PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - Tell us about your Mercedes - whats your favorite/least favorite things about it?

G-Benz · #72 03-03-2007, 06:36 AM

In their effort to be cutting-edge with rival Japanese firms on all of the techno-gee-whiz applications, the newer cars are suffering from reliability problems in great numbers! No one seems to fault MB with fit, finish, and the driving experience (still at the top of their game), but it's all eclipsed by electrically-related failures of high-tech components!

I can vouch! I write software for handheld wireless devices, and while the applications are robust, the high-tech (and sometimes low-tech) components give us the most grief in the field. Even things as simple as dirty battery contacts caused uneccessary application issues that took months to diagnose.

We can only test as extensively as possible (1000+ cycles) with a team smaller than MB and certify stuff as ready for prime time. But the problems that show up in the field (100,000+ cycles) will never show up in the lab. I figure MB has the same sort of issues.

BTW, the most recent reliability survey has MB at the bottom. Land Rover, and Hummer hold a spot in the basement as well. This year for MB, it's the complex electronic 7-speed transmission.