Mercedes build quality

[Tonygw]

I think the problem these days is not the build quality, its the VA/VE engineering that plagues everything these days, engineered for maximum profit not long term reliability.
All German cars suffer this, VW more than most after the diesel gate scandle..

My merc is great, but it is plagued with problems mainly down to cost cutting on components. No german car is built to last these days. Its all about perceived quality rather than actual quality. As said, Lexus/ toyota are the only company making good quality cars these days. Even Honda has gone down hill..

 

[Monkeylegend]

I must have been very lucky then with all of mine.

 

[190]

My 21 years ownership of a 190e were terminated mainly by rust. The under seal may look impressively tough but you can't see a problem until it's too late as once rust gets underneath, it travels unseen. I genuinely would have preferred to have no underseal at all as an annual inspection and corrective action would then have been so much easier. Thick plastic under seal may serve a sound deadening purpose but as a rust prevention measure it's a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[219]

So what make of car has the best build quality?

For build quality , probably Rolls Royce

 

[219]

Lexus/Toyota??

I would say that any mass produced rubbish will always be cheap tat . Pacific rim cars are all built down to a price .

For pure build quality , you need to look to bespoke , hand built cars , such as Rolls Royce .

A few MB cars are still hand built ; my R129 was built by a small team , not on a production line ; not to RR standards , but certainly above mass production standards .

 

[slade1]

I have 2005 CLK German built. In 86K miles its required the following, ignition switch, gearbox electroplate, thermostat, multi function stalk and the Artico is cracking. Not very reliable but a cracking comfortable to drive and goes well with V6 M272 motor.
My previous Nissan Primera over same mileage, exhaust and rear brake calipers.

 

[Dichtung]

RR Spirits have rust problems.

My wife ran a `99 Toyota Avensis for years, 7ACE engine, auto box. All it needed was a windscreen wiper pump

 

[Darrell]

Define “build quality”.

 

[Darrell]

RR Spirits have rust problems.

My wife ran a `99 Toyota Avensis for years, 7ACE engine, auto box. All it needed was a windscreen wiper pump

What was the mileage though

 

[markjay]

We bought a brand new (LHD) Toyota Previa in Switzerland in 1998, brought it to the UK and drove it here for 10 years on UK plates, then took the car to Italy where it served us as a holiday car for another 12 years (on Italian plates), and we finally had it scrapped last month because the costs of keeping a 2.4L car in Italy in terms of tax and insurance became unreasonable, and also because I wasn't comfortable any more with driving my family in a 22-years old car with minimal safety features (only one driver's airbag, lap belts for the middle seat occupant, etc) on the Autostrada. Total repair bill over 22 years of service? 100 Euro for new expansion bottle after the original one became brittle last year. I should also mention that in spite of the car contracting various minor dents and scratches over the years, and parked near the beach for the past 12 years, it had no rust whatsoever.

My 2 Mercs over the past 12 years were fine, but nowhere near what the Previa managed to achieve.

 

[Darrell]

We bought a brand new (LHD) Toyota Previa in Switzerland in 1998, bought it to the UK and drove it here for 10 years on UK plates, then took the car to Italy where it served us as a holiday car for another 12 years (on Italian plates), and we finally had it scrapped last month because the costs for keeping a car in Italy in terms of tax and insurance became unreasonable, and also because I wasn't comfortable any more with driving my family in a 22-years old car with minimal safety features (only one driver's airbag, lap belts for the middle seat occupant, etc) on the Autostrada. Total repair bill over 22 years of service? 100 Euro for new expansion bottle after the original one became brittle last year.

My 2 Mercs over the past 12 years were fine, but nowhere near what the Previa managed to achieve.

What about wear and tear items or is the expansion bottle the sum total?

 

[markjay]

What about wear and tear items or is the expansion bottle the sum total?

Fluids and filters were changed as needed, and it got new discs and pads as required. I fitted a new battery in 2008, which is still in the car. Oddly enough, the spark plugs were never changed, because its an engine-out job that the italian mechanics were reluctant to tackle. The dealer in the UK told me at the time that these were Iridium plugs and only needed changing every 100,000km.

Incidentally, we are not sure about the actual mileage the car covered, because it was converted from KmH to mph, then back to (very inaccurate) KmH....

But the suspension including dampers, springs, and all joints, bushes, and rubber components (one thing that worried me) were still original. The suspension was quiet and the car didn't pull. Tyre wear was even... The exhaust was original, two. As were all engine components.

The expansion bottle is the only expense that I can't attribute to service items (scheduled or wear-and-tear), apart from accident repairs (it had a couple).

 

[SmartAmg]

What about wear and tear items or is the expansion bottle the sum total?

Don't think wear and tear
items count, do they, only things over and above, those things that you will obviously need to replace, I.e. tyres, brakes, bulbs, exhaust? etc and of course servicing the car.

 

[markjay]

I should also add that in its last years it drank whatever crappy fuel they sell in the rural south of Italy... no premium fuels down there. And it never complained.

 

[horatio]

For build quality , probably Rolls Royce

Define “build quality”.

If you define build quality kind of literally then a Rolls is a great shout because of the sheer attention to detail and craftsmanship that goes into the interior and bodywork. However, the bones are essentially BMW and judging by how well a modern 7 series lasts

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If you consider it more in terms of depth of engineering, durabilty of components then cars like the Land Cruiser, Lexus LS400, W126 come to mind.

 

[Darrell]

If you define build quality kind of literally then a Rolls is a great shout because of the sheer attention to detail and craftsmanship that goes into the interior and bodywork. However, the bones are essentially BMW and judging by how well a modern 7 series lasts

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If you consider it more in terms of depth of engineering, durabilty of components then cars like the Land Cruiser, Lexus LS400, W126 come to mind.

I’m going with the Land Cruiser, Lexus and the Merc.
I understand about the RR but I think it’s build quality in a different way.

 

[Darrell]

Don't think wear and tear
items count, do they, only things over and above, those things that you will obviously need to replace, I.e. tyres, brakes, bulbs, exhaust? etc and of course servicing the car.

If that’s the case then our S Type has given us and it’s 2 previous owners 18 years of impeccable service because it’s had nothing but serviceable items.
Admittedly its only got 86000 miles on the clock and in our 4 years of ownership we do about 4000 pa.

 

[SmartAmg]

If that’s the case then our S Type has given us and it’s 2 previous owners 18 years of impeccable service because it’s had nothing but serviceable items.
Admittedly its only got 86000 miles on the clock and in our 4 years of ownership we do about 4000 pa.

That's excellent.

 

[Scooby_Doo]

My wife's 2011 W169 is built like a tank , after 86,000 miles , apart from wear & tear items , it's cost £40 for a vacuum valve. There's no sign of rust and apart from about 40mm of bubbling in the artico , drivers rh bolster , the interior is as new. I hope my W205 looks as good in 7 years time.

 

[markjay]

My W203 had the following faults over the 9 years that I owned it:

Thermostat (common fault, but easy fix on the M271)

Pilot bush (common issue on the 5g box)

Front Passenger Seat Occupancy sensor (common fault on all MB cars)

Steering Wheel Angle sensor (common fault on all MB cars)

Front anti roll bar drop link ball-joint dust cover slightly cracked (MOT fail)

Blocked engine breather (common fault, occurred after I sold the car)

Not bad all-in-all, but the annoying bit is that they are all classified as 'common faults' - so potentially could have been prevented by better design or manufacture (by MB or OEM supplier).

Luckily the mileage was very low and so the car had no issues with the timing chain...