Was I just unlucky ?

[Patrick1964]

Bought a beautiful C240 Sport estate, 80,000 miles, fsh - a really lovely looking car in September. I got half way home when the crank sensor failed. Finally managed to limp home to Wales at 3am the next day, and struggled to the dealer to get it repaired (£170). Then the oil level warning light kept coming on, and we noticed it needed topping up with water every week. Took it to MB Chester who suggested that it may have too much oil in, triggering the sensor - drain and refill with 1/2 litre less, no difference. Pressure test couldn't find a water leak. 2 days later, oil light back on, took it to a local specialist who diagnosed a faulty oil level sensor, and traced the water leak to a bulkhead through hose - hooray ! Took it back the next week (for 4 days !!!) to have a few minor jobs done, fit a towbar for mountain bikes, disconnect the faulty alarm (forgot to mention that), replace the sump sensor and fix the leaky hose. Got everything done then they decided that the leak wasn't from a hose at all, and they couldn't find it.....£350 bill none the less. I found it myself a month later when the head gasket went. Another £1000 down......whatever, "it's a lovely car and we'll keep it for years", we thought....then the dashboard warning lights started coming on intermittently, so we traded it in, at great expense, but NOT for another Merc ! I can honestly say that after 20 odd years of driving and about 30 vehicles I have never had the misfortune of owning a worse piece of rubbish that that car. I hope you all have better luck than we did, but I would advise against anyone trying to sell me another M-B in future. Goodbye from me *waves*

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

Hi Patrick, hope you haven't gone just yet. There are a couple of people on this site who will tell you that you have been unlucky. There are others, and include myself in this, that would say you have just had the "mercedes experience". It seems if you spend lots and lots of money on a Merc (e.g. an S-Class, or an SL) you will probably get a fairly reliable car. If, however, you go for medium amounts of money (A to C-Class) you will get a car that looks geat but is unlikely to run for more than a month without problems.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. Believe it or not I'm still willing to give mine a second chance because it looks so good. However, I did spend a few hours last week looking at Audi's and trying to work out how much I'd get for my car. The truth is I'll probably sell it shortly before the Service Plus contract runs out in a few months and buy another Audi. I really think the only thing I'd miss would be this forum. There are some great guys (and gals) here.

 

[jberks]

You don't say what age it was but I'd imagine 01-03 ish?
No you probably weren't unlucky - they weren't the best built motors. That said, you had engine problems and the 80k or so I did with my year 2000 240 ( an E admittedly but the same engine) were, aside from plug leads and a couple of sensors, entirely trouble free. No water usage, no false warnings, no gasket problems and no leaks.

This is always an issue with used cars though. You view it as a pile of problems. It may have built up problems over years that have simply never been fixed. The previous owner may have abused it, you just don't know. They then sell the car and you buy it with all problems in place and declare it unreliable.

I dare say, someone will buy it, fix the remaining issues and shout what a great reliable car it is (since you spent all the money repairing it!).

On the Audis - great cars, even the one I had that blew up after 60 miles!
Stiff suspension though.

 

[anyweb]

my C220 has served me well since I bought it a year and a half ago or so,

the only major failure was a corroded brake pipe, but that can be expected in this country (salt on the roads in winter) and its age (11 years)

I love driving the car and so far it's given me nothing but pleasure owning it,

I will sell it however probably this year due to small amounts of rust appearing here and there\\

I guess the original poster was just unlucky with his car and that sucks

I hope he comes back to mercedes one day, driving them at 90kmph is just so nice and i've not had/driven any other make of car that gives that comfort

cheers
anyweb

 

[Patrick1964]

Still here, car was a '99.....

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

possibly unlucky then. I believe that makes it a W202 and I think they pre-dated Mercs "wobble". I belive most experiences on those models on the forum tend to be very good.

 

[jberks]

I second that - our 202 is 12 years old now. I bought it at 3 and the only breakdown was when the key failed on the day I bought it. Aside from that it's been the most reliable motor I ever had.

