Mercedes Benz quality issues...your thoughts

[plink49]

There is a long, ongoing discussion regarding the declining quality of MB products on another forum: http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/ (it's under tech help). I'm curious to see what you all here at this forum think about the subject. First of all do you think there genuinely IS a quality decline? What do think is the cause? What model years do you regard as the "glory days" of MB? What's the fix?

 

[LeeJSquire]

Quality

I have owned a MB for the past year, but from friends and colleagues who have driven MBs for many years the impression is that 1996 and associations with Chrysler are start of problems. Also seems to depend v much on car - top end E and S for example manufactured in Germany seem to be excellent, but C class and derivatives (like my SLK) seem to be much poorer - possibly result to building to a price to compete with likes of BMW etc, and manufacturing outside of Germany.

I think attempting to tap into mass market sales have been the problem. In the past MBs have been owned by enthusiasts - like friends of mine who prefer late 80s to early 90s C class cars that have been much more reliable and durable than my recent car - and still look great despite their age.

Lee

 

[mike65]

I'm a newbie at mercedesshop.com and had noticed that epic thread but had'nt bothered reading it howvwer it does seem to be an issue now.

Another general forum I'm on has this running since yesterday -
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122036
another disgruntled customer

Not to mention Jeremy Clarkson and his AMG C55 (?)!*

Mike.

*JC is host of Top Gear car show on BBC 2

 

[plink49]

MB quality

Actually Mike you were referring to the much longer forum thread of "Is MB too troublesome?". The one I had referred to was "MB quality"
http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforum/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=75123&pagenumber=1

To make things a tad more efficient I will repost my comment in that thread so you all can get my thoughts on the subject. I would be beneficial (and educational) to view all of the posts.

I wrote: I have read every message in this thread and must admit that most have valid points. But, I don't concur that the Japanese competition per se was the downfall of MB quality. It may have been a factor....and a factor as well in what I believe is the primary downfall of MB: The acquisition of Chrysler. That "merger" occured in '97....coincidently when quality control problems started accelerating. In reality, the old-quality of MB helped the quality of Chrysler products, while the union-mentality of Chrysler dragged down the quality of MB. Mixing equal parts white and black always produces gray. Personally I would never own a post-merger MB, and particularly an M-class which are built by union workers in Alabama. ALWAYS look at the VIN and note the very first letter/number: A 'W' indicateds it was made in Germany, a '1' indicates it was made in the US. The American unions are very much to blame for the degredation of the MB reputation, and sadly enough, the executives don't really care because all that mattters now is the bottom line. I own a '92 500SEL which was once described as a "built as a no-holds barred, expense-be-damned...." car, and sadly, one of MB last great vehicles. My old '86 300E is a car that I do believe could last forever if maintained properly, and my '96 C220 is the last good model before the unions took over MB. Unfortunately, I think the reputation of our beloved manufacturer is on a death spiral unless someone in high management sees the errors of its ways and gets back to its roots of high quality at any price.

Would like to hear your thoughts!