Mercedes Miffed at CR

[Variance]

Mercedes Miffed at CR

Mercedes has the worst record of any automaker with that many models. For a brand that claims to be "engineered like no other car in the world," that is fairly frightening.

"They understand the problems and they are fixing some of them, but they have a long way to come," says David Champion, director of automotive testing at Consumers.

For its part, a spokesman for Mercedes says that the data in the Consumer Reports rankings "is totally out of sync with what we're seeing in the mainstream research as well as our own customer satisfaction and warranty data." He points to the good marks Mercedes gets for ride, handling, comfort, safety and performance.

He may be whistling into a windstorm, though. "Car buyers pay a lot of attention to CR's ratings," says industry consultant George Peterson. "They perceive them as unbiased."

Research by Peterson's own firm, AutoPacific, substantiates CR's findings. Its 2006 Ideal Vehicle Awards show Mercedes not only ranking ninth out of ten among luxury brands but also lower than the top ten mainstream brands like Hyundai (Charts) and Subaru.

Quality problems have been a big issue at Mercedes for several years and the company keeps insisting It has a handle on them. But issues keep cropping up.

CNNMoney

[RJB]

2 weeks ago on Autoline Detroit John McElroy laid into David Champion pretty decently about their ratings, I just wish he wouldn't have backed off towards the end of the interview. Episode 1039 on the site...

http://www.autolinedetroit.tv/autoline/archives.php

[pow]

Don't care, since CR "is bias."

[Drew Dowdell]

He points to the good marks Mercedes gets for ride, handling, comfort, safety and performance.

218139[/snapback]

Congratulations, but that has nothing to do with reliability.

[Flybrian]

CR is biased but Mercedes sucks in any circle.

[Croc]

Don't care, since CR "is bias."

218226[/snapback]

Except in this case they are quite accurate. I know no one with a Mercedes without reliability problems. Ours is in the shop 5+ times a year. We're at the point where we are looking to get rid of it. We took it in a month ago because the check engine light came on (yet again) and when my father was looking at the work order by picking it up, he saw it failed a battery test, had a fluid leak in the power steering, the suspension joints needed replacement (again) and there was some problem with the ABS. When my father asked why he was never told about these additional problems, they had the nerve to tell him "Oh, well they don't need fixing NOW, but they will in another month or two."

To say he was livid is an understatement. Add to that the fact the CD player no longer plays burned discs (--"Oh, you're lucky it even worked to begin with! Most of them don't even play them in the beginning!" --"But it said they should!" --"You said your 6-disc changer plays them fine, so no problem." --"But that's in the cargo area!" --"We can't fix it.")

Consider this is the kind of reliability we've had for the majority of the past 4 years (in addition to piss-poor build quality), we aren't ever owning another MB again...

"Pretty to look at, nice to behold, but constantly breaking after just a year old."

[Sixty8panther]

I wouldn'd wipe my @$$ with consumer reports

for fear of getting some Asian version of EBOLA.

[siegen]

"Oh, well they don't need fixing NOW, but they will in another month or two."

218255[/snapback]

Lol, that's great!

[FAPTurbo]

I'm no big fan of CR, but there's a reason why we haven't got a Mercedes anymore.

My friend's dad has an E320, and that's been pretty damn reliable though.

[Croc]

Older MBs are great. But the quality dropped severely in the mid-90s...

[frogger]

My dad's been lucky with his 3 year old e320 so far, knock on wood