 

[izzi613]

The 6cyl Merc motors are usually bulletproof..very surprising. Did it have a full merc service history and do you know what sort of life it had lead?

I'm glad in a way it was not a W203 as I have one of the same mileage albeit only 3 years old.

Very sorry to hear of your troubles, what are you driving presently?

 

[hawk20]

Patrick1964, it is no comfort to say this to you now, but there is a good case for buying from a proper Mercedes dealer. Then you would have had a decent guarantee and no bills. There is no real way of telling if the mileage was genuine unless you had Full Service History. Preferably FullMBSH. Sounds like somebody dumped a car with lots of things they had not fixed, and sadly you had it passed to you.

Some people go on at me for saying buy from a Mercedes dealer -it is not much dearer- and if possible buy Full MBSH. This kind of case makes the point. Not just for Mercedes -but for all makes- main dealer, proper guarantee and a proper service history. I hope you have better luck next time.

 

[hawk20]

If, however, you go for medium amounts of money (A to C-Class) you will get a car that looks geat but is unlikely to run for more than a month without problems.

What absolute nonsense. Go and read the thread on Blobcats 100,000 miles in an E class, or numerous other threads and owners experience.

 

[noops]

I've had my car eleven months and in that time two thing have gone wrong, 1) Brake switch, 2) Crank pulley both done by my indie, apart from that the car has been perfect (touch wood).

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

What absolute nonsense. Go and read the thread on Blobcats 100,000 miles in an E class, or numerous other threads and owners experience.

I said A to C. I could be wrong but I think you will find E comes after C.

The main problem with the E-Class doesn't appear to be mechanical or electical faults, it seems to be that they rust. Not much of a recommendation but at least MB will fix it for you as long as you meet their conditions. Having said that, a colleague of mine had a 2004 E240 and it spent more time in the garage than on the road. She still loved it though.

 

[Tony]

I've got an SLK320 (bought new) with 30k miles on the clock. I've also had burglar alarm problems and have had to have a new oil sensor and crankshaft sensor. Throw in 2 replacement catalytic converters (with Mercedes refusing a goodwill payment in either case) and central locking problems, plus some other problems that I've managed to forget, and don't want to try too hard to remember, and it doesn't reflect well on Mercedes. I've kept the car because, when it's going properly, it's brilliant. But when the time comes to move on you can bet your life that I won't be looking at any Mercedes catalogues.

BTW, I got my crankshaft sensor replaced by Mobilo (at home) and it cost £56. Provided your car had been serviced within the last 2 years at a dealership, you could have got them to do it.

 

[hawk20]

I've got an SLK320 (bought new) with 30k miles on the clock. I've also had burglar alarm problems and have had to have a new oil sensor and crankshaft sensor. Throw in 2 replacement catalytic converters (with Mercedes refusing a goodwill payment in either case) and central locking problems, plus some other problems that I've managed to forget, and don't want to try too hard to remember, and it doesn't reflect well on Mercedes. I've kept the car because, when it's going properly, it's brilliant. But when the time comes to move on you can bet your life that I won't be looking at any Mercedes catalogues.

BTW, I got my crankshaft sensor replaced by Mobilo (at home) and it cost £56. Provided your car had been serviced within the last 2 years at a dealership, you could have got them to do it.

Why not get a quote for Service Plus (see other threads). Covers virtually everything and very reasonable.

 

[psmart]

This is always an issue with used cars though. You view it as a pile of problems. It may have built up problems over years that have simply never been fixed. The previous owner may have abused it, you just don't know. They then sell the car and you buy it with all problems in place and declare it unreliable.

