Does anyone not have problems with their MB's ?

[davidsl350]

22 years of Mercs across 6 cars of which 3 were new and three low mileage s/h. Mostly c class derivatives plus an SL350. Excluding the odd self inflicted injury the total amount of failures were

Replacement of leaking sump gasket
Replacement of shrieking viscous fan coupling
Replacement of side window (warranty)
Replacement of rear led lights (warranty)
Replacement of rear seat belt
Repair to SL350 rear roof seals!!!

Pretty good I think

 

[silestanix]

The 202 250d's have probably been one of the best cars ever made. If the door window components had been better sealed against damp, then nearly a perfect motor car I think.

One of the first things I did when I bought my car Malcolm, after seeing you recommend it to a member a couple of years ago who had window problems. Sprayed the outer case with wd40 and a thin smear of grease over the connectors. Touch wood I've had nil problems, so thanks again.

 

[silestanix]

22 years of Mercs across 6 cars of which 3 were new and three low mileage s/h. Mostly c class derivatives plus an SL350. Excluding the odd self inflicted injury the total amount of failures were

Replacement of leaking sump gasket
Replacement of shrieking viscous fan coupling
Replacement of side window (warranty)
Replacement of rear led lights (warranty)
Replacement of rear seat belt
Repair to SL350 rear roof seals!!!

Pretty good I think

Have seen WG-MB fixing the SL roof seal leak problem, what a pain in the proverbial :lol:.

 

[daveenty]

As has been stated before, and no doubt will be again, no-one posts when their car* is working fine. If you search the web for anything, you'll run into a list of problems with any marque, some common issues, some not so.

However, to find a post stating: "Car went well today, nothing to report" is a rare thing indeed and, to be honest, not very likely to happen.

For what it's worth, I went out for a run in mine on Sunday to a little meet in Preston. Car started, ran well and I got there and back without a problem.

See what I mean? Not very interesting, though thousands of other people probably did exactly the same.

*Replace car with any mechanical/electrical appliance of your choice.

 

[GeeAy]

I've had my W204 1.8 CGI for 3 years, its now almost 4 years old. Its been perfect with only consumables required. Average 42.8 mpg, tyres lasted over 50000 miles.
Spot on.

 

[turbopete]

The 202 250d's have probably been one of the best cars ever made. If the door window components had been better sealed against damp, then nearly a perfect motor car I think.

id agree with you there. the 203 was a better car from a drivers point of view but on the whole, i think the 202 in 250 turbodiesel guise was as near the perfect package that ive seen, especially for the average owner who tries to do as much work on the car themselves as they can..
the 203 i had, wasnt difficult to work on, in the main either (or the parts i had to do werent) its just that it was at the point that it relied on STAR so much, that ruins it from a DIY owner point of view. had it not been for that, id say the 2 were pretty closely matched (late 202s rusted, as did early 203s so similar there too!)

 

[Flyinspanner]

I imagine the majority have little or few problems, however the nature of a forum lends itself to questions and trying to gain knowledge about our cars when they do have a hiccup, however trivial.
Maybe exacerbated by our nature as 'petrolheads' to whichever degree we own up to!

We collectively realise that starting threads with "my car runs great" would run out of interest fairly quickly, (and we'd sound so smug, we would even dislike ourselves!) - it's the challenges and foibles of our chosen steed which is the interesting bit.

So don't worry, it doesn't mean they are much more unreliable now, just that we have the means to share and explore the experiences, - and even cure the failures.



Happy new year when it arrives, and I hope the forum is as busy, and filled with interesting topics all year.

 

[bennyboy]

1988 W126 300SE, 126000 MILES, bought three years ago, straight through its mot's with just a set of wipers!
A friend of mine who is also a member here (coxyhog ) has an E 500 COUPE,he has had no problems in five years, i was telling him the other night he should post it on here!.
im going to retire in four years, and a sound W124 220 petrol is looking attractive!

 

[rhud]

Two W169 A-Classes over the last eight years. Faultless. I know they have their detractors,but they do appear to be reliable.

 

[A.J.]

So far no problems at all, however I have only had it six months now.

 

[ianrandom]

My first W126 was around 2008, its been magnificent. Still got it and at times it has been the one thing in life I could totally rely on. Been a few little things and I've generally caught up with all the deferred maintenance - which actually had only been neglected for the last few years so not too bad. Maintenance is everything on these, they are super quality but like anything, if you don't maintain it, its a matter of time.

I got another, an SEC which was more neglected recently, it has also been solid as a rock. Did have a of bit of a hesitation but got that sorted, may well have been related to ethanol in the fuel. Rust is a bit of a problem but its do-able.

So both cars have been awesome, whatever the weather or conditions.

Modern Mercs, I would be worried. I understand they have got better than the very bad way they got at one point, but I want to be able to put some trust in my car, I use them for long journeys mainly.

 

[ampwhu]

as I am relatively new to Mercedes ownership I can only report on what I have had to have done. in fairness, only brakes, suspension, light bulbs and tyres. oh and a thermostat. with the car on 144k, I can live with this.

other than that, I have had nothing but joy driving and owning one of these cars. people tend to 'hate' them when they go wrong and love them when they don't.

at the end of the day, I have owned almost every make of car on the road and they have all had to have money spent on them. I guess its luck of the draw when buying a car.

 

[jp williams]

As has been stated before, and no doubt will be again, no-one posts when their car* is working fine. If you search the web for anything, you'll run into a list of problems with any marque, some common issues, some not so.

However, to find a post stating: "Car went well today, nothing to report" is a rare thing indeed and, to be honest, not very likely to happen.

For what it's worth, I went out for a run in mine on Sunday to a little meet in Preston. Car started, ran well and I got there and back without a problem.

See what I mean? Not very interesting, though thousands of other people probably did exactly the same.

*Replace car with any mechanical/electrical appliance of your choice.

I`ve driven to or from Spain four times in each of the last 10 years.
Had one occasion when the undertray fell off on the M25 going towards Folkstone and a puncture in Surrey immediately after.
Another occasion when the water pump failed in France just North of the Border with Spain. That is 3 incidents on 2 journeys out of 40, each of 1600 miles.
So, that`s 2.5% mechanical failure rate in my car which had by then covered 200.000 miles.
The other 2 incidents were not caused by mechanical failure as one was caused by lousy mercedes` so called mechanics who had over the years not put the undertray back properly and one caused by a large deep pothole near Banstead.

I am well pleased with the performance of my vehicle.

Regards

John