Mercedes tops reliability report
According to the German automotive association
ADAC, Mercedes-Benz vehicles are the most reliable among the German brands. The C-Class, CLK-Class, E-Class,
M-Class, S-Class, and the SLK-Class all took top spots in the association's latest report, more than any other German
automaker. The ADAC was especially impressed with the C-Class (pictured). This is particularly surprising considering
the quality troubles Mercedes-Benz has had to deal with the last few years.[Source: Canadian Driver]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Merl734 6:27PM (1/26/2008)
Like the old saying goes: you can't fool all of the people; that said, do yourself a favor and go by an Asian car. Buy a Merceds and you will get taken for a ride. Save your money and buy a more reliable car. If your heart won't stop yearning for one; rent one before you buy because they have lost a lot of their elan. In the old days you would get in and smell real wood and leather for years with a wonderfully snug sound when you shut the door; no more; the interior and overall quaity is sooo ordinary.
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Mark 4:29PM (9/29/2008)
I totally agree with the previous comments about Mercedes reliability. I have a 2000 C180 and have spent £2000GBP this year to keep it on the road. Electronics are very poor. Had to replace the Electronic ignition system and keys + and also the electric folding mirror indicator flasher units had corroded after only 6 years. Engine seems good but all the advanced electronics is what fails. Almost feels like after 6 years old the car is pre-programmed to fail !
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DJA 12:31PM (5/05/2006)
Queen of the pigs? One of the current paper mags interviewed a lemon law lawyer and he claims M-B makes him the most money...(Honda was at the other end)
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Bob 12:35PM (5/05/2006)
"Most reliable among German brands."
Its kinda like saying least smelly among skunks?
I am surprised its not the LEAST reliable among German brands, with the possible exception of VW, unless VW's in Germany are less problematic than the Mexican assemblied models for the U.S. market. Mercedes ranks pretty low in many tests here.
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Steve 12:46PM (5/05/2006)
Congrats on being the best of the worst
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gbh 12:52PM (5/05/2006)
I do wonder about how valid that study was.
Benz got lost in the mid-90's. The topline product is still incredibly fast, but the design/build quality has been sub-Japanese.
Hopefully the new gen S-Class will regain it's place as the most over-engineered and over-built car in the world.
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b33g33 1:15PM (5/05/2006)
Hmmm ... interesting comments from the peanut gallery. I take it that you all drive a Corolla/Sentra/Sonata or some such POS from the far east?
The green-eyed monster is come.
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Bob 1:28PM (5/05/2006)
No far east cars for me. One Saturn and one Chevy with tons of miles on them and little problems.
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psych101 1:33PM (5/05/2006)
I drive an Audi and have had a long string of M-Bs from 1983 to 1999. No envy here on my part! I have to say that from 1990 model year onward the M-Bs have been progressively declining in mechanical reliability. My 1983 380SL was overengineered, true, but it all worked together very reliably. My last M-B, a 1999 E430, was overengineered but lacking in reliability. There were so many electronic gremlins that I sometimes thought it might just be a lemon after all. The 2001 Audi I replaced the E430 with has been a couple of steps down the reliability ladder from the M-B.
None of these German cars I've owned have the reliability in my Toyota trucks. After 18 years of occasional visits to the dealership for oil changes, new tires, and new brake pads, I traded in my 235,000-mile 1985 Toyota truck for a new 2003 Toyota Tacoma. Not only did I never have any mechanical problems with my 85 Toyota, it never failed to start, it never fritzed out on me, even with offroad shenanigans sometimes bordering on abusive. The truck was a total tank, and if it weren't for the fact that I wanted an automatic and that the new doublecab made the truck even more useful, I would still be driving it.
I am, however, a sample size of one. So, grain of salt and all that.
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Tico 1:33PM (5/05/2006)
I think the electronics have been their downfall. They are trying to create new technology on the fly and that work has been less than seamless.
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Michael Karesh 1:37PM (5/05/2006)
With any research, including my own at TrueDelta, it's important to pay attention to what is really being measured. In this case, it's the number of times ADAC has had to assist a car that was broken down by the side of the road. Which happens very rarely to any kind of car with fewer than 100,000 miles.
