My problems with the Mercedes C180. And Mercedes Benz India.

[GTO]

Two Years of Mercedes Benz ownership = 164 days off the road due to repairs. Rs. 3,06,895.00 worth of warranty repair work

Did you think that the first-gen Tata Indicas were stricken with problems? Well, I have news for you - Try out a Mercedes Benz trauma (oops "ownership") package.

We took delivery of a spanking new Mercedes Benz C-Class from Auto Hangar (Mumbai) - An authorised dealership for Mercedes Benz India. To say that this car has been plagued with problems is an understatement, and what surprises me most as a return Mercedes-Benz customer is that this C Class has given me more problems in just 2 years of ownership than all my other cars combined over a decade!!

I would like to emphasize that this car has been painstakingly taken care of by me, and has been serviced exclusively by Auto Hangar. Only "pure for sure" fuel has been used in the Mercedes and all maintenance schedules have been strictly adhered to, as per manufacturer recommendations.

I refuse to understand the point in buying a brand new Mercedes in India. In two years, my Mercedes has been off the road for a whopping 164 repair days (almost 6 months) and has had warranty repairs worth more than Rupees 3 Lac:

1. Its pathetically unreliable. This car has stalled a minimum of 20 times on the road due to various reasons (electronics and engine related)
2. The service costs. 1st service for the C Class is close to Rs 15,000 (19,000 for the diesel version). The Second service is officially priced at Rs.37,000!
3. Within the city, it returns an average of 5 - 6 kpl.
4. There are no extended warranties whatsoever : Surprising when everyone from Maruti to Honda to Tata offer the same.
4. Did I mention that it is unreliable?

If these are the problems with a new Mercedes Benz within less than 2 years of ownership, what should one expect in the long run? I keep my cars till they fall apart - and thats atleast 10 years in the case of Marutis and Mahindras. But this piece of German machinery is falling apart within 2 years!

All of these facts can be verified with M/s Auto Hangar at their authorised Andheri service workshop.

Next time, buy a Honda Accord. Its infinitely more reliable, faster, more fuel efficient, much more spacious, has ride quality that is leagues ahead and offers a 4 year comprehensive warranty.

Hell hath no fury like a pissed off Mercedes owner. The three pointed star to me denotes only a three star car.

GTO

[GTO]

Related Team-BHP links :

Mercedes Benz India - Service costs : Regular Service Costs (Maintaining a Mercedes-Benz in India)
Mercedes Benz India - No Extended Warranties : No Extended Warranties (Do Mercedes have confidence in the C, E & S Class?)

Related External Links :

Trouble Benz
Mercedes Problems

2005 JD QUALITY STUDY



GTO

[GTO]

Entirely Documented Service History


30/09/2003 - CD Changer Malfunction - Rs.25,000.00



30/10/2003 - Interior Light Circuitry Failed - Rs.25898.00



24/03/2004 - Both Horns failed - Rs.815.00



28/05/2004 - Airconditioner Evaporator failed - Rs.53096.00
28/05/2004 - Defective Airconditioner Filter - Rs.5066.00
28/05/2004 - Defective Expansion Valve - Rs.9413.00



23/08/2004 - Main Air-Con Control Unit Failed - Rs.19,950.00
23/08/2004 - Fuse box failure. Entire electronics down - Rs.25,058.00
23/08/2004 - Premature Bushes wear - Rs.4,850.00



01/09/2004 - Engine misfiring intermittently across all RPM's - Still unresolved



06/10/2004 - ESP / Traction Control Failure - Rs.84107.00
06/10/2004 - Defective Shock absorber - Rs.3069.00
06/10/2004 - Ignition Coil Failure - Rs.2958.00



09/12/2004 - Fuel Pump Mounting Plate - Rs.14,200.00
09/12/2004 - Pump Seal ring - Rs.655.00
09/12/2004 - Lamp Socket - Rs.1,704.00


14/12/2004 - 2 Rods Failure - Rs.6,108.00
14/12/2004 - Auxilary Fuel Pump Failure - Rs.14,139.00
14/12/2004 - Lamp Socket - Rs.1,909.00


07/01/2004 - Battery Failure - Rs.8,900.00


GTO

[GTO]

Other Team-BHPians and their Mercedes-Benz':

Team-BHPian "Sahils" two C Classes:
1. BAS, ABS etc. failed. Software glitch. Rs.80000 to repair.
2. Air-con conked off. Cost about 80 grand to repair.
3. Fuel tank leaking like crazy.
4. Clutch failure. Pedal got stuck completely inside. Merc blamed it on fluid overheat.

