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Originally Posted by [b Quote[/b] ]Lets begin this way so most people here who dont have much of a knowledge about owning a *mercedes get things clear. |
E-X-A-C-T-L-Y!! Thats what this topic intends to do i.e. let others know of the true ownership behind a Mercedes. I probably would not have gone in for the C Class and picked up the much better built and far simpler W124 E Class...If only someone had told me about the unreliability and 38 grand services of a New Mercedes. When I pay top dollar for a product, I expect top dollar performance, up-time and ownership experience.
Premium or not, 12000 for a first service is highway robbery. Autocarindia reported that their C 200 CDI cost almost 18000 to service the first time. And 38000 for the next service? Are you kidding me?
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Originally Posted by [b Quote[/b] ]Maruti, Mahindra etc. May give warranties and extended warranties but because they compete in a market where everything is Highly price sensitive and a lot
of buyers compare cars in the deepest ways to save costs. |
Let me remind you that its not only the 800 and Alto that we are talking about, but even the Rs. 18 lac Accord. And yes, they give you extended warranties too. Honda offers 4 years of unlimited mileage coverage on its accord!! Saving costs is not a priority only with low cost goods. "Running costs" are calculated whether a small office buys one printer, or Hewlett Packard is installing a multi-million dollar new facility to manufacture printers.
The bottomline is how sensible your investment is...however small or large it may be.
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Originally Posted by [b Quote[/b] ] But lets get one thing here, Mercedes-Benz claims 2 years warranty since 2002, but even if 6 years down the line you have some problem they WILL take care of it without a penny! The 2 years warranty claim of their's is only on paper but the kind of support you get from them even after 2 years is something no one else matches. Lets give you one example, I had a 210 E240 which was bought in March 2000, It's air conditioning system malfunctioned due to some error with the compressor in November 02' while the warranty had expired in March 01'. But still without any hesitation it was all replaced under something they call, "Goodwill warranty". |
What you are talking about is known as "goodwill" warranty, and let me tell you that it has NO LEGAL WORTH! Bottomline, these warranty jobs are carried out at Mercedes' discretion and not every Mercedes out of warranty is repaired free of cost. If you have a doubt just go to a high volume service outlet and ask the manager. You are totally at their decision, and if they do not repair your car free of cost after the warranty expired...too bad. There is nothing you can do.
However, with an extended warranty, the manufacturer HAS to repair its product free of cost. It is legally liable for the quality of the product it has sold you.
And Mercedes is scared of this very commitment
Goodwill warranties are also not restricted to Mercedes, but also each and every other car. I have had work done on my Esteem through Vitesse long after the warranty expired, and so have my friends on Santros, Balenos and Lancers. This is nothing restricted to mercedes. Heck, Hyundai even offered free facelifts to initial Elantra customers out of goodwill.
Competition is good, and the only reason that Mercedes does not offer free services is that they had no competition in their segment of the market. Try looking at markets where Mercedes does have competition in its segment and you will see that not only are free services offered, but also free total maintenance packages.
Why on earth does Mercedes offer the same in other countries? Isnt that a case of hypocrisy?
Its useless comparing Mercedes policies with BMW, Ferrari, Porsche and Bentley since they ARE NOT MANUFACTURERS in India. neither have the facilities out here nor are their volumes (proposed included) even close to that of Mercedes.Simply put, they are as yet importers whereas Mercedes is an established player in India.
Mercedes quality levels are languishing...and its not just the C Class. Even the M Class' were known disasters on wheels! The bosses in Germany know that there is something seriously wrong in the entire manufacturing process and one press release aint going to solve it.
According to your article, where were they in the 2004 JD? Behind Hyundai? and Mercury? These arent even Japanese brands but Korean and traditionally unreliable American brands. Also JD Quality places most emphasis on actual owners and their experiences, so it isnt some stupid statistical data churning these numbers out but actual owners who are not happy with their Mercedes'!!
Another very important factor is that, according to these surveys Mercedes is not reliable in the Initial Quality Study. Translated in the first three months of ownership. Can you imagine what the car will be like once it is 3 - 4 years old? Its going to be an absolute disaster. Take my own C Class...It has had almost 2 lacs worth of repairs in the first 18 months of ownership!! 2 lacs!! I think that even Sahil has had considerable work in his C Class, including some software glitches and an air-con job. If new Mercedes-Benz's need so many repairs in the first 18 months of ownership, what is to be expected after 3 years of ownership? For all you know...they will be falling apart. Literally!
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Originally Posted by [b Quote[/b] ]Juergen Hubbert has launched an all-out quality drive as he prepares to hand over the keys to the company to Eckhard Cordes.
He says Mercedes will accept lower profits in exchange for better quality.
"We have organized the company in a new way to make quality the top priority," says Hubbert.
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Just count the number of times the word "quality" appears in this article. What does that communicate? Just the fact that a top Mercedes Executive should come out and talk so openly about getting back Mercedes quality levels means that it is in absolute DOLDRUMS right now. And let me make one more thing clear...Quality is not something that can be injected into so many manufacturing processes and facilities overnight. Its takes years of hardwork and commitment, tons of planning and implementation, upgrading processes and equipment, training staff...an entirely new corporate culture.
Hubbert says that he will bring Mercedes to the top of JD Quality by 2006? I am going to be here, Team-BHP is going to be here and so are all of you in 2006. There is NO WAY that Mercedes is going to top the JD Quality by 2006. Mark my words.
GTO