CNN/Money: Most Reliable Cars (or) Further Proof Mercedes Makes Crap

I just emailed that list to my friend who swears by Merc......the funniest part is he boasts about it too.....nothing built like a Mercedes......makes you want to slap him when he trys to convince you that it is an awesome car....

 

I own an 06 E350 and I can vouch for how Sh!ty they are.

The car is now 10 months old and is making all kinds of noises, vibrates at start up, There is actually a laundry list of stuff.

I knew I should have leased it!! At least I could have given it back in 39 months

 

My daily driver is an SL, and I would rather drive it then any of the other listed cars/trucks.

No problems there. They are not built like they used to be in the 80s, but its hard to turn away over 500 hp and 600 ftlbs. That and they drive better then they did in the 80s and 90s...thought its still no where near as good as any BMW.

 

They can say what they want, I would still prefer to drive/buy a Mercedes or a Jaguar rather than a Lexus, Toyota Camry, and so on.

Cars are like women: it isn't the most reliable ones you want to be with, but the ones you like to look at.

 

Not many surprises on that list, other than the British-built Mini Cooper making the grade.

Is this useful, though? I don't dispute the data. But I wonder if Consumer Reports assumes all those 911 owners are going to be fleeing to Imprezza WRXs.

 

I find it interesting since Porsche topped JD Power.

I read the C&D buyers guide, and "fun" doesn't seem to be a factor in their recommended buys. In fact, "bland and reliable" pretty much sums their choices up. I'd rather listen to Clarkson's recommendations.

 

Surprised to see the 911 on the least reliable list. Were they talking about the 997, 996, or 911s in general? I always thought they were fairly reliable; maybe not at the top of the list, but not at the bottom.

 

SLK compressors are crap, a friend blew a kompressor at 60000 miles, it was a daily driver to work and back. Bye bye 5000$

But they still haven't fixed the radio, (broken) and roof (broken).

 

Consumer Reports is not as unbiased as it would want the general consumer to think. Anyway, I would rather be seen in a Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky than a friggin' Camry Solara!

 

Since 1996 Mercedes has been little more than a shadow of its former self.

I have owned many MBs since 1988 and beginning with my 1996 E320 each car has gotten progressively worse in terms of reliability, build quality, and quality of materials.

Recently, we dumped my wife's SL55 (utter and absolute garbage) and replaced it with a new Z06. It will have to be a very cold day in hell for me to purchase another MB.

 

That's probably true. I don't know how these surveys are conducted.
Maybe that some owners don't mention their vehicle's faults were they are questioned because they want to justify their choice of buying a Honda, Toyota, Lexus, etc... and that in the opposite corner, the Mercedes, BMW, Porsche owners are very demanding (and rightly so), and criticise any little faults on their cars.
Are these surveys based on actual breakdowns, recalls? Who knows.

Are these reports helpful? I don't know either. I read about very annoyed Mercedes owners, but nobody has deserted 'en masse', have they?

Customers reports are not the whole picture. While a Lexus, a Toyota, or a Honda may be more reliable, BMWs, Mercedes and AUDIs are still very much in demand, are sought after as used cars, and (in UK at least) keep their value.

 

What were the problems with the sl55? Is it an '05?

 

2006....

-Squeaks and rattles galore

-Leaking and creaking roof

-Replaced intercooler pump

-Randomly engage neutral while driving on the highway

That's the Cliff's Notes version.....

 

The quality of the materials used in a MB has certainly gone down, in obvious ways, over the past several decades. Compare the build quality of a 280 se 3.5 or 300 SEL 6.3 with any of the uber sedans of today and it is apparent. The lower rung cars- and MB has done a good job of selling the brand to a lower price point- gosh I can be an MB owner for 50-60k dollars new- are really disappointing. Compare the newer "E" platform with the one that was made until around 1995. Granted, the newer cars are less 'truck-like' and drive better, but that bank vault quality that was their real trademark no longer exists. Even the Maybach is just a glorified S class.
I appreciate that they probably could not build a SWB 600 today for anything less than 6-750k dollars, but they were able to put together a basic sedan, up through the mid-nineties for a price that the market would bear. Remember, though, that those cars were not considered price competitive at the time. The merger drove the quality down even more.
I'm hard-pressed to name any big sedan that's really appealing to me. (Granted, this may be a matter of taste).
The big BMWs leave me cold- too gadgety, not about the driving experience; I know Audi have a huge following, but I honestly don't get it; the Maser is the nicest looking of the bunch, but the prospect of owning one is a little scary;
don't really groove on the Conti GT; I do like the big Bentleys, aesthetically, if de-pimped, but big bucks, and reliability is still a ?.
In view of the above, I think that the Porsche sedan that is on the horizon could be a giant killer. High performance, relatively high build quality (I don't see too many complaints from the Cayenne Turbo crowd) and even if it turns out ugly, it doesn't face too much competition in the looks department from most of the others. One guy's view, anyway....Thankfully, I don't have kids and don't have to act as a chauffeur, so I can get away with a sportscar for a daily driver.

