I bought the C43 new. It has 35K miles on it now. I maintain all of my cars very carefully, although I drive them very hard. The endless list of things that have broken have little or nothing to do with use or maintainance - seat controls, computers, sun roof switch, transmission control and on and on and on.

My NSX only has 85K miles on it, which is nothing for this car. Most go well over 200K miles before needing an overhaul (really just rings). I know of several with over 250K miles that are doing fine and a friend has 185K miles and just did the rings. He sprays a 150 shot of N2O on a regular basis or I'm sure it would have lasted longer. Mine runs 18 psi of boost and showed no real wear when I pulled it apart recently to put a ceramic coating on the pistons.

Sounds like you are a bonafide car man then hehe.

Also sounds to me like lots of the things are electrical gremlins or malfunctions. Btu mechanically, the car has been ok.

When I talk abotu copy catting, I mean that Japanese car makers have always looked to the germans for innovation and designs.

The lexus LS always seems to look a hell of a lot like an MB S class.

Acura at least keeps its cars mainly different styles than honda in the U.S.

Alon

__________________
'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
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All the problems you mentioned on camrys have not happened on my aunts 97. She ahs 139k on it and has had it since new. The love bugs took car of the paint on the front end and as for the inside well its not a benz. The worst thing so far is the timing belt you have to jack the engine up to even start the work. Personlly I hate the car its not a car for big people I fell like I gaint in there. Another complaint the front window is way to small! The stereo is pretty good.
my 2 cents

Along time ago I found a stie that was for Mercedes owners that hated there cars because of quality. I searched but could not find it. It even had the star with a frown in it.

<<
Also, not sure about US pricing, but a Camry here costs nearly as much as a C-Class.
>>

Here are the price for 2002. Apple to apples and they are all four door sedans with base prices:

2002 Mercedes Benz C Class: $30,500 - $49,900

2002 Toyota Camry: $18,970 - $25,405

There is no comparison, I drove a company car, a Camry for a few years and not only does it handle poorly, there is a rattle/squeak from the rear whenever I go over a bump which no mechanic at Toyota could fix.

In terms of handling, the MB gives much better feedback when cornering, braking and accelerating; and in a car accident, I definitely would rather be in a MB than any Toyota or Lexus. These are some of the many things I pay for when buying a solid German sedan, minor bugs in a complicated car do not bother me that much provided the dealer can fix the problems.

My experience with MBNA had been excellent. Perhaps many new MB buyers have unrealistic expectation in MBs? I know if I buy a Toyota and if it breaks down, I would go, hey, what do you expect!

I think that this whole discussion in a way proves what MB is known for, quality engineering. Its the same thing in other parts of life as well, if someone that is recognized as the top athlete in thier sport misses a shot or messes up, you will hear alot more about it than if a no name does the same thing. When Jeremy McGrath didnt win a supercross race after winning all but one the season befor, ESPN didnt spend as much time covering who won that race as they did asking why Jeremy didn't. Mercedes is known for quality, though they may have let that slip a little in the past few years I believe it is still above other companies abilities in some areas. Yes Lexus builds a good car, but driving one is like driving a giant marshmellow. I understand that some people only look at one aspect to judge a car like quality or price but I would gladly spend a few more hours of work ON a car a year than have a car that I dont want to spend more than a few hours IN a year. Every company can produce lemons and you may have just gotten one. Please dont let this one incident tarnish your outlook on this brand. And if you really want to talk about $$$ repairs ask a mechanic about Jaguar and Audi.

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I am not sure that is entirely true. A lot of German companies are paying royalties to Japanes companies for things like balance shaft designs, etc. Also. consider my Honda - it is an all aluminum car designed and produced in 1990. All aluminum or titanium high rpm 4 valve motor with variable cams and a direct-fire ignition. What car from that era had that technology? Not Ferrari. Not Porsche. Heck, Ferrari is only now producing and all aluminum car and they had to get Alcola to show them how to do it. Not even Audi was up to speed back then. The Japanese were copy cats in the 60s and 70s, but not any more.

Here are some pix and a video of the Honda. The video is from a site that does test drives of performance cars. Keep in mind that the guy in the passenger seat yelling 'Jesus Christ!' does nothing but get rides in F-cars, P-cars, etc.

http://www.sportsnimports.com/images/fastnsx/
http://www.nextestdrive.net/internalimages/videofiles/nsx508hp_sm.mov

I don't have any of the C43, but it is bone stock, so it looks exactly like every other black C43.

All I got to say about that is.....WHOOOOOAAAAH!

Unquestionably MB build quality is not what it was,it is widely acknowledged both in Germany & UK.Engineering quality is still very good but slipping.The proof is in the huge rise in Warranty
expenditure by Daimler Chrysler which is significantly disproportionate to the increase in car sales.
Tigerfox.

Huh? 1991 NSX sold for $57K. Brand new, you can drive away for less than $80K. Thanks for the compliment I guess.

By the way, in the JD Powers follow up survey (5 years after purchase), the NSX finished number one in owner satisfaction for reliability. Thats number one for ALL cars produced in 1991, not just sports cars.

Hmmmm. Perhaps you are right; it may not be fair to hold MB to the standard I have come to expect from Honda. ; )

Did you post this from a Sperry-Univac? ; )

Maybe you should sell your C43 AMG and get a 500E or E500, if you are displeased with it.

The 500E is a legendary performance machine, feted by MB owners across the globe (ask anyone in the Hot-Rods forum). Plus, it is quite reliable for such a high-performance machine. A good deal faster than the C43 too, and the 500E was assembled by Porsche for M-B.

Oh yeah, and if a 500E gets in a fender-bender, hey, at least the body is made of steel.

And the M119 engine is a very common item, found in thousands and thousands of S-class sedans and SL roadsters. No problem finding reasonable fairly-priced replacement parts there.

-Sam