Fake gauges? What are we talking about here

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~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

Binary needles.

My guess is this: since (in the words of another forum member) "The Average Person is a Moron", people started complaining more and more that their engine was overheating - when all that was really happening was that their engine was running a little hotter than normal (long summer uphill, or towing their 5th wheel) so they'd complain and ***** out the dealer. "Its supposed to do that" wasnt a good enough answer.
So the manuf. (at least in Mazda's case) fussed with the temperature gauge (and Oil Press I assume) so that they come up to "spec" and dont move - ie: they don't read linearly, as far as an indication goes, they are either "good" (in the middle of the range) or "bad" (not in the middle).
Its annoying to non-moron's (like me?) becuase now the gauge, which, in the past, might have been an indication "Hey John, take it easy, things are getting warm.." could now be relplaced by a "Engine Coolant temperature not OK" light.
I think that's what he means by "Binary needles"

-John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

Consider what they were testing against back then too.

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Jim

Exactly. Dealers were getting a lot of customers who thought their engine temperatures and oil pressures should get to a certain value and stay there. We* know different, but those customers didn't believe the dealers. This was described with respect to American cars, and dealers of those have something of a bad history of being less than honest, so the customers didn't believe the truth when they heard it from a less-than-reliable source. So, we got idiot gauges. In addition to Mazda, Ford and GM do this. Others probably do too, but those are the ones I know about.

*"We" in this instance refers to automotive engineers, mechanics, and users of this forum, who are much smarter and better informed than the average motorist

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Though I also take the CR auto issue with a grain of salt, it does bother me when I frequently see big black circles on the MB models, meaning the worst tier in terms of reliability. Some of this could be attributed to the "high-end" customer base being overly picky (or petty) on their complaints, but this would not explain the halo around Lexus.

Don't get me wrong, I love my 2 diesel Benz', but mainly for the rear-drive and luxury features. This typically eliminated the TDI models for me. However, with BMW coming out with the 335d, I have a rear-drive alternative, with more performance and likely less headaches.

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1999 Black MB E300TD - 135k miles
2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser - 2k miles

My son in-law just got a brand new BMW 600 convertible, this thing had to be towed back to the dealer no less than 6 times in the first 2 months with various problems, Mercedes despite all the reliability issues is a safer bet than the ultimate driving machine.

vahe
240D 77
E-320 97

I wouldn't trade either of my 240Ds for that "Beemer'

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

That's too bad. Of all the current Beemers, I like the sixes the best just for appearance.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Another person is suing BMW over his transmission problems, his car is 6 years old, a 5 series sedan, the tranny failed in its first year while the car was under warranty. He had two more tranny failures since then. According to him BMW does not replace failed tranny’s under warranty but rather re-builds them which means more trouble.
Does Mercedes replace failed tranny’s with a new one under warranty?

Vahe
240D 77
e320 97

My experience is that if Consumers Reports ranks a car as dependable, it will be dependable. If they say that is is prone to have brake or cooling problems, that is what it will have. The example given does not rank the Kia as better than the Yaris: it does rank the Honda Fit best, followed by the Nissan Versa.

JD Powers is less reliable, because it concentrates on the first year or so.

After 150,000 miles, all bets are off. Then it is the maintanence that makes the difference.

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Semibodacious Transmogrifications a Specialty

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo sedan 171K (Rudolf)
1985 300D Turbo TD Wagon 219K (Remuda)

"Time flies like and arrow, yet fruit flies like a banana"
---Marx (Groucho)