SW20S

How do you think they tow cars illegally parked? They drag them up on the flatbed.

Not saying its good, but you can get a car up on a flatbed if its not running for sure.

ajm0623

hey stream - been awhile 'ol boy since i've been on here. i've somewhat silently followed your s580 travails with a heavy heart given our previous discussions about pricing out a good deal on your 2020 that was bought back due to the transmission slamming issues. in some sort of convoluted way, your troubles have convinced me to keep my 560 and not take a leap into the next gen 223; if you can find some solace in that - you're indeed a generous man!

i want to tell you a quick story - something you might consider at the end of the day: when i bought my 2012 911 (new), a few months into ownership, the new pdk left me dead stranded bang-on in the middle of a very busy intersection in chicago with the inability to move. i had the exact same uneasy feelings as you describe^. it was fixed under warranty ('natch) being just a few months old, but i lost confidence in the car and traded it the day i got it back from the p-car dealer for a s-class coupe. took a bath. yes. BUT - it never gnawed at me financially as i got into a new piece of equipment i trusted. now - i get the impression that you are similar to me in the balance sheet of life and are fortunate enough to take the hit in favour of safety, security, and peace of mind. think about it. financial security gives us conveyances that i realise most don't enjoy; use it to your benny. and dump the some'*****! the dollar, the quid, the whatevs just ain't worth it. (and me thinks yet another (2nd) buy back of this current death-trap in as many years by mbusa might be more difficult than you think. maybe.) just move on to something else. like tomorrow.

SW20S

Wholeheartedly agree with the above...

Streamliner

Appreciate your words. Here in LALA Land California, the magic number is a cumulative 30 days out of service. When that number is reached, it is a slam dunk Lemon Law case and MBUSA knows it, so in most such cases, they just immediately offer a buy back. IF they don’t and I hire a lawyer, they know that they will end up losing anyway, the car will be labeled a “lemon,” and they will have to pay my attorney fees. So, we will see how many days this latest episode adds to my score and then I’ll figure out what to do.

E55Greasemonkey

Like so many other appliances today....they sure ain't makin' em like they used to! We Mercedes fans must accept and admit the reality that the "old" days of quality German engineering are long gone. These are nothing more than shiny appliances sold under a once trusted brand name now catering to those who think the high price means high quality. Many of you have been fooled. MB product quality has been in a nose dive since 2014 and continues unabated. Take a tour (hint-they won't let you) of your local MB dealer's service department, there you will find the truth.

Wolfman

Understand all that but if you read the prior posts the flatbed was mentioned as the best way to tow…which is true under normal circumstances but not with a dead car. Then it is inferior

Viper98912

Definitely disappointing. There's supposed to be mechanical backups to open the doors and stuff, but it sure is sad when the car just leaves you stranded on the road.

Streamliner

When the car got to Fletcher, it had some stuff inside that I needed. I remembered seeing a video on how to pry the door handle open with a credit card. It worked! I got the door open and then I used the real key, hidden the fob to open the trunk.

E55Greasemonkey

For future reference the door handles can be manually popped open by pushing with your thumb at the front corner, the back half will lever out and you can then get your fingers behind the handle to pull. No tools or credit card needed.

Streamliner

That’s nice to know. While my car was sitting in the middle of PCH, blocking traffic, I asked the two Newport Beach police officers there if they knew anything about opening these types of door handles. They both answered in the negative. There are ways to open the car when the battery is dead. The question is, when there is an emergency, will anyone in a position to help know the method, or, if they know the method, will they remember it? I didn’t.

I’m driving a GLE350 loaner right now. Even though it has the same, “old fashioned” door handles as my E & SL, it still seems like a revelation that they work SO smoothly, so perfectly and without any drama whatsoever. Personally, I find them to be perfect. In my opinion, there’s not too many things one can use that adjective to describe features on contemporary vehicles.

NbyNW

This is a situation I didn’t want to get into with a W223. Hope it gets resolved quickly and you find something else. Glad you and no one else was hurt. What a messed up situation.

The 48v system and other electrical issues were the main reasons I just picked up a 2020 W222. I love tech but it has to serve a purpose and it has to work. And to put it mildly, my wife didn’t like the iPad and dash layout.

I just read an article that automakers are finally getting the message - drivers hate these huge touchscreens and prefer buttons.

https://apple.news/AAvaut6KsRrCRVibjug5qBw

chassis

Agree that "refrigerator" type door handles are best. I do mean best.

Refrigerator-style handles first appeared without thumb buttons on W116. If loop-style handles with thumb buttons are included, it goes back even further.

W223 is the first departure from this type of door handle in 51 years. MB had a good thing, and walked away from it.

Agree that MB SUV door handles are good. W163 through V167 have refrigerator-style handles.

Porsche Cayenne and Panamera always have had refrigerator loop-type handles. Why? They are best handles.

BMW 7-Series changed from paddle-style to refrigerator loop-style with E65, as did Lexus with the LS on XF30 in the early 2000s. Why? Because they are the best handles.

