For well over 10 years I have defended the Mercedes name, especially in the late 90’s and turn of the millennium when it appeared that every vehicle produced by Mercedes was a piece of s***. Through all the wiring harness, poor design, cheap manufacture, before-it’s-time W163 product launch, etc., I stood by Mercedes. However, when I seek out technical information – even for the R129 model, which has not been produced for over 5 years – and find that it is virtually unavailable (especially to owners), sort of slaps one in the face.
I am getting real frustrated with Mercedes and am starting to consider trashing the 4 that I have and move on to a different manufacturer. One that cares about long-term quality and takes pride in seeing fine motorcars on the road for many years. Obviously, Mercedes no longer shares this long-term vision and is only interested in following the American auto industry mantra – Build and sell a car that lasts no longer than 7 years. Make it robust enough to survive a 7-year warranty and mysterious enough that no one can fix it after that.
Sorry, had to unload. Root of my frustration can be found in thread…
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=204133
and thread…
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=203469
Neither of which are resolved, by the way.
Cheers,
Jeff