richard brown

Nightrain, to answer your question regarding the quality control at MB vs Lexus, It really boils down to philosiphy and culture, Lexus and Toyota are famous for their "lean manufacturing"production systems (TPS), they are legendary throughout the industry and it has been adopted by just about every car company worldwide (including MB), some have been sucessful others not so.
Lexus/Toyota build quality into the product every line worker/ team member is quality control they check their own work everyone of them have the ability to stop the line if they are not happy with something and believe me it happens. It is also a cultural thing comparing the average Japanese worker vs US or european is just no contest we cannot compete so we have to compete in different areas like technolegy etc.
When I visited a Lexus facility much of it was off limits due to very high tech robots (state of the art in the industry) etc, these robots assemble and QC a large portion of the vehicle and do not rely on the human factor.
Also Lexus/Toyota during vehicle development test their components on a massive scale to insure their reliability, for example, interior door handles are tested to simulate door opening 4 times per day X 25 years! Cadillac is almost halve this.
Once again MB quality is not world class, however the owning experience is and IMHO not duplicated with any other automobile, you know it's driving Lexus crazy trying simulate that MB ownership/driving experience.

Nighttrain

yeah, I understand that philosophy.
That's been the benchmark of these respective companies for years.

My gripe is that I'd hope quality assurance and reliablity are driving MB just as crazy as driver experience is for lexus.

If MB could just shore up the reliablity a bit more...doesn't even have to reach lexus standards...then no other car company in the world could touch it.

I just think that would be a goal to shoot for.

Just my .02

richard brown

Night, I agree!

Pbglas

I agree too. Rattling sunshades and the like have little to do with high tech. It has to do with sloppiness and that has to do with managment. The MBSpy article points out how much better paid Directors at MB are compared to those at Audi and BMW. This may have something to do with it.

Sad.

I had been told by a seior person at MB that in his opinion MB was over-engineered. But that has been true for a long time. Mercedes still had a good reputation for fit and finish and for reliability. Now from the reports it seems like the situation has become like Americna cars of the 70's.

Fun does not necessarily have to have grief attached.

I might still get one though!

99E55

Here is the list of problems I have had:

Cracks on dashboard, replaced under warranty
Bad Oil sensor, replaced under warranty
Dashboard light went out, fixed under warranty
rear right window regulator broke, repaired under warranty

In addition to these, I think the quality of plastics used inside the car is cheap for a Mercedes anyway. The exterior paint is way to othin. It chips very easily. The front of my car is not a very pretty site.

I believe a product from Daimler should not have these kinds of quality issues no matter which car company you are comparing it to.

However it is true that nothing drives like it.

gbahri

I have a new clk 2003 320 coupe. I only have two gripes. It was drifting to the right (very very slightly) and my left tweeter didn't work. Took it to the shop and got it fixed. But everything else is perfect. I love the car and the way it drives.

amg55

The paint used on German cars has changed in recent years from a heavy lacquer based paint (very 'deep' and durable) to a more water soluble type, so I've been told.
The change was mandated by several European governments as an environmental intervention...to minimize the solvent emissions and environmental contamination associated with lacquer paints.
That's beyond MB's control.
My Audi was as bad as my MB, but my wife's BMW's have held up very well (though she only drives 4000 miles a year).

Now the plastic knobs and such...that's another story.
No excuse for the cheap-o materials being used there.