I will never buy another merc!

I have owned three Mercs from new, the first two were fine and trouble-free, but my, how the quality has deteriorated over the years! My latest car, an E200, failed its MOT after just 18,168 miles because the two front lower ball joints had worn out! Have you ever heard of such a thing? If that wasn't bad enough, after just over 19,000 miles, the interior fan heater behaved erratically, switching on when it shouldn't and also not operating at the selected fan speed. The MB dealership replaced the blower regulator, which they assured me was faulty but didn't however correct the problem. Finally, a new heater control unit corrected the fault at a total cost £843.87. How on earth do Mercedes justify the high cost of replacing what basically was a faulty fan speed control switch? One could buy a whole new computer for that! Contacting Mercedes Customer Service Department was of no help as, unbelievably, they accepted these faults to be quite normal, even after such a low mileage. This Mercedes is certainly not "my pride and joy!"

Bob

 

Hi,
Sorry to hear of your recent MB experience, just for curiousity what age is your car?

 

I am extremely sorry to hear that, Bob - and I mean it. I initially never aspired to a Mercedes - they were always much more expensive than contemporary offerings in the 60s and 70s. As I aged a bit, and earned more, I began to look at them seriously, but walked away on several occasions up until about year 2,000 because a number of the "extras", which other OEMs thought should be standard spec, were still extras with MB and cost on averages £1,000 each (automatic, metallic paint, A/C, radio/CD, ariel). Perhaps because I and others walked away, MB improved their offering. On the downside, you could say that I missed MB in their prime (124 era)?

I have now had a total of 7 MBs, 3 of which are still in the family and all of which have been quiet, quick, comfortable, reliable and a joy to own. My costs in each case have been VED, insurance, MOT and fuel throughout with a low and manageable number of tyres replaced over the years. Breakdowns nil. Warranty items one (on a "signature" car - no quibbles) and some rust on an X Reg (2000) W 202 again fixed without quibble.

As has been said recently on the Forum, it is all too often that we hear of problems, and each problem, IMHO, is one too many. But I hope I do not speak for a minority of users when I say I think they are excellent cars. I have tried the others - I will now stick with MB.

 

From what I hear older Mercedes are fine, then they went through a sticky patch with quality issues, and now they are back on track.

So buy an old smoker or buy new...

MikeE

 

Many thanks for taking the trouble to reply to my woes, folks. I purchased the E200 in October 2001 with the view of having a comfortable and reliable car to see me through retirement. Treated myself to all the luxurious extras! I am a careful driver and would never dream of driving over kerbs etc. so was most surprised to hear of the lower ball joint failure after such a low mileage. Mileage to date is only 27,000. Having regard to the supposed high build quality of Mercedes prestige cars I assumed, quite wrongly, the Customer Service Department would make an offer of compensation towards the extortionate cost of correcting the problem with the fan. I am aware the car was about five years old when the fault first arose, but at that stage the car had only covered 19,000 miles. Incidentally, Mike E, your thoughts about the "sticky patch" were quite correct, and were confirmed to me in private by an MB dealer, that cars made around the year 2000 were far more prone to trouble.

I have come to the conclusion that when dealing with Mercedes, one pays a hell of a lot for the name and one doesn't necessarily get full value for money, particularly for maintenance and repairs!

Anyway, happy motoring to all you Mercedes fans, may your fans never be troublesome!

Bob

 

I'd be insisting that the MB dealer refund a large part of the cost of the blower regulator, since the original was not faulty.

 

Your dealer really should have fought your corner with MB for you. This does seem to come up a lot. Maybe I've been lucky but I've had a few things sorted outside the warranty period after the dealer took them up on my behalf.
Sadly as you've discovered, cars built between 1998 and 2003 can be more troublesome than the reputation would imply. I had a 2000 model and had a few issues with it.
To be fair though, it is an 8 year old car. From your description of the fault I'd have said regulator too. Sadly nobody's right all the time.
Unfortunately mileage isn't an indication of wear. Often, it can me the opposite. Your car as you say has spent it's life gently popping down the road. Sadly with speed bumps, pot holes and the general condition of local roads, plus all that stopping and starting, its probably had more suspension, transmission and general wear than my 67,000 mile E class, which has spent the majority of its life warmed up, steadily cruising along smooth motorways.
I fully agree that a previous generation E class (W124) wouldn't need any of these things but it was over engineered and to be fair the car you bought in 2001 was, in real terms, a lot cheaper than some of your previous mercs would have been.
I understand your frustration but, playing devils advocate, one electrical failure and 2 ball joints isn't a massive list for an 8 year old car.