MBS63AMG

I agree with your comment but the W222 S class is the exception, IMO, the W222 has been one of the best MB cars put together. I never had any problems with either of my W222s. As far as the battery shutdown, I would consider keeping the car on a trickle charger to maintain the battery. Might also invest in a battery tester. MB should provide a trickle charger port for easy plug in and out.

Streamliner

I LOVE this news article! It really hits home with me. Everyone here should read it.

I’m driving a GLE350 loaner and thinking it’s a pretty decent vehicle. Perhaps I’ll order one as an interim vehicle, while I wait to see what shakes out with the luxury sedans over the next year or two. So, I look at the 2024 GLE D.O.G. and lo and behold, they are touting that the 2024 GLE’s will come with the idiotic steering wheel controls currently used on the W223’s!

The news article talks about how Porsche is sticking with and/or going back to more buttons, knobs & switches. I guess I’ll look at the 2024 Cayenne instead.

MBS63AMG

Both my Audi S8 and my Nissan Titan have touchscreens and it seems I can barely see where to touch the screen because of the dust and smudge marks hindering my view of things. The Titan is a large cabin and the screen is a far reach away. Combine the dust and smudges and there are times I can't do anything with it. I will always believe that the past control systems of the "I-drive" scroll button is the best of all worlds. BMW started it back in the early 2000s with the Bangle Butt 7 series and Mercedes perfected it with the mid 2000 models all the way up to 2020.

js_cls

Porsche is moving away from physical door handles. 911, Taycan, and likely the upcoming Macan and 718 EV’s will have electric automatic door handles.

Streamliner

I agree with you about the W222’s. Wonderful cars.

I disagree with your suggestion about putting my S580 on a trickle charger. I drive the car every day, usually getting it up to 50mph on my five mile commute to my office. I take it to lunch every day, maybe run to the post office and then drive it home. I would call that pretty normal use and the car should be designed to handle that. Putting it on a trickle charger may cure the problem, but it’s not what I signed up for when I leased the car. In my particular case, since I am SO hoping that my car will be bought back by MBUSA, I will not lift a finger to help them out with their poorly engineered car. If the W223’s were engineered to require driving habits different from those of previous S Class models, they should have warned me of that fact, before they leased me the car. I didn’t lease a “plug-in” vehicle.

emilner

It is ludicrous to think you need to drive the car more than you are to keep a battery charged. BMW tried to pull that crap with their 5/7 series around 10 years ago. My 2012 750 went through 3 or 4 batteries in 2 years. They tried to claim it was my driving habits, that driving "only" 19 miles each way to my office including 12 on the highway was not enough to charge the battery. Absurd. Maybe it was their stupid idea to save .001 MPG by going to an alternator that only charges the car when coasting. I wonder if MB got the same birdbrained idea...

teksurv

My wife's BMW has a touch screen, and an I Drive knob. If you like touch screens, it's there. If you prefer using the knob, it's there. Seems BMW got the message on how choice is a factor in luxury.

chassis

That's a shame. It will be interesting to see the next gen Panamera and Cayenne. Might need to change brands again at that time.

SW20S

German cars have never had a reputation of being reliable, quite the opposite. I have a long list of people who I know who have had German cars leave them stranded like that from the "old" days, I think you're looking at the past through rose colored glasses.

If you want truly reliable premium transport, buy a Lexus. But, its not as appealing as a Mercedes or BMW or Audi, and you choose one of these with the knowledge that it likely wont be as reliable. Always been that way and it still is.

Only if you can't get it into neutral. I would always prefer my vehicle be towed on a flatbed.

teksurv

I don't agree. One of the reasons that the "old Mercedes" think 126 and earlier were so coveted is because they were reliable. There was no Lexus, there was Toyota Cressida (US). American cars were not good, Japanese cars were still (I drove them then) a bit tinny. Mercedes was the benchmark for quality, and you paid for it. Now, not so much. But look what happened to Lexus.

Wolfman

Agree. The issue is electronics and software and all brands are taking a hit the more sophisticated their options are, Lexus included.

SW20S

That car was designed over 40 years ago, it had no technologies or really luxuries of any kind. Thats ancient history...and I would have no interest in going back to a car that was really well built with zero technology in it at all. Its all relative. The bottom line is, for the last 30 years nobody would accuse Mercedes of making exceptionally reliable cars, quite the opposite.

Lexus still makes exceedingly reliable cars, they are just not compelling. In the 90s and 2000s and 2010s at least Lexus had vehicles that were compelling, even if not as compelling.

Buyers are left with the same issue they have been left with for 30 years, buy a Mercedes for the style, comfort, performance and technology but accept potential reliability issues, or buy a much less sophisticated Lexus and have no reliability issues. Nothing has changed in the last 30 years.

My W222 has dramatically exceeded my expectations coming from Lexus, but if it were in the shop a couple times a year for something broken that would have met my expectations. My expectations of a Lexus would be it should need repair extremely rarely. My W222 has been more trouble free than most of my Lexus cars...but that was not my expectation going in.

That is not to say Streamliner is wrong for being upset his W223 left him stranded, thats absurd it would do that....

teksurv

I was simply referring to this part of your post.
"Always been that way and it still is."