Same old quality woes
 

"The biggest problem for Mercede is a serious decline in its product quality control"

A familiar cry on this forum. But this quote is from Car magazine January 1987. Yes, 1987. And it concerns the W201 and W124, "...new-engine versions and models with complex, sophisticated extras..."

Seems like people have always moaned about declining standards...

I would agree with that statement.

This is probably why seniors are always pissed.

How much lower can we go?

It all depends on where you start the benchmark...

exactly g-benz! Seems like the generation in which one becomes enamoured of a cars' qualities, um...err quality, tends to become the one for which all others that follow are compared.

I still believe 'they don't make 'em like they used to', but that isn't always a bad thing. Now, I will make exception to cheap interior materials, but I'm not expecting hand-cut panels of rare equatorial woods, or butter-soft leather from pampered cows, just the same high-quality with excellent fit and finish.

I do think some of the later-generation Benz's should be subject to such criticizm, but there is much to be said for their improved chassis dynamics, engine performance vs. economy, and safety as well. I see this daily since I drive two generations of Benz's that immediately followed one another. Ther definitely isn't as much steel in my W124, but the W123 can't hope to match the handling, agility of the W124. I'd say the interior materials are about equal - on the utilitarian side in the W123, but well-crafted and well built in both cars, with a long service life built-in.

Regards,
- Ryan

I got this quote out of a 1987 edition of Car magazine. Recently I bought each and every edition of Car going back to 1972 (with the exception of June and July 1978), so maybe I will go back to each new model launch and see what they say...

Certainly the 126 was regarded as a bit weaker than the 116 it replaced, although the 201 was described as the "Star Car" and the 129 was eulogised for years after launch.

In the meantime, if anyone wants any contemporary info on any car from 1972 to the present day, I'm your man!

JJ - I've always enjoyed the "Kerbcrawler" feature, which I believe was ended a few months ago. I picked up the November (or December) 2001 issue that had a very nice article on E Class estates, focusing on the W124. If you find any other Kerbcrawlers on MB's in recent years, I'd love to hear about it. Car is an outstanding read; our mags aren't too bad, but Car stands well above them.

This could become a long thread!
 

JJRodger,

Please see my signature!:D Would love to hear what they had to say, at your convenience of course.:)

Nice aquisition there Rodger! Thanks for the insights too :)

Man, I'd bee interested to hear what they had to say for either of my cars (see my sig), if you're so disposed. Thanks in advance should you find the time - you may have a few dozen requests with an offer like that :D

Regards,
- Ryan

Maybe I should charge a small fee!

The 500E was one of the first things I turned to; there are at least three very good articles about the car, including one by the comic actor Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder and Mr Bean), who was a regular contributor from 88 on. I remember reading about the 400E/E420 years ago. And only yesterday I read a Kerbcrawler about the r107 SL. I can remember one about the w126, too. There are also some great MB road trips.

I'll post what I can, but will have to be careful about copyright and time...

This sort of thing is exactly what I bought all these old mags for (everyone round here thinks its either mad or sad). For those who would like a 25 year collection of their own, try e-bay. This appeared last night: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2706790283&category=2241

These collections sometimes go to a high price: I went to GBP270 for 72-99! And the next highest bidder was a fellow in Canada! I was able to use auctionstealer.com to great effect (thanks for the tip jsmith).