I'd be interested in hearing from other owners re' failure of the display on E series instruments pods. Mercedes Benz (as is usual for their "Customer Service" ) refuses to acknowledge any known early failures of the instrument panel. My present model is 2001 and owned by me from new.
I have a recent letter from MB which states that they keep no figures on Early Failure, Failure Rates, Reliabilty or Design Life of ANY component. Quite frankly a risible statement however it might explain the rust problems, pod failure, non connection of my demist system during its build at the factory and many, many more problems. The marketing focus on each new E- Series appears to be one of "trust us we have finally got it right".
A previous new model from 2000 exhibited ABS, Brake Failure and other warnings on a daily basis. Cutting a long story short the advice from MB was that I should pull over whenever this occurred, switch off the ignition, restart the car and if the lamps went out then all was OK! This in a 2 month old car! Rather difficult on a motorway.
I accept that faults occur. I also accept that MB are not responsible for repairing my car out of warranty however the refusal to accept that this early failure fault is well known to them is dismissive in the extreme. What is unacceptable is the risible, dismissive culture within MB Customer Service. All smoke and mirrors with no substance and that hasn't changed in the last 6 years! Nice cars but buy at your peril for you will find Customer Srevice is a front for "please go away".
Thank you.
Tristar
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They are telling porkies all car co's keep statistics on failure rates of components, my BMW dealer in the UAE told me this. Write a letter of complaint to MB in Germany and see what they say. Also on the Daily Telegraoh web site their is a big article on MB quality this I think was written at least 1 year ago. Also take a look at Honest Johns Telegraph motoring column this week, some chap had problemss with rust on his MB which was out of warrant and they paid up! and last but not least ditch MB and buy a Lexus. Hope this helps.
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tristar - sorry (but not suprised) to hear your news.
Whilst I cannot disagree with any of the above - are they actually saying that they have no records in their failure rate data of any instrument cluster failures as opposed to saying they do not keep records (if you know what I mean).
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MB and most other manufacturers have a fairly good logging system for failures which occur during warranty. Out of warranty, they obviously know how many of their own specific spare parts they sell.
Not in a million years will MB or anyone else let you see these figures.
659.
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failure of these is quite well known and also the screen failures in the C-class.
They know exactly where the problems are. When fault occurs under warranty the part has to work its way back to supplier and MB expect recompense from the supplier. Out of warranty they know how many units they are supplying. They will have a very accurate picture. Everyone from parts guy upwards has taken a 'vow of silence' though - no one will ever admit to any problems.
IMHO problems with electronics is one of the major reasons for reduced reliability of recent cars from Germany. They have gone too far, too quick, with the electronics and they don't have the electronics design and manufacturing infrastructure of the Japanese.
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can i ask about the problems with merc c class screens?
i think there is a website that lists common problems with mercs
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Having just finished re-working an instrument pod from a VW Passat, I can only agree with you, Aprilia. The thing was riddled with solder fatigue resulting in broken joints in various places and especially where the multiway connector which links the pod to the vehicle wiring loom is soldered to the pc board. The LCD display was connected to the board with a "zebra" strip (standard practice) but the whole lot was pre-loaded by an assembly made of thermoplastic. After a few hundred thermal cycles, the pre-load is lost and the display loses segments.
These are not difficult to fix, but the detailing is dreadful - the Japanese do a far better job and obviously have a far better understanding of the failure mechanisms.
I run a VAG car, but only because I wanted a diesel with a decent fuel system. Assuming the Japanese learn to make their own diesel fuel systems (instead of making European systems under licence and cocking them up), my next car will be Japanese.
659.
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my next car will be Japanese.
Read the 'Almera woes' post.
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>> my next car will be Japanese. >> Read the 'Almera woes' post.
I read it, and there doesn't actually seem to be much wrong with the Almera. He's mainly complaining about poor workmanship from the dealer it seems. Plus broken a few bits and complaining about the cost of the parts (which seem fairly average).....
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Hi
I'll try searching for the website however should you discover it can you post it?
Regards
tristar
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Thank you. The vow of silence explains why it proves so difficult to haveany kind of flowing conversation with an MB employee. It's always a one way dialoge. Like speaking with automatons. You ask a simple question and get no answers. By the way anybody else cheesed off with the box of sweets as supplied by my MB dealership? I spend £500 on a B service and they leave me a box of sweets in the car. This kind thought really makes up for the pain in my wallet.
Regards
tristar
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Hi
Thanks.
I fully appreciate that most manufacturers, if not all, will not allow public sight of these figures. They obviuosly have them other wise they cannot run a viable business. In a reply to cardriver I've quoted their letter where they categorically state that they don't keep such figures!
Total tosh I know.
Regards
tristar
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Hi
Thank you. I'll quote from the letter sent to me from DaimlerChrysler Customer Assistance Centre January 2007.
"Regrettably Mercedes-Benz does not keep statistics relating to th reliability, or the average life expectancy of any component "
In my view a risible, dismissive and patronising statement. One wonders how on earth they manage their parts business. So now e know. It's pure finger in the air...or so the letter would indicate.
Regards
Tristar
Re' the rust issue mentioned. Mine has already undergine repairs to the boot for penetrating rust however fortunately this is warranted under their 30 year (yes I'm certain they will regret this!) warranty so long as you continue to accrue service stamps from a Mercedes-Benz dealership.
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Do you believe them? It seems to me that the lengths to which this once great Company will go to insult their customers are quite extraordinary.
They won't regret the 30 year rust "warranty". If you keep going back to the dealers for servicing, you will pay for their botched repairs, many times over.
A rusty body shell cannot be repaired. Buy a galvanised car from somebody else.
659.
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