Mercedes Quality Issues a few years ago ?

[J4CKO]

Seen a fair few really rusty Mercs from the early part of the 00's, were they really that bad, was it just rust issues or just a general decline in quality, are they best avoided, are some models afflicted worse than others ?

[B.J.W]

J4CKO said:

Seen a fair few really rusty Mercs from the early part of the 00's, were they really that bad, was it just rust issues or just a general decline in quality, are they best avoided, are some models afflicted worse than others ?

My wife worked for Mercedes Benz around 2003/4. The guys based in the servicing department were highly critical of the cars they worked on at the time. Build quality and reliability issues were regular across the range - with rust being a major problem on the 'C's and 'E's - not what you'd expect from a premium brand; even less so with cars with only 3 years (at the time) under there belts.

[wattsie_2004]

Didn't Chrysler take over the company and let quality slide around about then while trading on the brand quality?

Girlfriend's dad had a 51 plate that rusted over the back arches.
A 1999 Merc estate by work has more rust on it that painted surfaces.
Another I saw today had a very rusty tailgate.

[J4CKO]

Just deciding whether to include them in my V8 barge search, that one on TG (V12 CL) didnt look crusty, looked pristine but have seen E classes litteraly crumbling like a 70's Datsun.

[dbdb]

J4CKO said:

Seen a fair few really rusty Mercs from the early part of the 00's, were they really that bad, was it just rust issues or just a general decline in quality, are they best avoided, are some models afflicted worse than others ?

Sadly, they really were that bad. My brother had a W220 Mercedes S500. It suffered serious rust, every electrical failure imaginable, trim problems and paint problems. The air suspension and brake system also needed major repairs. When it rained you got wet feet. The car just leaked, it wasn't a build up of leaves in the plenum. The thing was a dog.

Edited by dbdb on Monday 11th July 20:20

[dbdb]

J4CKO said:

Just deciding whether to include them in my V8 barge search, that one on TG (V12 CL) didnt look crusty, looked pristine but have seen E classes litteraly crumbling like a 70's Datsun.

I saw that too and I'm not surprised you're tempted at the price!

Had it been built well it would have been superb. Unfortunately, its many problems spoiled things and I hate to think how much it would have cost to run without the warranty work.