Mercedes reliability

[glojo]

Mercedes ae amongst the most reliable cars in Germany according to the ADAC (German equivalent of the AA)

This is the second year running I have read this statistic (how I hate statistics)

Six models got the top rating C-class being the most reliable medium sized car then top ranking also went to E, S, M, CLK and Slk. These figures are based on 3.75million times ADAC provided breakdown assistance last year.

I still maintain that all the stupid reliability figures thrown up by JD Power are hog wash, simply because they are based on complaints rather than actual breakdowns. A stuck ash-tray is a reliability statistic for the JD Power survey!!!

I still believe that these figures will never stop those that want to rant and rave about modern Mercedes breaking down more often than older models.

John

 

[Alfie]

Mercedes ae amongst the most reliable cars in Germany according to the ADAC (German equivalent of the AA)

This is the second year running I have read this statistic (how I hate statistics)

Six models got the top rating C-class being the most reliable medium sized car then top ranking also went to E, S, M, CLK and Slk. These figures are based on 3.75million times ADAC provided breakdown assistance last year.

I still maintain that all the stupid reliability figures thrown up by JD Power are hog wash, simply because they are based on complaints rather than actual breakdowns. A stuck ash-tray is a reliability statistic for the JD Power survey!!!

I still believe that these figures will never stop those that want to rant and rave about modern Mercedes breaking down more often than older models.

John

Totally agree John - well said.

 

[Vips]

I for one, will carry on ranting. Its not about breaking down as much as other cars but the shoddy workmanship, cost cutting antics of MB. When splashing out 40K on a prestige car, I do not expect to see rust in 6 months time, electrics playing up and definately do not expect a stuck ash-tray either!!!

 

[janner]

Ahh, but if your ash tray sticks you have to waste time going back to the dealer to get it fixed...and we all know what a joyous experience that is

 

[CLK320Vert]

I for one, will carry on ranting. Its not about breaking down as much as other cars but the shoddy workmanship, cost cutting antics of MB. When splashing out 40K on a prestige car, I do not expect to see rust in 6 months time, electrics playing up and definately do not expect a stuck ash-tray either!!!

Ditto

 

[Robbo]

John,

You are lucky, your car has been reliable and you are justifiably happy. However, spare a thought for those of us who have had many problems with our cars. Whichever way you cut it some of the more recent cars are not as good as they should be and to deny this fact is wrong IMO.

 

[sagalout]

I suppose it comes down to the definition of reliability and/or build quality. Rust, electrical problems and stuck ashtrays are build quality issues (although it depends what the electrical fault is). Reliability is if the car cant get you home or wont start in the morning. I've driven plenty of Japanese cars with poor build quality but amazing reliability (Honda Accord springs to mind)

Personally reliability is more important to me - theres nothing worse than being stuck on the side of the road waiting for the AA to turn up having had your family day out ruined. Having said that, I totally agree that if you've spent £40K on a car you should expect reliability AND great built quality.

 

[Ian B Walker]

I put the current reliability problem down the Mercedes wanting to be on the cutting edge of automotive technology. Take the current S Class. Packed with electronic gizmos. Take all the current brand to be honest and they too are electronically controlled. The more you put into a car the more chance you have of something going wrong. Which in turn will trigger some other part of the system to try to compensate for it. End result, car that is lost, owner who is fed up and Mb's reputation going south. The interior I am led to believe is going to get better, when though will be anyones guess. Nothing like a 124

 

[Mr E]

Rather than being "lucky" in having a reliable car, shouldn't that read "unlucky" to have an unreliable one?

I haven't come across a single manufacturer (and I've worked with all the major european ones) who deliberately set out to offer unreliable cars.

However, 3 things come to mind:

1. Forum opinions are as valid as JD Power in my book - very few people come on with a completely open agenda.......(preparing to duck)

2. Consumers demand more and more features in their vehicles and OEMs choose to either be innovators or followers. You'll always have more issues as an innovator.....

3. While we demand more, we want to pay less. In real, constant currency, terms we pay far less for much more nowadays. So all mainstream marques (and I do mean ALL) build to the market price - they're not charities set up for our pleasure, but to provide financial value to shareholders. In essence, blame our capitalist society!

One final point - what is the benchmark for "good"? The industry usually measures this in terms of warrenty claims per vehicle (or mileage in some cases) and most manufacturers are on a downward trend in this metric (i.e. "good" is getting better). Again, you could engineer a car with a near-perfect reliability record but only a handful of people could afford to buy it (and it would be very basic as well!)

Dealer performance - now that's a very different story, for another day...

 

[219]

It is very difficult to objectively measure reliability.

Sure , you could collect statistics from main dealers as most people with new cars will likely take it back to the dealer , but the owners of older cars are less likely to do this so no valid comparison can be made by the dealers' workshop records alone .

You could use the breakdown organisations stats , but again , if the owner of a new car under warranty has a breakdown he may phone the dealer rather than the AA.

Owners of 'older' cars often do their own maintenance and are perhaps less likely to be a member of a breakdown organisation than someone with a relatively new car .

Whether the above is right or wrong , no one set of statistics are going to cover all users objectively , so all we end up with is a collection of opinions based on assumptions.

One sure fire way of improving your new car's reliability though , is to specify the delete option for ashtrays & lighters - then they won't stick or break.

 

[gary350]

Not sure if I posted this before but the reliability study by What Car below is based on warranty claims it also has average time per claim, look where Audi is.

gary

 

[gary350]

Not sure if I posted this before but the reliability study by What Car below is based on warranty claims it also has average time per claim, look where Audi is.

gary

Lets try again

 

[gary350]

Link for above

 

[janner]

Looks like my next car will have to be a Skoda or a Daewoo then.

 

[grober]

Subaru repairs

Take a look at the Subaru figures.
£835 and 8.6 hours

 

[219]

Isn't it funny how some products can be completely reliable for the period of the warranty , then completely fall apart just after it expires ?

This can be true of washing machines , televisions etc. as well as cars .

I was put in mind of this after reading the quote at the top of the table above re Japanese makers leading the way . Yes , their cars do seem quite reliable when new , but they do fall apart badly after just a few years .

How many old Datsuns , Hondas , Toyotas etc. do you still see on the roads compared to our cars from the 60s , 70s & 80s ?

 

[janner]

Japanese cars in the 60 and 70s were a joke and no-one considered Japanese cars to be a serious threat to the car industry.
Who's laughing now?

 

[londoner2001]

Our A Class has ben awful, just trying to sort with Mercedes t take it back its got even worse!

 

[glojo]

Japanese cars in the 60 and 70s were a joke and no-one considered Japanese cars to be a serious threat to the car industry.
Who's laughing now?

Lexus lover

Was it the Triumph Acclaim and Honda Accord that allegedly had the same parts?

John

 

[Subyland]

Yes John, a bit like the Honda Accord and the Rover 600 series.