How bad is Mercedes reliability, really?

5338 Views 66 Replies 13 Participants Last post by ccmbduong, Jun 17, 2007

mkaresh

Discussion Starter · May 18, 2007

I've heard so many horror stories about Mercedes reliability, and CR has of course not been kind.

But how large is the difference between Mercedes and competing vehicles, really?

I suspect that the difference, on average, is less than many people think. There's not much distance between CR's dots--about 0.03 problems per car for a 2006 model--and forums like this one make problems seem much more common than they actually are.

In late 2005 I started conducting my own reliability research. I'm reporting absolute stats like "times in the shop" that will make the differences between cars much clearer. Relative ratings obscure too much--how large is the difference between "better than average" and "worse than average"? I’ll also be updating results four times a year, so there will be information on new models sooner.

I'd like to provide this information on Mercedes models, but so far too few owners have signed up. I have far more owners for competing makes.

To encourage participation, panel members will receive full access to the results free of charge.

Details: Vehicle reliability research

Comments, questions, and suggestions welcome.

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asianml

· #5 · May 19, 2007

Jayhawk said:
Well, I'm sure we are all indebted to you, but why don't you just do a search? It's no accident that no one is jumping into this thread. I am just trying to do you a favor too...

Try visiting his website. A post search won't do him any good. He wants Mercedes owners to sign up on his site and personally enter info on his site so he can gather this information for us. Think of it as Edmunds.com on a smaller more personal scale.

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asianml

· #9 · May 19, 2007

Jayhawk said:
He could fill his site many times over w/ a search of just my past posts on the subject, if he really wanted to. He should have at least started w/ a search and said so.

Have you looked over his site yet? The point of it is for you to enter the data yourself on there.

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asianml

· #11 · May 19, 2007

Jayhawk said:
That is lazy x2. He's too lazy to do a search and too lazy to enter the information himself. Don't you wish you could go through school that way? Just let other people do your homework for you!

You didn't visit the website, did you? It's your car, you enter the information. Simple as that. He can't possibly know every single detail about your car, but you do! Many posts don't tell the whole story, mostly a shortened version for easier understanding and easier reading, so he wouldn't be getting the whole thing most of the time. His site also does surveys, which he certainly can't do on your behalf.

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asianml

· #17 · May 19, 2007

I want to join, but the only thing holding me back is the requirement of entering the license number. I have to get that permission from the parents, which is unlikely.

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asianml

· #21 · May 19, 2007

I'm in!!

Jayhawk, you said you aren't joining because the S has had no problems. Well there's a reason to join!! Gotta balance out the unreliable to reliable ratio in the surveys. The ML hasn't had problems either, so that's why I'm joining.

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asianml

· #27 · May 19, 2007

tirona said:
buddy, it's not that mercedes owners are not interested in your so called research, they just don't believe in it.

Just too busy playing golf. LOL!

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asianml

· #30 · May 19, 2007

tirona said:
that;s right. i'm glad you understand that.

Ballin' with two ten year-old cars. You don't speak for the rest of us.

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asianml

· #37 · May 19, 2007

I don't get how you guys come to that conclusion. He has valid reasons for what he says, and you guys aren't making it any better either.

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asianml

· #39 · May 19, 2007

Jayhawk said:
I think he titled this thread exactly the way he was thinking about it, which is what got all of our attention in the first place. I think they call it a Freudian Slip...

There you go. To get attention to his thread, no more, no less.

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asianml

· #41 · May 19, 2007

Jayhawk said:
Sorry ML. As soon as you're old enough to get a driver's license you can vote too.

6 more months until license. I already drive.

Whether or not I have my license is irrelevant to the survey and this thread.

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asianml

· #44 · May 19, 2007

Jayhawk said:
Well I just hope our researcher-friend reports his data to reflect how much experience respondent's have w/ the "ownership" of a particular car. Nothing personal, but I think it is extremely relevant to the validity of the outcome of his survey. This another concern I have about the Website survey methodology.

If you read his previous posts, the research data he is asking for is coming from present problems (or lack of) and future problems (or problem free). The past is not a part of the research.

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