 

Sorry to hear of your tale of woe, but know your problem well. I had a 2000 series SLK 230, several years ago, just over 3 years old (and out of warrenty), but with just 24000 miles recorded and serviced every year x3 by the suppling dealer, the drivers side window 'fell' out of it's runner. No offer or contribution made by the dealer or MB customer service and quote running into hundreds to replace, combined with rust starting to appear (car always garaged), prompted me to ditch it fast and replace it with a 13 year OLDER 420SL/107 series. Nil depreciation, nil problems and a complete and utter joy. All my MB's now hark from the golden era and I have no wish for the new/current offerings (except our SMART which is fantastic).

 

here here, couldn't agree more

 

ive heard that merc almost went bust, so costs had to be cut and apparrently this is why so many cars of the era have the problems with rust and other niggly problems. it was meant to be sorted out with the arrival of the w203. however the paint chips extremely easily on them and once chipped, they go rusty pretty quick!

 

Early ones probably do. Fully galvanised ones came out around 2003 which is why those in the know generally say avoid 1998-2003 mercs. Those 5 years weren't MB's finest hour. My 04 E class, works hard for it's living, has encountered it's fair share of stone chips and spends most of its' life covered in muck, road salt and grime. A quick wash and she's ready for the showroom. 'Quality' wise, I was sitting there this morning at 80 on the first half of the 100 mile daily commute, thinking how nice this car really is. Quiet, smooth, no rattles, buzzes etc. I jump in every morning, flick the key and cruise to the office in total comfort. When I need to I can blip the throttle and leave pretty much everything standing and then settle back down to a gentle 42mpg silent cruise. I'm in my 4th year of ownership and have no urge to change. I'm not bored with it and there are no niggles making me want to get rid. She looks as good now as the day I collected her, 55,000 miles and 3 1/2 years ago and if anything she's even better to drive.

What I am saying is, yes I feel for those of you with cars made in the bad years. You bought based on a reputation that it didn't (in those years) deserve. I had a 2000 E class so I do know what you're talking about. The paintwork was rubbish, it had 6 monthly rust repairs and suffered the odd technical glitch so I don't argue with your complaints. However, I do disagree when you say that on the basis of this, you'll never buy another merc, as by doing so, you're missing out on some really fabulous, reliable, rust free motoring from a firm that in my experience is falling over itself backwards to keep the customer happy.
If you had a bad meal at a previously excellent resturant, would you avoid it forever more or would you put it down to a 'bad night' and give them another chance?

 

My car is a pain sometimes, but nothing else would give me the same joy and pleasure to drive, and if anyone thinks that MBs were the only quality car to rust you should take a look at many Porsche and Rolls Royce where the rear wheel arches crumble away

 

And also ask Rolls Royce Shadow II owners if they ever heard of the rear pistons picking up in the bores? I had 2 of these cars and it happened to both, the specialists told me it was not uncommon and you can just imagine how poor I was after the repair. RR did not want to know and in fact let it be known that it never happened so must have been something unique to my car???
I also experienced the rear wheel arch automatic lightening process and also had the rear subframe "Brillo pads" fail as well, this is noticeable when the rear end sags, and is sometimes corrected by Mr Fixits by just adjusting the suspension arm location, this is obviously just a temporary fix and as soon as they have sold it to you it will reappear :roll:
I hope that my newly acquired 2003 ML turns out to be a good one....

Keith

 

Back in 1980 I was the deputy technical secretary to the RREC and some of the tales would make anyone here turn green, On a Shadow back then £9k for a service, and fail the MOT the next day, with another £3k to get it through.
It was always said that owning one was painful to the wrist, writing out the cheques, we did not use cards back then

 

Ill add my tuppence worth, or soon to be 2c worth!

Have had from new, the ML270 and the C220, both 'unfortunately' from the 1998-2003 era. Had a lot of problems and rust on the ML270 and the C has had a few issues with electrics and wiring, albeit it is very low mileage and I suspect more 'goings wrong' are just on the horizon.

I bought an A140 from my brother who had bought it new in 2004 (the era extends now from 1998-2004 and even 2005 Ive seen when people have complained) and had a shed load of problems during the 1.5 years I owned it, luckily I had the foresight to take out a Service Plus contract which paid for all the issues.

I decided to bite the bullet and buy a 67Grand ML500, not new as the current market made such a decision foolish, but will see how it goes. So far Im very happy with it.

In the current market you could pickup a newish Merc for quite a discount, so may be worth re-considering.

 

i was thinking of parting with my w124 e220 after 5 years of trouble free motoring(must be mad) i have only covered 35k in it over these years and only had to buy two suspension arms!! i think i will keep the old girl!!! its only done 100k just run in!