I was open and honest with Manhattan. Last three cars - they couldn't get for me soon enough (if ever). Other dealers could. I didn't want to wait 6 months to get something from Manhattan that I could have in 1 week from another dealer.

It happens that everything I wanted on the car was available at the stock vehicle at Manhattan.

I hope you don't have to go to Jackson for service. My father in law takes his W221there only when necessary. They don't seem to have a clue, plus horrible quality control over the techs. Last time was for EIS issues. They damaged several trim pieces, and left clips and screws lying on the carpet that should have been reinstalled. Not good...

So my guess is that you bought your W140 back in the 90s? How was the dealership experience back in those days? Was it better than it is today, the same or worse? I would love to be transported back in time with knowledge of what's going on today and see how things were in a time where life was just that much easier (at least for me).

Dealers get reimbursed for ALL warranty work by Mercedes. They make a profit on warranty work so there is an incentive for them to fix your vehicle and not send you back to the dealer who sold you your vehicle.

Lemon law may not apply--
In order for a consumer to prevail in a CA lemon law case for a new motor vehicle, the consumer must show 1) they purchased or leased a vehicle which was covered by a warranty; 2) the vehicle had a problem which substantially impaired the use, value or safety to the consumer; and 3) the vehicle was not made to conform to the warranty after a reasonable number of repair attempts.

The California Lemon Law ( Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, California Civil Code §§ 1790) is designed to ensure that consumers who purchase or lease warranted products in California have recourse if the product turns out to be defective and can not be repaired after a reasonable number of attempts.

Other states may have a similar restriction of being only applicable to in state purchases.

Yep, thanks for reminding me why they make me so uncomfortable and why I did something crazy and went all the way to Texas to find a car. Paying the same price in car of course, but not the same price in experience.

Bought it and had it for 2 months before I got the 220. Was a quick stupid mistake to do that.

Hate to bring this up, especially after I sat in a new S550 at the dealership today and felt like the trim quality "fit and finish" was disappointing, but as I drove home in my 1996 S500 (W140) I was acutely aware that there were ZERO rattles or creaks. I only removed the doors and tightened everything up at 160,000 miles, and now at 192,700 miles, it's still rock solid. Just more road noise than the new ones and not nearly as many toys inside.

I don't have the early E-class models any more but I could think of something quite similar when comparing current models with a W123 or W124. Could one explanation be the optimised production techniques. Today almost everything is just pushed in and parts a fixed without screws or anything that would take more than a fraction of a second to fit? Another factor might be lighter parts with more plastic. Simply not possible to fit as tightly as bulky parts?

For the W222 I saw quite a few technical bulletins at TIPS about noise issues and how to fix them. Starting from the opening between the grill and the bonnet causing noise at speeds above 230 km/h. But there were many other issues affecting typical driving.

That really really sucks! It sound's like they were too busy celebrating October fest in Germany instead of assembling your car correctly. I drove the W222 and it was rock solid. But my question to you is since it is brand new, you have it 110% covered. Why not see if the dealer can sort the issues out? Why bother with corporate when the dealer might be able to fix it all?

C280 Sport: Please view my current update.....which is a new thread: "Rattle City" update. Thank you.

You are referring to the w220? It was a mistake and you should have kept the w140 longer?

Unfortunate but not surprising. All my M-B's became rattle traps and it seems like with every generation they get worse. One of the reasons why I got an M-B in the first place was because I expected unparalleled smoothness and rattle-free quietness. I personal got anything but that.