Mercedes-Benz S-Class

2088 messages,  Last post on Jun 28, 2011 at 9:52 AM

You are in the Mercedes Benz S-Class Sedan Forum.

What is this discussion about? Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Car Leasing, Sedan

#1691 of 2088 ejerod by merc1

Feb 25, 2005 (4:03 pm)

Well that is very troubling to hear, but I think they'll sort this out. So dare I ask what you're next car will be..lol?? You still have the 2002 S500 right? Is is "fixed" now or does it still have problems?
 
The CLS500 is indeed a gorgeous car with a better build than any other current Benz sedan, and the electronics should have been sorted by now, gee whiz. I wonder what warning light exactly had lit up???
 
M

#1692 of 2088 My Next car ? by ejerod

Feb 26, 2005 (4:32 pm)

Now thats something I have had trouble thinking about. I mean honestly I love the MB styling and I'm used to all the controls and everything else. But I can't sacrifice time and money running back and forth to service. I'm afraid to drive the car out of town now. I will be getting rid of the S 500 in August. I still don't like the body style of the Lexus LS430. If they did something with the body I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Im 41 and still young and not ready to resign myself to the LS430/Cadillac/Lincoln Town Car/ Buick crowd. lol. I still get carded when I go out sometimes.. I am thinking about the new INfinity SUV the Q56 or whatever it's called. Went to the showroom , got the brochure and yada yada yada. The new CLS500 is gorgeous. Even moreso up close, and the price is right, high 60's low 70's. I repeat, I will never buy another 6 figure car as long as I live. MB isn't the only company with quality issues when it comes to cars priced in air so thin people get light headed when they look at the sticker. A client of mine who has more money than Prince Charles has had his share of issues with Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini , Bentley and others. He finally just bought a bus and hired a driver and called it a day... lol. It seems that what has happened ( according to Wall Street Journal ) is MB changed its focus from quality and started focusing on market share. The philosophy being we'll give them a full warranty that will cover minor issues the car may have. Problem is the issues weren't minor at all. Almost everyone I know has had problems with the airmatic suspension. The SL's has issues with the automatic top. Everytime I go to service I see scores of new acrs in teh service department. While I don't have evidence that they are all having quality issues, I don't see as many new cars in the Chevy service department when I go to get my conversion van serviced before a family trip. Funny thing happened. Chrysler was considered the problem child of Daimler Chrysler, so they focused their resources there thinking MB would stand on its own. Then Chrysler became the cash cow with the advent of the new 300 and MB is crashing and burning. The CEO of Daimler CHrysler is slated to retire sometime in the near future ( They don't fire incompetent CEO's the give them a gazillion dollars and send the out to pasture ) and they are supposed to be replacing him with an engineer that has a reputation for quality. It will probably be at least 3 to five years before the market starts responding to quality proclamations from MB again. I for one am not buying it. I've had this car for 3 years and it's been in service for non scheduled items at least 9 times now. The 2001 that I made them buy back had been in at least 8 times in 15 months. The Sl had been in at least 3 times in less than 18 months. The SL had less that 15,000 miles on it when I sold it. I'm done.. those of you who are die hard fans or are just enamored by the styling etc... good luck.. I'm done until I see that the have returned to their roots of building quality automobiles that can last for decades.....

#1693 of 2088 FOLLOW UP TO AIRMATIC ON DAD'S S500 by agla

Feb 28, 2005 (10:02 am)

First of all my appologies to my spelling. It was 3 am when I wrote that message the other night.I did not reread my errors! Following up on the hydralic pump failure on my dad's 2000 S500.It was the airmatic that failed 3 times in 3 months.My dad called Merecedes's main number and got a number to speak to a top warranty tech, he then acted as if these issues are odd and passed the info to the local South Florida rep about the airmatic problem.I read now this is a constant issues from various posts.I believe we are getting the run around now from MB .The post above sums up issues with Daimler/ chrysler these days.Now personally I have 2 Bmw , one with 300000
miles since 1989 running perfectly as a work horse
and a newer 1998 M3 that runs without any one issue for years.But the new BMW designs I can not recommend since they are so but ugly!So I do not know where to have my dad go trade in his S500.
And frankly my dad and I do not see any japanese car as safe in a crash like a big german sedan.
Is there an aftermarket fit to the airmatic becasue the oem stuff is horrid,Thanks AGLA

