While Toyota and Honda/Acura are certainly not in the same class as Mercedes, there is absolutely no reason Mercedes cannot be closer to them, if not equal, in build quality. The people who have been kind enough to post their experiences have noted numerous mundane issues such as loose hardware, oil leaks, failed power steering pumps, ... that would rarely occur in a Honda or Toyota. Some Germans have defended the recent problems with Mercedes and to some extent BMW by pointing out that they have a lot more advanced technology in their cars than the Japanese. Fair enough, but the failures I see are not with the advanced technology (except for perhaps the transmission problems) but with basic automobile assembly practices in the factory. While I am overall very happy with my R320, I was STUNNED when it developed an oil leak in the 1st 3 months. I had thought oil leaks on new cars had been resolved decades ago!
I totally agree. But....there is always a but, right?
Don't forget that German cars drive and ride much different than Japanese makes. The steering feedback, cornering, ride, and the body metal - these 4 things keep me out of high-end (read high priced) Japanese makes. Even my wife, who cares less about the steering and cornering factors, would not even think about spending 40k for a MDX. The German car ride and body are the sellers for her.
Don't have an MB right now. We were that close to buying an R early this year, but there was no 7 seat model. Ended up in a Q7. The other family vehicle is an O6 Honda Odyssey Touring - 13k miles and lots of squeaks, rattles, clunks - inside and out, major and minor issues. And the road noise! Been to the shop about 8 times. Cannot believe I paid over 35k for that thing.
07 R320CDI - 7500 miles to date. Only issue is passenger rear view mirror does not respond to switch adjustments. Will be covered under warranty at first dealer service.
Taile gate works fine, no window rattles or squeaks, transmission shifts just fine.
Thanks for the info, I am soon to be in the market for a used R350.
3.5L is a great motor. Just be sure to get a Mercedes CPO warranty and negotiate the longest warranty possible (you can extend the 2 year CPO warranty by 1 to 2 years).
__________________
S.
2008 Mercedes C300 Sport mars red/black
2007 Lexus IS350 Sport granite metallic/gray
2004 Porsche 986S seal gray metallic/black/black
2002 Jeep KJ Sport white/gray
__________________
2007 R 320 CDI PKG 1 w/RSE (wife's)
1984 300SD daily driver (dads old car)
1986 Grand National 76,000 miles (going for 9's in the quarter)
1987 Grand National (daily driver)
2004.5 Duramax LLY runs low 9's in the 1/8th
1989 TTA #1406 (64,000 miles) sold
1987 Buick Regal Limited Turbo T
2004 Kawie 700 Prairie 10.30 in the 1/8th
2006 R350 bought used. I have had it in for two warranty repairs:
1. Trim/Molding on driver side windshield came up at the top. Known issue with the clips and fixed in 5 mins.
2. Passenger side mirror had a gap where it attached. Tech determined the motor was bad (even though it worked fine) and replaced.
2006 R350 with 22k miles
1. SRS light @ 20k - fixed
2. Wind noise coming from rear windows - could not get fixed, going to dealer again
3. Rattling noise coming from back when going over uneven surface - could not get fixed, going to dealer again
4. Plastic cover on bottom of driver seat fell off - fixed
5. Steering wheel was 4 degrees off to the left - fixed
6. 2-1 rough shifting issue - somewhat fixed, not 100%
7. Driver side rear view mirror loose - fixed
Good car, does what I need it to do and no big complaints but the wind noise and rattling noise is very annoying now. Also tires have uneven wear so there's a rumbling noise @ 45 mph, but this is may be my fault not taking good care of tires
Linear Mode
