The M-Class has had a lot of problems since its launch," Ivers said. "The rate of deterioration on the E-Class is greater than on any other vehicle in the industry."
I thought the E Class was a quality built car. C and E class's are built from the same stuff,
so, how can just the E have THAT many more problems than the C ?
I think it was just the ML and the E class are bringing down the score.
With all the complaints about the new C Class, I never though the old E Class,
would have more problems, but these are 3 year old cars, so 3 years ago (2000) we still had the W202, right ?
"Mercedes also had the largest gap between initial quality (the number of problems found when a vehicle is brand-new) and long-term quality. Volvo and Audi cars also detiorated more rapidly than average. "
I've seen a lot of complains from people about their MBs in the first 3 months and less as time goes on.
So the J.D. Power and Associates survey goes against what I've read. But since they have access to more data,
I have to believe their numbers.
A few notes:
Maybe 2000 was a bad year, and for the average MB owner, 3 years isn't considered "long term". They should test 10 year old cars.
Hey, we still love our MBs and Mr. JD can't take that away, lol.
Last edited by C280Sportster; Jul 8, 2003 at 08:54 PM.
Hey, we still love our MBs and Mr. JD can't take that away, lol.
I have faith that MB will fix up their issues with the M-Class hopefully in the next generation of them and clean up their act on some quality issues in general.I love my '94 C220...going strong with 127k on da clock. The build of my car is better than my mom's ML430...safety, no comparison, but I expected better build quality (rattles, plastic everywhere, etc).
MB should pay attention and clean up their act
my .02 cents
My Chrysler products have been far, far better. I hope my new MB is as good as my 2001 Town and Country and my 1991 Caravan (traded on the TW).
when the ML came out it gave MB a big kick in the nuts. but i think it's fair to say the qualilty of these vehicles has improved along with the content. all cars are built well today...even hyundai's.
i think a lot of Lexus car owners love to jump on the JD power surveys to say that they have a better automobile. Lexus is a very nice car but it is still a brand that is playing catch up to MB.
i'll add this guys....i drive a GMC 2500 HD as my main daily driver...and it's quality is very good. this is just an observation of mine but , benz owners like to bit%h a lot in surveys. and...maybe their expectations are a little unreasonable. MB gives you quite a bit of car with leading technology and attractive styling. most other car manufacturers can't match that on their best day.
[B]My experience with Hondas and Acuras has been horrible both short and long term. Blown engines and transmissions, stalling, fails to start, and other issues.
(LOL)
Drag strip and street racing can do that
(LOL)
S55inPA: Well said. MBs are very sophisitated. In fact all cars are far more complex today than 15 years ago, yet quality is up, except for maybe Honda.