#1694 of 2088 Re: Used S-420 [rk618] by dornoc

Mar 05, 2005 (12:23 pm)

Replying to: rk618 (Jan 16, 2001 6:42 pm)
did you end up buying this car?
I am looking at a 1994 w/ 74,000
curious if you had any feedback?
i have been hearing horror stories about a/c evaporator core.

#1695 of 2088 S430 test drive by rcf8000

Mar 06, 2005 (8:15 pm)

I drove an S430 last week, and was very impressed with the smooth, quiet ride and the handling. One thing that I did not like, though, was the transmission. Driving around town, it seemed like it did a lot more hunting between gears than I'm used too. Slight changes in the accelerator position would produce upshifts or downshifts that were extremely annoying. Is this normal?
 
I hear all these stories about terrible reliability of MB cars, but my brother has more than 20,000 miles on his CL600 and has never had it to the dealer for repairs. It's just one data point, but it seems significant to me. The CL600 has every bell and whistle available. I've driven it a couple of times and didn't notice any transmission problems, but it has the old 5 speed.
 
One other impression: I ran a test on the S430's NAV system to see how well it would calculate a route, and I was extremely impressed with how well it did. I have not at all been impressed with the Lexus nav in my LX470. Yes, it has touch screen inputs, which is nice, but what good is that if it can't calculate good routes?

#1696 of 2088 Mercedes Benz by mbenz420sel

Mar 07, 2005 (2:49 pm)

Hi, I've been reading alot of these messages and finally decided to register and say something myself about Mercedes.
 
    Mercedes Benz is probably the best car ever made in my opinion. It was the first car I ever sat in the driver's seat of when I was little and I drive one to school. (yeah I drive the car to my highschool) Yeah my dad bought me a 1986 M-Benz 420 SEL with about 120 k miles. and I'm only 17 years old! This car is in mint condition, the former owners were senior citizens and obviously kept good care of the car seeing that there's absolutely no rust or any signs of damage to the engine. I will probably trade this car in for a year 2000 or up S500 or S600 as soon as I finish going through Air Force basic training, complete four years of active Air Force duty then save up for a down payment for one.
 
I was also wondering how I could add more horsepower to this car...I was thinking about adding another air intake system but then I'd have to re do the muffler system as well to get all that air out efficiently.

#1697 of 2088 Satellite antenna by rcf8000

Mar 16, 2005 (11:10 am)

Has anyone seen an S-class with an antenna installation other than the ugly black blob in the middle of the trunk lid?

#1698 of 2088 S350 by merc1

Mar 17, 2005 (11:38 pm)

Mercedes has re-introduced the S350 to the U.S. market for the final S-Class run:
 
http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container.jsp?/models/main.jsp&modelCode=S350V
 
M

#1699 of 2088 SWB Great Idea... by merckx

Mar 18, 2005 (6:58 am)

I don't know why Merc didn't do this sooner. My sister has had two of these SWBs over the years-an '83 and a '92.
Sometimes the S-class back seat seems a little TOO big....
I've been hoping for this smaller sedan for a while;shame that right now there seems to be so many disgruntled S owners-at least here. I've been plotting for an S-class for a while now...
 
I've looked at the picture again,and I'm not sure it is in fact on a shorter wheelbase...I hope it's at least decontented a little...

#1700 of 2088 S350 by rcf8000

Mar 18, 2005 (7:04 am)

I wonder why they didn't put the new 24 valve engine in it. As far as the SWB, the LWB car has far more rear seat leg room than needed, imo.
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