Mercedes reliability?!?

[Adamccc]

Now, obviously I've had some of my own issues, that have tainted my view - but I'm starting to see Mercedes as the most unreliable brand I've ever come across.

First off. Before buying my first AMG/Mercedes - I had a friend with a C63 that ended up having the headbolt issue, another one that bought an A45 from the factory (ran it in properly etc) to have the turbo blow up on him and another who had a brand new E Class where the wheel shattered over a pothole.

I chalked this up to coincidence and went ahead with my purchase. The car has ended up having: a rear air suspension strut, gaskets, pipework and actuator, multi sensors and then recently new chains, guides, camshaft, sensor, solenoid etc. A bit ****, but fair enough. Then....

I had a brand new C350e as a courtesy car, drove fine for around about 2 weeks, but then, on the way to my local shop about 5 miles away... "Battery malfunction - Do not change gear, take to the workshop immediately". It was 8pm, so no chance of that happening. Got to the shops, parked, got food and went to drive home and call the dealer in the morning... The car wouldn't do anything, no ignition, no chance to get it out of park, just beached in the carpark.

I then see stuff like this: Guy drives his 7 week old C63S in heavy rain and ends up with his engine hydro-locked and having his car written off due to wanting $71,000 for a new engine on a car that cost $88,000 including options! No warranty of 'Act of God', rather than ****ty engineering allowing water in the engine - what're you meant to do? Catch the bus if it's raining?

Other YouTubers who have taken the plunge all seem to have had issues too, from A45's with recalls to avoid engine failures, CLA45's which messed up start/start and launch systems, S600 with oil starvation - it seems completely insane.

As you can imagine, I now can't shake the idea that these cars really aren't up to the price tag they command - my friends with sub £5k hatchbacks drive their cars 20 times harder than I would do mine and yet it's the 'German-engineered, luxury, overpriced car' that has the issues??

It's such a shame as Mercedes are making amazing cars at the moment - the exteriors (especially the coupes) are simply beautiful and with the new interiors, like in the new E63, they've really up'd their game to Audi levels of design inside. Anyway pointless rant over, just feel a bit let down from a brand I've come to love but now, can't trust.

 

[Neiltodd]

both of mine over the last 10 years have been v reliable.

 

[540YMX]

I think all brands are affected by similar problems, modern electronics don't help as cars can be incapacitated by a small component failure or software error.

Not sure if hydro-locked C63 is a good example of unreliability, I would not have gone for a drive in that weather as it was not normal heavy rain.

 

[Aero]

I can only speak from only owning a 9 year old CLS for the last 3yrs but for what is a second hand car I use for business , the bills are fair for a heavy car with a bit of go to it. I've budgeted for two or three major things "dropping off" in the next couple of years (gearbox, turbo etc) on top of scheduled servicing a suspension consumables etc. When compared to modern rep type cars it's still slightly cheaper over 3 years and a lot more fun. The mpg I get is very close to the realistic mpg of smaller engines pushed harder. It is dirtier though in terms of emissions but I balance that on the basis I get close to 50mpg as I only do long runs in it for work.

Virtually all cars are made to a budget with shareholders clammering for bigger dividends these days. This depresses spend on quality and in my opinion with the churn of senior engineering personnel between major auto names, there is no one car manufacturer which holds itself clearly ahead of the pack in terms of reliability and technology save possibly for one or two premium Japanese players. So what's the difference between Japanese and German philosophy to longevity? Is it in any manufacturers interest to make a car last? To make it truelly reliable? Will the EV market turn the disposable model on its head? EV's seem to have far less to go wrong.

I certainly don't believe Mercedes has the edge it once had in the 1950's to 1980's.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I'd buy something else if I were you.

 

[KennyN]

Not been too impressed with the "common" failings of the W219 CLS ,over the last three years of ownership from 18k - 36k miles

Sensors x 2 , exhaust and inlet.

Suspension arms x 2

GP relay

Glowplugs.

Battery.

TRE balljoint.

All of the above on top of the £500 average annual servicing costs and consumables like discs / pads / tyres etc.

Kenny

 

[merc85]

Not been too impressed with the "common" failings of the W219 CLS ,over the last three years of ownership from 18k - 36k miles

Sensors x 2 , exhaust and inlet.

Suspension arms x 2

GP relay

Glowplugs.

Battery.

TRE balljoint.

All of the above on top of the £500 average annual servicing costs and consumables like discs / pads / tyres etc.

Kenny

Surly a Battery, Glowplugs are normal item's? Ball joints and and glow plug relays are common. "not saying its right"

 

[merc85]

I'd buy something else if I were you.

Just not a Nissan

 

[KennyN]

Surly a Battery, Glowplugs are normal item's? Ball joints and and glow plug relays are common. "not saying its right"

Exactly my point , these parts have been failing since `05 so why on 2010 vehicles are they still failing ?

35k from a battery is pretty poor by modern standards and the other parts needing replaced at around 20 - 25k is not a great advert for the legendary MB build quality.

I have replaced more parts on the MB in two years than i did on my Saab 9-3 in the previous seven years of ownership.

