Never Without A Warranty?

[Justin]

My family's history with Mercedes has not been good. My brother has a 2001
and 2003 ML320. My dad had a 2004 ML320. All three had major issues. The
2001 had that oil leaking problem. Every two weeks my brother had to put
another quart in. The 2003 has a bad differential, and transmission. Both
within one year of the warranty expiring. Dad's 2004 - differential.
One service manager at a BMW dealer said "Never own a German car without a
warranty."
Having said that, my question is, what are current Mercedes like in terms of
reliability? I know all about their warranties. A warranty won't help me
if I have to be somewhere, and the vehicle won't get out of Park - which is
what happened to my brother and father's ML. It was like the comedy of
errors.
My Acura is older than dirt. Its time for me to start looking and I'm
wondering if I should consider Mercedes.
I'm in the USA, by the way; so I'm referring to the MLs available in North
America. Just in case there are different versions for different parts of
the world.

[DAS]

You have had tough luck.

Your ML (and all of them barring a small batch) were/are built in the USA,
and the first generation -- incl yours, I think -- were beset with problems.

Other models built outside Germany also had issues.

Merc's top management conceded the problems, from what I recall and, as far
as I know, these have all been overcome.

I was fortunate with my models (1993 190 and 2001 CLK Cab) not have these
inherent problems.

In other words, you may still safely consider Merc in future.

DAS
--
To reply directly replace 'nospam' with 'schmetterling'
---

Post by Justin
My family's history with Mercedes has not been good. My brother has a
2001 and 2003 ML320. My dad had a 2004 ML320. All three had major
issues. The 2001 had that oil leaking problem. Every two weeks my
brother had to put another quart in. The 2003 has a bad differential, and
transmission. Both within one year of the warranty expiring. Dad's
2004 - differential.
One service manager at a BMW dealer said "Never own a German car without a
warranty."
Having said that, my question is, what are current Mercedes like in terms
of reliability? I know all about their warranties. A warranty won't help
me if I have to be somewhere, and the vehicle won't get out of Park -
which is what happened to my brother and father's ML. It was like the
comedy of errors.
My Acura is older than dirt. Its time for me to start looking and I'm
wondering if I should consider Mercedes.
I'm in the USA, by the way; so I'm referring to the MLs available in North
America. Just in case there are different versions for different parts of
the world.

[Justin]

"DAS" wrote in message news:k5pc04$c32$***@dont-email.me...

You have had tough luck.

Your ML (and all of them barring a small batch) were/are built in the USA,
and the first generation -- incl yours, I think -- were beset with problems.

Other models built outside Germany also had issues.

Merc's top management conceded the problems, from what I recall and, as far
as I know, these have all been overcome.

I was fortunate with my models (1993 190 and 2001 CLK Cab) not have these
inherent problems.

In other words, you may still safely consider Merc in future.

DAS
--
To reply directly replace 'nospam' with 'schmetterling'
---

Post by Justin
My family's history with Mercedes has not been good. My brother has a
2001 and 2003 ML320. My dad had a 2004 ML320. All three had major
issues. The 2001 had that oil leaking problem. Every two weeks my
brother had to put another quart in. The 2003 has a bad differential, and
transmission. Both within one year of the warranty expiring. Dad's
2004 - differential.
One service manager at a BMW dealer said "Never own a German car without a
warranty."
Having said that, my question is, what are current Mercedes like in terms
of reliability? I know all about their warranties. A warranty won't help
me if I have to be somewhere, and the vehicle won't get out of Park -
which is what happened to my brother and father's ML. It was like the
comedy of errors.
My Acura is older than dirt. Its time for me to start looking and I'm
wondering if I should consider Mercedes.
I'm in the USA, by the way; so I'm referring to the MLs available in North
America. Just in case there are different versions for different parts of
the world.

How many miles do you have on your 2001?

[DAS]

Not much. Only about 48 000 miles. In recent years I hardly use it/drive
much...

I used to discuss the tech problems, many highlighted in this group when it
was much more active, with my local MB workshop, and they would talk about
them frankly. E.g. they criticised the 1st-generation A Class, one of the
Cs...but, like I said, they also pointed out out the issues were addressed.

Maybe top management got too diverted by their non-vehicle adventures.

This article goes into the quality problems but does not mention the
'sister' companies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz


However, this 1986 article does report on an inglorious chapter:

"In a 12-month buying spree that ended earlier this year, the company
acquired three large industrial conglomerates that make a bewildering range
of products from airplanes to home appliances."

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/10/27/68207/index.htm

DAS

[Justin]

"DAS" wrote in message news:k5rnpk$98t$***@dont-email.me...

Not much. Only about 48 000 miles. In recent years I hardly use it/drive
much...

I used to discuss the tech problems, many highlighted in this group when it
was much more active, with my local MB workshop, and they would talk about
them frankly. E.g. they criticised the 1st-generation A Class, one of the
Cs...but, like I said, they also pointed out out the issues were addressed.

Maybe top management got too diverted by their non-vehicle adventures.

This article goes into the quality problems but does not mention the
'sister' companies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz


However, this 1986 article does report on an inglorious chapter:

"In a 12-month buying spree that ended earlier this year, the company
acquired three large industrial conglomerates that make a bewildering range
of products from airplanes to home appliances."

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/10/27/68207/index.htm

DAS

[DAS]

Personally I would have no hesitation in buying another Merc-- plus I like
the upright star on the bonnet (hood), sadly disappearing from many models.

However, only you can decide which car appeals to in appearance and
'driveability'.

DAS
--
To reply directly replace 'nospam' with 'schmetterling'
---
"Justin" <***@nobecauseihatespam.edu> wrote in message news:k669vt$791$***@dont-email.me...
[...]

Post by Justin
Interesting.
I still have a certain amount of skepticism though. However, the 2011 JD
Powers vehicle Dependability Study puts Mercedes 8th with Lincoln at the
top.