Mercedes build quality

[Dichtung]

What was the mileage though

IIRC, she did about 80k.

`Quality` is defined as `fit for purpose`

 

[Darrell]

That's excellent.

It’s been as good as gold tbh.

It’s covered in little dents and scratches but the interior is rock solid and there are no squeaks or rattles.
It’s been a good car.

 

[Darrell]

The Porsche 911 has a good reputation for reliability and build quality. A crazily high percentage of them are still on the road which is surely a good indication.
They are capable of racking up very high mileages.

 

[E55BOF]

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

So are Mercedes these days, so by your logic they must be mass produced rubbishy cheap tat...

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.

It wouldn't be these days, and so was mine, and it was a dog with fleas...

Stick to your old bangers; the rest of us have moved on, and are willing to pay the price in complication, poorer reliability and higher running costs.

 

[219]

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

Spirits are between 20 and 40 years old , yet many are still around .

Not that many even 20 year old Toyotas still running around .

Especially if you look at survivors as a percentage of the numbers sold here . It will be different in dry climates where rust isn’t an issue , but then you still see Ponton and Fintail taxis operating in the Middle East .

 

[219]

Define “build quality”.

It is the quality , fit , finish , engineering , all the things that make the car perfectly fitted together, rattle free , the bank vault thunk of the doors closing , the choice of materials, the feeling of being somewhere special .

That need have nothing to do with longevity ( although often does ) , or reliability .

It is something different .

Examples of high build quality include Rolls Royce , Mercedes SL , Porsche 911

 

[219]

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

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

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 wasn’t really thinking about the current models ; more Clouds , Shadows , Spirits , which are the ones I’ve been in , and even in cars 50 or 60 years old , the craftsmanship and build quality is still there to be appreciated.

I have no doubt though that the later models are just as well screwed together .

I would expect the same of a Maybach , given the market into which they sell , even if now they are just a highly specced S Class

 

[190]

I'm not sure a Rolls is a fair comparison. Any car; even an Alfasud might last 50 years if it was only ever used in the dry. The salt and wet that a daily driver has to endure is the real test of corrosion resistance. How ever may old Rolls still survive or any other prestige car for that matter, most are unlikely to be used when the roads are wet and probably none when there is salt down.

 

[DrNick]

Hand built is not necessarily a sign of quality. Certain things can be hand built by experts to a superior standard, but most mechanical systems would be much more consistent being built and indeed manufactured by robots. especially given modern tolerances.
Quality used to be defined as "fitness for purpose". Still a woolly definition, but something designed for a lifetime of 10 years which then fails after exactly 10 years is a quality item. If it lasted 20 years its quality would be no higher and could be argued to be lower as it is over-specified!
So if I was looking for a car and longevity without expense was my definition of quality, I'd be looking at Toyotas. Ones we've had have been very boring but they lasted without needing repairs, so much so that the thought of it breaking down was inconceivable. Not a feeling I've ever had in any E class I've had, although they are very comfy places to be at the side of the road, and are also good places to be if you are involved in an accident. Don't know about the Toyota. Never had an accident in one...

 

[E55BOF]

So Toyotas don't break down, and they don't have accidents. They're sounding better and better...

 

[chrisk2010]

My car is coming to being in my ownership for three years in September and I have been looking at cars with build quality in mind lately and Lexus's keep popping up.

For an older one you can get a lot of car for little money and i have never heard a bad thing against them.

Mercedes on the other hand seem to have had a spat of issues and i'm finding it hard to find a reason to buy another one.

 

[chrisk2010]

I had to post this lol

Is this the last hand-built Mercedes-Benz?

I have it saved in my bookmarks.

 

[jdrrco]

Spirits are between 20 and 40 years old , yet many are still around .

Not that many even 20 year old Toyotas still running around .

Especially if you look at survivors as a percentage of the numbers sold here . It will be different in dry climates where rust isn’t an issue , but then you still see Ponton and Fintail taxis operating in the Middle East .

If longevity is to be allowed to be considered a factor, then the Triumph Stag would have to be up there with the top contenders.

25,877 made between 50 and 43 years ago. Of the 19,000 sold in the UK, 5,725 (30%) are still registered in the UK today, plus many more in USA, Oz, NZ and other drier climates.

However, the phrases "build quality" and "Stag" are rarely used in the same sentence together.

 

[jdrrco]

My car is coming to being in my ownership for three years in September and I have been looking at cars with build quality in mind lately and Lexus's keep popping up.

For an older one you can get a lot of car for little money and i have never heard a bad thing against them.

Mercedes on the other hand seem to have had a spat of issues and i'm finding it hard to find a reason to buy another one.

Except they're deadly dull. Take one for a drive. They're as reliable as a fridge and about as interesting.

 

[jdrrco]

Is this the last hand-built Mercedes-Benz?

No, these are. Hemmels | Rebuilt. Refined. Reborn.

 

[chrisk2010]

Except they're deadly dull. Take one for a drive. They're as reliable as a fridge and about as interesting.

Haha dull might be a bit of what i need at the moment with the ever growing family i'll buy something more exciting later on in life but i get what your saying.

I haven't any plans to part with the C class just yet but i wanted to see whats around.

 

[ChipChop]

If longevity is to be allowed to be considered a factor, then the Triumph Stag would have to be up there with the top contenders.

25,877 made between 50 and 43 years ago. Of the 19,000 sold in the UK, 5,725 (30%) are still registered in the UK today, plus many more in USA, Oz, NZ and other drier climates.

However, the phrases "build quality" and "Stag" are rarely used in the same sentence together.

I wonder how many of the remaining Stags still have their original V8's though due to the cooling issues. Pretty cars so why would anyone want to just scrap one when they go wrong. much like a Mercedes. You persevere with it's issues because it is a Mercedes. It is a product which has value. Not many would persevere with a Honda or a Datsun.

Of course with any modern car which is out of warranty persevering with faults may be pointless due to sheer complexity. There is a lot to be said for a simple car.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Build quality means something different to different people, and often means something different depending upon quality. Typically though I think the two main (but very different) interpretations are reliability and look/feel/smell/sound "nice".

Ultimately reliability between marques is much closer than ever before because third-parties provide an increasing number of systems, components and sub-assemblies to multiple manufacturers. Manufactures may specify slightly differently to suit their use case, but they're all trying to balance cost/reliability with similar challenges.

 

[whitenemesis]

Except they're deadly dull. Take one for a drive. They're as reliable as a fridge and about as interesting.

Yup, dull... (factory standard car & exhaust)

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Really, really dull.....

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[SmartAmg]

Yup, really dull... (factory standard car & exhaust)

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Gotta admit, that's very very nice!!!