Monday evening my wife was driving her 2003 C230K (with just under 20,000 miles on the odometer) when all of a sudden all the dash lights lit up and the display read "Stop Engine Now" and then displayed an engine temperature of 120 C. She pulled the vehicle into the nearest area where she could stop and called me. She indicated the car was making some clanking noises but did not know what was wrong. I told her to call 1-800-4mercedes and a tow truck came out in an hour to transport the vehicle to the nearest MB dealer.

Yesterday, the MB service advisor informed me that one of the V-belt pulleys had come apart causing the V-belt to come off. Another pulley was damaged during this event and he indicated that some temperature sensor in front of the radiator would also need to be replaced. They did not have the parts and would need to be overnight shipped from Texas so the car would not be ready until Wednesday afternoon. I am not sure what pulley came apart and the service advisor did not seem to be too experienced or informed. Does this vehicle also have a crankshaft balancer that could come apart? I cannot imagine any pulley, idler pulley or crankshaft balancer failing within 20,000 miles!

The reason I purchase new cars and Mercedes for my wife is for safety and reliability. In the future, it appears as though I will need to look beyond Mercedes in my next purchase decision as I no longer feel confident in driving this vehicle on trips out of town. Some on this forum (and even in corporate Mercedes) feel that the electronic gremlins are what is really hurting Mercedes quality and reliability ratings. If they cannot manufacture reliable pulleys, idler pulleys and crankshaft balancers, how do they expect to get the high-tech electronics right?

As some of you know, I also own a 2000 ML320 where the front wheel bearings, seals on the transfer case, idler pulley, crankshaft balancer, brake light switch, power window switch module, mass air flow meter, catalytic converter and a host of other repairs where needed within the first 40,000 miles on the odometer.

I also have a 1995 C280 that gives me none of these problems. You better believe I will be hanging onto this one for some time to come. Sorry for the long post, but I just needed to do some venting on the lack of quality the current Mercedes Benz products demonstrate.