Team-BHP - My problems with the Mercedes C180. And Mercedes Benz India.

Do u know how Top Gear refers an unreliable car? They say it's got Mercedes quality.

I think i've mentioned this before. Anyway, my uncle in California owns a S500, it was his dream as a youngster to be able to own a Merc. but now. he says it's all turned into a nightmare.

You name the problem and his car has had it. He doesn't mind the expenses as he can pretty well afford it but, he says the the trouble of having to take your vehicle to the garage, so many times is just not worth it. Faith in ones vehicle, is the most important thing for an owner.

Ask my uncle to make a 500 mile trip in his S500 and he will surely give it a 2nd thought. There's always that question of "What if something goes wrong". And that is probably the worst feeling you can have, as an owner.

Shan2nu

I agree with you GTO & It not just in India, a friend of mine who stays in US & who owns a C class, says he regrets buying the Merc, he says all the parts are being sought from germany which takes hell lotsa time, also he fears what would be the service once the the warranty is over because the car has so many Gizmos, any thing can go wrong & will cost a bomb.

He regretted it more so because while he was test driving different cars he had like a Lexus but still went for the Merc. He says its like this for most of the German Cars. His Boss's Beemer has everything changed under warranty from steering wheel to engine parts to almost the complete car within just 2 years :o

He tells me always go for the Japs you'll be happy :)

GTO, that's really bad news dude. MB was once synonymous with bullet-proof reliability and supreme quality. I personally know lots of people who have done more than 100,000 km in the W124 series E- class cars, without a hitch. But the story ends there. The MBs after that have seen a dramatic fall in quality worldwide. Instead of introducing so many more models and variants, I think they should concentrate on getting back to the previous reliability levels. You pay so much money for a car that is on par with the quality levels of an Indica...tch tch. High time for MB to spruce up things.

Manti.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.
.....

One of my friends has a C-classs, a C-200, and there's been nothing wrong with it for 2 years or so... not ONE problem... maybe these cases are rare - or maybe HIS case is rare...

Quote:

Originally Posted by speedsatya

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.

Haha... see thats y i am the wise chap here.... i buy a mercedes and buy an accord as per GTO's suggestion :p . My dad drives a C-class and i have an accord for my use, trust me dude whenever my dad ask me to his C i say no...And if u say that u dont wanna be seen in accord well most of the times in the night the C and the Accord r standing side by side when i go partying or something if its a matter of status and stuff obv u would wanna be seen in a merc but not once have i taken that car ....even if the accord is gone for service or something i still dont take the C i rather take my endeavour! WHY? Not coz i dont like the c-class's drive and comfort i love it for its handling and smooth drive butttt just incase it conks off on me i dont wanna take the headache of being blamed for it .... if it happens when my dad drives it's fine coz eventually he is gonna have to repair it but its just the matter of guilt that i dont want on my head for no fault of mine.

Well comin back to GTO's topic .... man with the feud on MBIL ha.... haha fortunatly i dont have much to complain now my cars r doin fine 'touchwood'...One thing u missed from the list of my car problems is that the fuel tank filter or somethign had to be replaced inspite me feeling from the HP petrol pump in bandra which is known for its good quality fuel....never had a problem their but benz claimed it was due to bad quality fuel. Dont remember how much that costed me but it was pretty expensive.Hopefully will be gettin rid of my C's by this year mid sometime and get the E270 which has long been due ...probably will try and make my dad buy it when i am back this summer ....havent heard such bad experience from any1 that owns a new E-class...just need to keep my fingers crossed u never know when the bugs hit that car too!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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

oh well lucky u then. i missed that part out. how much time before u run out of warranty by the way.

@vulcen : youre jokin right in the first week trip to the sevice center man thats BAD. feel sorry

im gonna make a stupid comparison here but my indian made korean accent i have since 2001 i have spent about 30k max on maintaining it so far.

GTO

You have always mentioned to us the woes of your C Class but I had no idea that they were so bad. Mercedes today is one of the most unreliable cars available. If a C class expense is so much, I dread the expenses of the higher class Mercs. Heck I even know of the exotic Mercs which are plagued with electronic gremlins big time. I've said it before and I say it again, they just dont make Mercs like they used to.

The Auto Hangar guy was right. The W124 E was very reliable and thats basically because it was less of electronics and more mechanical. This same thing was told to me by a Sanghi salesperson.

After your expreience I doubt if you will ever buy a new Mercedes Benz again. If you really do want a Merc, leave the new ones and go for that W126 that you always wanted. It will surely be extremely reliable.

Dippy

Hey GTO,welcome to the of an irate Merc customer ... my uncle hes a MD of a German Co. and has beeen an owner of a Merc E-class ....hes been lucky only to the extent that its Co. provided and so never on repairs from his pocket last heard was his merc had been in the garage for 2 months,for a major elecrical issue power windows and,headlamps and the wipers simply refused to work.... he commuted to work for two months in a hired Accord for that period...the bill was a meagre amount of 1.5 L's ... after repeated issues his Merc E-class has finally his company has replaced it with a spanking new E ... he wanted to buy one for himself too ..hes finally settled for a Camry ...lucky him ...hard luck GTO... I guess most of the MNC's having operating in India over a period of time deteriorate in quality be it cars(Merc,Ford),appareal(Reebok,M&S) foods (Pepsi,Cadbury) just to name a few...