Consumer Reports - yikes

I may well be wrong here, but I'm quite certain that Toyota has the customer pay a nominal charge when they come in for a warranty repair. Good idea I think, get's rid of the chaf who can't mount a windshield wiper etc. Wonder how man of the CR 'repairs' were for filling the fluid resevoir etc

cheers

So far Lexus has not charged for doing warranty repair. But then again, they have not done any warranty repair. The brakes are supposed to grab and the transmission is supposed to jerk. The trunk motor to close the trunk squeaks and they did order a new one, but I haven't had time to go leave it for them to replace it yet. Interesting response from Mercedes - oh no it is NOT our cars that are defective, it is the report that is defective!!!!!! I though they had gotten rid of gud ole Jerkin Shrimp! That defective problem is why I sadly am in a Lexus and not a Mercedes now.

mcbrue under the bridge in the trailer down by the river

Lemme make a wild guess. C class and SUV owners who thought they'd bouhgt a Toyota are pissed and complain. Meanwhile the CLK and SL owners don't even read consumer reports.

Consider the dynamic range of the demographic. Does Toyota make a car that will outperform all but one Ferarri? No, they make a fairly fixed range of reliable if not utterly boring cars. Benz makes cheap cars, they make luxury cars and they make performace cars with a huge spread in price.

If I had a twin turbo v12 cuope and the stero was funky I could give a s*it.

I agree.

Review of the Consumer Reports Annual Auto Issue (p. 90) indicates that Mercedes models have below average reliability in transmissions, electrical systems, climate control, brakes, body hardware, power equipment and audio systems. Considering their above average costs, Mercedes vehicles should be among the best. Unfortunately, smart consumers would be wise to avoid them unless prestige is what matters most.

Hey McBrue... how is that automated parallel parking feature? Do you have that?

Geez, I guess the engines are still good then...? My power windows in the back failed again, thankfully the AC's still working.

Ximinez

I think the prestige is based on high prices and the reputation that these cars had for engineering and reliability years ago. Quality apparently has declined but reputation remains from the past.

Assuming that's all true, it's interesting that driving a Mercedes would still confer prestige rather than stupidity.

I'd be willing to bet none of you naysayers own or owned a MB, their big issues recently have been with the electronic do dads and that seems to be under control, their older cars had issues with ac problems, again it isn't a problem in their newer cars. I've never had any issues with brakes, engines or body parts. Like someone else noted MB makes a wide range of vehicles and maybe some quality was short changed by MB's attempt to make cars like the c class at lower costs, their higher end offerings are just fine. Hey if you don't like MB go get a lexus, no personality but supposed to be reliable as hell, even though the one I have needs more routine maintenance than my MB

You have to be loaded to afford the buying price AND the maintenance.

Ximinez

Well you don't have to be drunk, but it shore ish a big hepl !

And anyway, the Lexus costs more to maintain on a per item basis. So the Lexus cost is the same as the Mercedes cost for maintanence.

I second this.... had my ''89 300E for over 15 years and have only needed to replace the water pump and O2 sensor. The car has been flawless otherwise.... cheapest car in the longrun I've ever owned. I wouldn't buy anything by MB and it's got nothing to do with anything else than that it's a good and a save car

cheers

of course meant to say: .....

anything 'but' MB and it's got .....

cheers

Ironically.....

Mercedes ought to sue. Any second year statistics student can shoot enough holes in CU's methodology to show its surveys are worthless. All they are is compilations of anecdotes purported to be valid data.

Mmm.. from recent McBrue's posting... he spoke sane language... sounds so normal... owning Lexus must have made him a world smarter...Increased his IQ by at least 40 points... I wondered if this would happen to those who switch from MB to Lexus... Anyone care to try?

Do you doubt for a minute that Japanese automobiles (toyota, Honda,...) are more reliable than German ones? Why is that?

riserman

I've never trusted J.D. Powers and Associates since they are paid by the very same industries they report on. Also to be noted, they do not test or measure long term reliability.

riserman