Team-BHPian "S350's" Mercedes E240 after a 500km trip:
1. Gear shifting problems.
2. Dangerously instable braking. Car swerves to a side when brakes are applied. In his words - "Braking was scary".
3. Engine idling speed stuck at 3000 rpm. Would not go below.
4. Fuel average while coming downhill - 2.85 km/l. Whole trip - 4.6 kms/l !!!

Team-BHPian "Aadix" has a friend whose E240 had two entire engine failures. THe first was replaced at the cost of Rs. 7 lacs to the customer. The second was replaced under the so-called "Goodwill" warranty".

My client of many years : Mr. N. Balayar owns a 2003 S Class. In his words, "50% of the car has been replaced and the list includes air-conditioners to braking systems. Electric seats to suspension components - All of this in less than 18000 kms. He claims that his car first refused to start. Solved it. Then it refused to run (missing intermittently). Solved. Then it refused to stop (Braking problems).

GTO

[iceman91]

MAN you are upset...hell of an experience.
know how they literally squeeze the last penny/paisa out of your pockets by giving you all the high tech "gyan".
surprised though that you had such an extreme case of issues.
should have asked for a new car under warranty or threatened to go public with it!!

[vinsanity]

So the bottom line is that dont go for a MB.......
Man, now thats a lot of expensive bills there.....
GTO, tough luck pal..
I used to envy guys who zip around the city with brand new mercs.. And now I know how much pain and cash goes into owning one...
So much in just 2 yrs... Boy, thats sad to hear... So much for German Technology....
Jap cars are anyday better...

[jesal]

i do agree with a lot of people here who say the mercs are not the same as they used to be for sure. i loved the way the older ones were made for sure. in juhu this was about last year a merc slk 230's dash was opened the car was fairly new then i noticed there was rust all over the place behind the dash. very bad i say. germans are losing the only thing they were good at in those days. sad man. im shocked with your long bill GTO. u have surely gone through a lot. are there other merc owners here having issues as well ? i feel the Beemers are much better than the newer gen mercs even though bangled i love them

[Steeroid]

Unbelievable !!!

This Team BHP-ian's business owns 2 E240s. Not a spot of bother other than regular services till date (bought late 2003, early 2004).

Recently received recall notices which were complied with. Wasnt in town when this happened, our admin manager took care of it. Dont find anything different in the cars though.

GTs experiences make his Merc sound worse than Iran Khodro...

[GTO]

Jesal,

All the work was done under warranty. The cost to me was nil in terms of repairs, but what after I am out of the warranty period.

For the record, an Auto Hangar service advisor tells me that the old gen W124 etc. are way superior to the new breed - in terms of reliability.

GTO

[Shan2nu]

Boy, that is one unreliable car man. Frankly, I don't think you should continue keeping it. Standards aside, it serves no other purpose.

Next time, buy a Honda Accord. Its infinitely more reliable, faster, more fuel efficient, much more spacious, has ride quality that is leagues ahead and offers a 4 year comprehensive warranty.

Listen to yourself and just buy an Accord.

Shan2nu

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by vinsanity

I used to envy guys who zip around the city with brand new mercs.. ...

hey vinsanity,

i think its becasue of your envy that GTO had to go through all this heheh no offence meant.

gto,
lets hope yours is a one-off case.really a shame that it had to happen to MB in india.otherwise it will be advantage bmw or audi.

[GTO]

lets hope yours is a one-off case.really a shame that it had to happen to MB in india.otherwise it will be advantage bmw or audi.

Refer to Post no.4 in this thread.

GTO

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by GTO

Refer to Post no.4 in this thread.

GTO

Listen to yourself and just buy an Accord.

still,quality issues or no issues if at all i could afford a MB,i would never want myself to be seen in an accord.

[GTO]

still,quality issues or no issues if at all i could afford a MB,i would never want myself to be seen in an accord.

The problem is that, you would be seen more without your car than with it. Its always in the garage!

GTO

[Rtech]

This is crazy! Even if we consider that you got the worst of the lot, because i find it hard to believe that every new Benz had as many problems, it is still inexcusable.

More than 3 lakh rupee's and 6 months off the road is something which, if it ever happened to a Honda or Toyota, would have made headline news!

Mercedes lost the plot somewhere in the '90's when they decided to go after quantity rather than quality. They wanted more presence in different segments, but forgot why they developed their brand in the first place. Vault like build quality and over engineered products is what Mr. Benz wanted his company known for, not hatchbacks and van's!