Sorry to hear that, but I have a 97 C280 with 114,000 miles on it now and has not had a single thing replaced or break other than scheduled maintenance outside of the warranty period except for an oxygen sensor.

My car has turned out to be the most reliable car possible. And it is runs circles around my mom's previous W124 as far as reliability is concerned. The W124 is a great car and so is the W202, but I would not say that newer Mercedes are less reliable just for the sake of saying it.

My contention is that there is so much talk about Mercedes being unreliable nowadays because the people with positive experiences don't rant about what great cars they are.

__________________
Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

What's with all the gripe posts here lately? Maybe the webmaster should make a new forum category called "Gripes, Moans & Complaints". Anyone else for this??

__________________
'86 420SE Euro
904 Midnight Blue, Gray Velour
Dad bought it new, now I own it.

"A Mercedes-Benz is like a fine wine, it only gets better with age."

I'm with mbtjc. And like I've said before, if you cant play the game ($$) OR do the work yourself, buy a corolla and and stop *****ing. Enough already. Someone start a 126 roll call or something, we need a positive thread for a change.

__________________
'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

I think the reason people get upset about this quality issue is because that is what use to be associated with a Benz. Alot of people like being part of the Benz "family" and don't like it when the head of the household is tarnishing the family name/reputation, of sorts. Just as football fan associates themselves with a particular team and feels let down when the team keeps losing games, alot of people feel the same way about Mercedes-Benz.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

Point taken. I just think these general tantrums which do not address a specific problem should not belong in the Tech Help section. They belong in their own forum (like the one I suggested) or the Open Discussion forum right next to all the yammering on politics.

__________________
'86 420SE Euro
904 Midnight Blue, Gray Velour
Dad bought it new, now I own it.

"A Mercedes-Benz is like a fine wine, it only gets better with age."

I beg of you to put yourself into our shoes. How would you have felf driving your Merc with head lamps non operational at night? How would you feel driving your Merc with windshield wiper not working on a rainy day? How would you feel when your turn signals failed to work, when you paid well over 50k for a car?
Some of you may have a Merc with a bulletproof reliability and some of you may not even have purchased the car since new so you don't have to go through all the hassles. And some of you may have been in the market for a new Toyota Corolla when you see a high milelage vintage Merc that is half the price of a brand new Corolla and you went for it. After replacing a few things, the cost of replacing all the parts for you Merc doesn't even add up to the cost of a brand new Corolla. You think you got a good deal for it and it's been solid reliabe ever since. Good, I am happy for you. But for some of us who have already paid a premium for the car, another 10,000 to 20,000 dollar non warranty repairs, excluding regular wear and tear items, just doesn't add up to the image of a Mercedes. You can call this gripes, moans, complaints, and whatever it is you want. Now, please proceed with your attacks, rants, and raves.

What you said is totally 100% correct. Although my 126 has been nothing short of reliable, I am fully aware that there are many MB owners with a different experience and I would be just as pissed if it were me. I was not attacking the fact that you (and others) are mad because your MBs are supposed lemons. Completely natural and understandable.

What I was attacking is the fact that just pure simple complaining, moaning, etc. w/o any specific problem does nothing to better this forum or help its members. The "Tech Help" section is just for that....technical help....not venting. So if you'd like technical help with your car problems, then you've come to the right place, but otherwise, post in the Open Discussion forum.

__________________
'86 420SE Euro
904 Midnight Blue, Gray Velour
Dad bought it new, now I own it.

"A Mercedes-Benz is like a fine wine, it only gets better with age."

Zero- Yeah, I guess my posts were a little harsh.

I'm guessing you have a 210 car Zero? How many miles? You have really paid over $10k in non-warrnaty work? Wow, thats rough. What has the dealer said about this?

I guess I can understand how once you have put so much money into a car, there is really no turning back, as to sell would result in a monster financial loss. But at the same time, when a car is making you miserable, sometimes its time to dump it.

What are your plans for this car?

__________________
'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

I dunno about the rest of the country or outside the US, but i think theres this "Lemon Law" in cali. something about spending too much on a car and you get a exchange it. So, you should buy your cars here if its that big a deal. That or get full coverage perhaps? An increased premium would probably yield less expenditure than 10 or 20K in non warranty repairs.

Oh and about the jap cars, Ive personally never seen one go over the 500K mile mark, personally driven 4 MBs that have, only one diesel, all original engine.

AustinCE,

Please watch the Jap comments.

That's a term crusty old Grandpa once used.

Many of the "Jap" moves can drop you on your white arse too. I can help.

Back to cars:

I've seen plenty of Corollas and Civics hit the half million mark, no sweat. Not to mention many of the old GM V8s as well.

jap short for japanese. 3 letters or 8, im a keep using jap. its called an abbreviation.Lighten up! good god.
whats a jap move like karate and junk or something? besides i was talking "JAP" cars, you know, as in JAPANESE cars. as for the comment on me being white, wel that makes you a hypocrite, worse a person than me if i had meant something. white means you dont like ger. rus. aus. (both AUSTRIA and AUSTRALIA) sco. eng. ire. etc, etc,. theres some 3 letter combination gonna drive you nuts im sure..

prob!

(damn that's four letters)

Let me try to put it another way - none of those three letter abbreviations are derogatory in US culture, the one you used earlier is. I don't think much of political correctness, but there is something to be said for decorum.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL
83 300SD ... $1100, see cars forum

Hahaha, everytime someone uses the term "jap" so many people get bent out of shape. In this case it's simply quicker to type

__________________
1992 Mercedes-Benz 400E
2002 Mercedes-Benz ML500