Loose Trim And Minor Rattles Knock Mercedes-Benz 12 Spots In Latest CR "Reliability" Rankings

While I understand the drop it I question if a rattle constitutes "reliability". I would say "quality" for sure.

Dependability, or reliability, describes the ability of a system or component to function under stated conditions for a specified period of time.Reliability is theoretically defined as the probability of success (Reliability=1-Probability of Failure), as the frequency of failures, or in terms of availability, as a probability derived from reliability and maintainability.

Quality Assurance (QA) is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or services to customers.

In other words failure vs defect.

Does the average consumer assume they are the same?

Does your Webster's Dictionary of what defines reliable, dependability or quality really matter. Whether it's a squeak, rattle, jiggling, some plastics rubbing together, something just not work or part failure ALL define and encompass any of those categories or terms. All car companies have a "lemon" in the group; anytime you have people doing some of the manually labor increases the chance of some time of problem.

Actually reliability by definition infers the inability to continue forward.

Quality issues being incorrectly included now reflect that this is not a reliable mode of getting from point A to point B. When the reality is, it does not fail at this task. It merely has other issues that do not affect this task.

IE: A rocket to the moon makes and back and forth without a mishap time and time again. CR rankings would have dinged them because the cockpit had a rattle during lift off. Yes the issue may have been avoidable, but not affect the utility or effectiveness of the transportation, it is merely an annoyance.
If you are going to include quality issues in the overall equation then IMHO you have to include recalls over time as well. These too are defects (quality issues) and require a dealer to correct. The reason the no one does this because of the rating for every vehicle could be affected over time and no one wants to keep up with that. For some brands this could be a game changer.

yea.. they'll be alright, that's the hottest profile angle of any vehicle under $35k

Now that Benz realized the CLA is a hit and here to stay, they made announcements last year that the CLA will be seeing upgrades in overall fit and finish for the 2016 MY

Consumer Reports sends out surveys to new car owners that is very extensive. In it, you must record each time you must go to a dealer for work or repair of any kind. This is considered 'reliability'...every time you must have a repair of any sort. So their ratings are the number of issues out of x number of vehicles sold in a given year. It is good to know that if I want to buy a $60k Mercedes, I have a greater likelihood of having to return to the dealer to have some component repaired or replaced...vs a Lexus for example, which has a much lower number of incidents per same number of vehicles. The details of the survey then show up in their other reports so that you can see which components specifically were repaired. Like the 'bleeding' seats in the new C300...that's a reliability issue if I have to take my vehicle to the dealer and have my seats replaced.

You can make up your mind if that is important to you or not by looking at the details...if Engine and Transmission are OK...but trim falls off driving down the road, and you don't care...then go buy one!

I actually think most buyers look at the red dots and go from there.

They are not concerned with the severity of the issue.

I'm a big fan of Mercedes cars but not a big fan of their reliability. It's definitely not a "quality issue." We've had several Mercedes since the early 90s and our latest is a 2014 S550. After 2 weeks the brand new S550 had brake squeak, engine warning light was on and a couple weeks ago the car would not start. The battery basically died for no apparent reason after we left it in a parking lot for less than 2 hours. I don't disagree with CR ratings, I think it's about right.

This is why Lexus LS is the best.

But obviously the German cars will always be the standard because the world wants the absolute luxury that comes from Europe, and the rich are just not looking for the value and good reliability of Japanese cars.

And basically no one wants garbage that is from America. Which explains why no American even sees Cadillac or Lincoln as a status symbol.

I have a lot of admiration and respect for MB for a long time now but they shouldn't have reliability and quality issue given their mantra of the best or nothing, even for entry level models. It's just not acceptable.

Mercedes does have the best theft deterrent system. Just watch what happens when a thief tries to throw a brick a Mercedes in this video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbeDgiou6-U

Mercedes does make great vehicles, but here's proof that ALL auto manufacturers, German, Asian and American have 'some' quality issues. This isn't an issue that is limited to American brands, as perception would have the buying public believe. Quality is quality is quality, no matter what brand you are.

It must be a pretty consistent problem to knock them down that far in the rankings. But I have to tell you that assembly quality is a big matter, at least to me. If I spend the kind of money MB commands for a car then I don't want rattles and trim falling off my expensive car. Rattles especially, can make you go from love to hate for a car if they're bad enough. In short, a car company of MB's status and reputation shouldn't be having these basic faults.

2014 S Class chirping/cricket noise. Was told due to hi pressure fuel injectors. MBUSA states this is 'normal noise'. No solution. MOST infuriating, aggravating, insulting response I've EVER had from any manufacturer. $115K for noisy car.

Not sure about how "normal" that is. My friend's 2014 S has no issue.