Kenny

 

[D-18]

I gave up on MB because of the 'quality' of the finish and (from my perspective at least, rather poor engineering). Faults which should have been addressed years ago still seem to be present on the OM642 engine and the 7G gearbox.

I'd be the first to acknowledge that some owners have had excellent service from their MB's, but I'm not one of them. Having had two 'lemons', I won't have a third.

I loved the comfort and appearance of my W211's, but the frequent appearance of 'Big Bill' means I'll need a lot of convincing before I'd buy another Mercedes.

 

[markjay]

MB do have their issues, but just to say that:

(a) Hydrolocking an engine by driving into a pond, and cracking alloys over potholes, are both not an 'MB issue' as such, i.e. every car is prone to these - OK, bar some SUVs (And yes there was an MB issue with some starter motor solenoids catching fire whan repeatedly trying to start a hydrolocked engine, but by this time the whole affair is well into the realm of 'operator error').

(b) It is difficult to talk about 'reliability' when buying an AMG car. These cars are packed with technology and highly stressed components. Realistically, AMG reliability should be compared with that of M3/M5 cars, or S4/S6 cars, and not with that if a Toyota Corolla.

I am not disputing that there are some known issues, and that MB can be slow the engineer-out known design or manufacturing faults, but just to say that not everything listed in the OP should be seen as part of that.

 

[tonyg1987]

touch wood 2 years into c63 ownership has been good so far considering it is a 5 year old car now, only faults suffered so far are dab- replaced under warranty and sunroof cables stretched not covered under warranty. everything else has been faultless so far.

Have you guys seen the ferarri in seattle worth almost $400,000 and it conked out at 70mph with less than 500miles on it down to a faulty cable? i suppose these things happen occassionally, it would put you off inevitably. the op ended up getting another brand new car in the end courtesy of ferarri. its the customer service in the end that matters the most.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Every manufacturer will have problems, no car is perfect, nothing that has so many different parts from different places could be.

While the standard of materials might have dropped since the 1980's, they're still up there as a great car manufacturer.

 

[FateSynchro]

I have to admit, as much as i love my E63, i find all the cabin rattles to be a major annoyance.
The top mounts and drop links were also shot at 30k millage which i think is disgusting.
Suspension components should be lasting more than 30k

 

[grober]

I would suggest a combination of poorly maintained roads, speed bumps and very low profile tyres might have something to do with it?

 

[zoros]

Temting providence now, I know, but:
SL55 AMG, driven 20k in last 3 years and she has been running like a jewelled watch, I have to say. AND she's 15yrs old!!!
Mind you, when she goes in for a service, I have everything done that the garage flags up.

 

[FateSynchro]

I would suggest a combination of poorly maintained roads, speed bumps and very low profile tyres might have something to do with it?

Oh agreed, i just fix and replace its all fair enough, i just think its a little bit crappy when i had an RS6 that i sold on 89k which had zero bushes replaced until i changed them at 80k, it had 20's on low profile Goodyears.
They werent even that bad when i replaced them either i mean you could have continued to use them but they were certainly not as sharp as they were, once replaced car was a lot nicer to drive, steering response was much nicer, shame the Merc is much more affected by this.
I mean i dont mind doing this sorta thing around the 50-60k mark but on 30k thats a poor effort in my eyes.
I've replaced the drop links, doing the top mounts next then fingers crossed the noise is gone.

 

[Revvd]

Every Merc I've had has been a joy to own. Think the worst that ever happened was the inside of the cat falling apart on a 1998 CLK many years ago.

More modern BMWs on the otherhand... Jeeeez. My 1997 M3 gets battered relentlessly round track, and has never skipped a beat. My 2011 M3 though suffered a major gearbox fail, leaking sump, leaking differential, iDrive system always stalling, random rattling... the list goes on. All before it reached 40k!

 

[FateSynchro]

Every Merc I've had has been a joy to own. Think the worst that ever happened was the inside of the cat falling apart on a 1998 CLK many years ago.

More modern BMWs on the otherhand... Jeeeez. My 1997 M3 gets battered relentlessly round track, and has never skipped a beat. My 2011 M3 though suffered a major gearbox fail, leaking sump, leaking differential, iDrive system always stalling, random rattling... the list goes on. All before it reached 40k!

Its the way things are now, more tech crammed into cars without any real world millage tests.
Things arent over engineered anymore because we live in a throw away society which means cars dont get the same build quality they once got, i think towards 2015/current things changed as A LOT of 2007-2014 cars really have seen a lot of headlines, Mercs/BMW/Audi and various others have all had an array of common issues, engine failures, poor designs etc but it seems to have took a turn for the better lately.
My 2014 E63 barring the cabin rattles and these two suspension bothers hasnt given me any issues in 14k millage and its had a hard time of it, lots of hard driving, nurburg etc.
So i think the mechnical side of things is fine, just the final build quality on the interior im a little dissapointed with over my 2010 RS6, but then the mechanicals on that were dire, DRC strut failure, gearbox whine, diff binding, aux belt noise, power steering noise, coolant hoses rupture.... lots and lots of major expensive failures all well documented.

 

[Revvd]

"They don't make 'em like they used to"