 

while we are on the subject, another saying is along the lines of,

If its gots tits or tires its going to cost you money, where do you spend yours?

Wheres the Subaru Legacy? god.

Look at it this way, other German car makers quality has been going down. Volkswagen doenst have a reliable recommendaton on that list. It seems with VW you either get a really good one, or you get one thats complete ****.

 

sure, my cl55 has a suspension problem, but mb fixes it for free.. (some pressure switch for the air compressor keeps frying) i dont completly mind.. besides that i dont care what small problems i have on it, i've had more issues with other cars then i have had with the mercedes.. the materials used for the interrior is superb compared to other cars.. atleast in the CL.. it is so comfortable in that car. Its fast, it weighs a ton but hauls ass and takes corners for what it is.. i just love it..

i would much rather drive a 370hp 415tq benz then a honda accord just so that my headlight cleaner system wont break down..

 

That's my point. People put up with some aggro, if the car is of good quality and they love it.
I don't think that buyers are much influenced by these reports.

 

I was thinking back to the day when I had a 6.3 litre- in the early seventies- it was not terribly reliable (there was an awful lot to go wrong with that car, but oh, it was so beautifully built)- and I watched a neighbor today trying to get his 280SEL 4.5 restarted after it stalled in the road, and traffic backed up while he struggled-
In some ways, it isn't that MB just got worse, it is that the competition, particularly from Japan, has gotten so much better. My law partner has owned Lexi for past decade- he didn't like the noise made by the automatic adjusting steering wheel- the dealer replaced the car-
Now, I find the Lexus to be an absolute bore- it is "the car for people who don't care about cars" (tm) but it puts MB (and probably BMW, don't know about Audi) to shame.
The other thing I've found with MB (and I've owned a few over the years) is that the dealers' arrogance far exceeds their competence in many, many cases.
That doesn't make for a wonderful ownership experience.
It may not deter people from owning the cars- somehow Jaguar managed to stay in business, in the pre-Ford era, despite some real nightmare cars, which were, by the way, quite beautiful as well. But, like moderate voters, there are alot of people out there who are not so wedded to the marque that they will stay loyal in the face of chronic problems. I think this is particularly true in the bread and butter market segments, eg E series, where the buyer is not necessarily looking for the latest mega-AMG coupe and is willing to put up with a greater share of problems- but instead, for daily transportation that offers reliability as well as luxury.

 

ok.. my suspension problem comes in.. very intermitently.. it will start by warning me that my suspension fluid is low.. that the pressure switch is bad.. if i give it a couple weeks without bringing it in.. it will start to fail.. at that point, the suspension becomes SOMEWHAT loose lol.. if i try and floor it, traction control will come on in an instant and bog it out yes, i cant drive it hard.. but it drives fine.. so i bring it in at the FIRST sign of warning, they give me a little c320 kompressor LOL and give me my car back by the end of the next day.. again, i would rather drive my benz 340 days out of a 365 day period (and a c320 the other days) then a car under 40k.. i love the way the seats feel. i love the power.. i love the saftey.. i love everything about it..

except the depreciation.. and btw, i drive that benz harder then i drove my 300zx twin turbo.. that V8 is solid.


EDIT: I only have experience with the CL and I'm not sure if the CL and CLK are manufactured with the same materials/parts by the same factory/employees.. but again, i only know CL's

 

The old iron block 3.5 liter V-8, is like the Energizer Bunny. The diesel cars were even better ! Go to a third world country, and they are still using the old box body style diesel taxi cabs.

Check out the late 60's / early 70's dash on a Merc. WOW. Real gauges.

Will is correct. The 6.3 rocks. I heard the 600 SWB is very expensive to maintain. THAT is a luxury sedan. - Ten times the car, compared to today's typical expensive luxury sedan, that is simply sharing a platform from another division.