Electrical issues that are simply irritating and prevent the audio or the power windows from working don't count, as the car is still drivable.
Someone else pointed out the other day that many German cars have seen their ADAC stats fall by about 90% since 2000. There's only one way this could realistically happen: someone else other than ADAC has started attending to those that do break down. Does Mercedes provide free roadside assistance in Europe like they do here, and do they contract with someone other than ADAC? That would do it.
End result: without some solid evidence to refute the above logic, I don't see anything of value here.
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Hung2 1:56PM (5/05/2006)
What a load of crap!
I believe this as much as I believe Mariah Carey isn't really trying to sell sex in her music or music videos!
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zzzzzzzzzz 2:13PM (5/05/2006)
"German automotive association ADAC,"
Can anyone take this seriously? Come on - people these days are not stupid.
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Mark 2:24PM (5/05/2006)
I'll remember this report every time my family's $55K E320 breaks down. For a car with only 26K miles on it, it's broken down 3 times, the radio has kaput twice, the cd changer still doesn't work right after being fixed and now there's a check engine light constantly on that the dealership cannot fix at all. In fact, they said we'd have to live with it 'cause M-B doesn't know how to fix their own electrical problems!
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Corey W. 2:33PM (5/05/2006)
Mercedes tops in reliability!! Gawd, I almost split my side laughing. It just goes to show most of these "reports" are just BS.
Nothing against DCX, I love Mercedes Benz, and they will run forever, as long as you take them in at the scheduled intervals, and immediately after you notice something wrong. I love our 540, but I didn't buy it because BMW is SO reliable... ;-)
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Ian 2:36PM (5/05/2006)
OK, I owned one...a 99 clk 430. A fantastic car to drive! On the flip side, you had to leave the radio otherwise you'd hear the constant sqeaking of the seats / interior plastics. I only owned it for 6 months and in that time I lost all respect for MB quality.
Check engine light: bad O2 censor
Check engine light: right cat
Check engine light: left cat
Check engine light: ecu malfunction
And the last straw, while my wife was driving it to her CPA exam, the v belt blew up. All this on a car with 36K miles, we used only 3K ourselves.
Our other 2 cars:
2000 Izusu Amigo 110K 3 small issues over 6 years
2001 Subary Legacy 106K 0 issues over 5 years
Incedently, both cars were built in the same subaru plant in Indiana.
So #5, it has nothing to do with bias; some people have seen what I've seen.
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David 5:55PM (5/05/2006)
I have replaced my 02 C320 Wagon for one that is more reliable...a Jag X-Type wagon. The MB C-Class performed so pooooooorly that neither my wife nor I will darken the doorstep of a Benz dealer for a long time to come. And we're long term Benz owners that are seriously pissed off at MB/DCX for selling us a load of crap and taking almost no responsibility for it. They should be ashamed and as for this reliability report listed....I'll smoke what they're smoking. It must be good because MBs are the biggest pieces of crap on the road these days. Fragile.
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ShureF00t 3:07AM (5/06/2006)
I'll sacrifice reliability for status and prestige, anytime!
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HUGE BRAIN 3:27AM (5/06/2006)
I'd have guessed BMW to have a better service record than Mercedes unless that awful iDrive mess pulled BMW's record down.
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TJ 7:45AM (5/06/2006)
This article is misleading. Mercedes is not the most reliable among the German brands, but among all brands in Germany, edging out the French and the Japanese. Also, according to that statistic, all the German brands have improved quite a lot with Mercedes, Audi and BMW in top spots. Only the Mazda 323 (which is not in production anymore) and the Toyota RAV4 could beat the German rivals in their respective classes.
This statistic is not a survey like JD Powers, but simply the number of cars which had a breakdown divided by the number of cars that are on the road. This means that the numbers are very accurate, but at the same time they can only record major problems.
All the models in that statistic have to sell at least 10000 units a year in Germany and have to be in production for at least three years.
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