This is the exact reason I keep on quoting, we bought our cars Brand New! I used to buy 3 years old (high performance cars) and had shed loads of problems, then started buying Brand New, and the first one, a Grand Cherokee was bullit proof, except for the Expensive service costs. Also the Seicento, Laguna, Fiat Ducato all Brand New, all reliable. The ML has had niggles but I would have been very happy to keep saying it was reliable, until a 1000 pound plus at an indie and then getting down with a University Engineer stripping the car to find a manufacturing fault, which would have occurred much earlier if I did all my mileage in the ML. Leaves a bitter taste when you see it first hand, because you start to analyse abnormalities for the next fault! As the C Class has started to generate the same faults as Omni's and also had wiring looms replaced etc, it adds up. The A-Class also. It adds up.

What absolute nonsense. Go and read the thread on Blobcats 100,000 miles in an E class, or numerous other threads and owners experience.

You really need to start wearing your glasses! An E is not an A-C, its a paupers (joking JBerks ) S Class, ie. costs a lot than a C and less than an S.

And before Hawk starts chiming in, he hasnt bought Brand New, so you never know if the cars he bought were 'fixed' before he took possession of them! It all adds up!

The point being made? When you buy 2nd hand or not Brand New, you never really know if the problems your having are down to the Manufacturer making a crap car or the previous owner (and viz a vie, your 100% reliability may not have been so originally). On the Mercedes, as a 26K mile C-Class, 4 years old now, driven primarily by oldies is developing the same faults as Omni's, then the previous owner part of the equation is removed. A lot of people buying Brand New are reporting faults who are getting cheesed off (w124coupe is the latest) and they may end up selling their car, and as JBerks points out, the next owner may get a 100% reliable car.... but the car wasnt reliable, was it!

 

[Tony]

This is the exact reason I keep on quoting, we bought our cars Brand New! I used to buy 3 years old (high performance cars) and had shed loads of problems, then started buying Brand new

Obviously there is a danger buying secondhand that you get an abused car, but in my case I have only ever bought two cars brand new - a Toyota MR2 MkII and the SLK320. I ran the MR2 for 11 years and the only thing that ever broke was the electric aerial. The only things that ever needed replacing were things that wear out, like wipers and tyres - even the original silencer was fine. The SLK is a slightly different matter. It's obviously statistically dangerous to generalise from this experience but my conclusion is that Toyota build much more reliable cars than Mercedes and all the surveys seem to back this up.

 

[hawk20]

The SLK is a slightly different matter. It's obviously statistically dangerous to generalise from this experience but my conclusion is that Toyota build much more reliable cars than Mercedes and all the surveys seem to back this up.

If you look at the attached J.D Power table you will see the Toyota Celica right side by side with the Mercedes E class.
It is not all Toyotas nor all the time. Huge number of recalls (see other threads).

You will also see the C class, ahead of the Audi A3 and Audi A6 and ahead of the VW Golf -normally regarded by many as a pretty reliable car. And all of these way, way ahead of the BMW 5 series at 45th.

 

[Tony]

If you look at the attached J.D Power table you will see the Toyota Celica right side by side with the Mercedes E class.

Not quite side by side - Celica 26=, E Class 28th. Nevertheless the top Mercedes in the survey is still behind the bottom Toyota. Audis and VWs don't fare very well either nowadays. The bottom line is, if reliability is your priority, get a Japanese car.

 

[OmniCognateNeutronRangler]

assuming you are buying brand new, which very few of us do. Look at the same survey the previous year and Merc tend to fester towards the bottom. Those are the ones most of us will be buying.

 

[izzi613]

Some people go on at me for saying buy from a Mercedes dealer -it is not much dearer- and if possible buy Full MBSH.

Hawk20 for you information buying my C from a dealer would have cost me up to £3000 more (or 30% for the economists )than I paid and it did come with a no expense spared FMBSH. This would have taken me way over budget and probably bought a Honda Accord Tourer. Furthermore dealers rarely have young high milers in stock which is the only way I could have afforded a Merc. I would recommend buying a mint ex fleet car, that has been well looked after and from a reputeable seller (as I did) Nothing is fool proof and to some extent I did gamble a little but no more so that I would have done at a dealers.