Auto Spies in the news: L.A. Times article features Auto Spies
Our readers speak out on the decline of Mercedes-Benz quality
From the July 13, 2003 Sunday L.A. Times issue
The automaker is falling in quality rankings, and complaints keep rolling in. The problems may take a toll on sales.
Highlights from the article:
Its image is up there on the top floor with Prada, Tiffany and Baccarat, but for thousands of Mercedes-Benz buyers these days, reality is down in the bargain basement.
From Newport Beach to Newport News, complaints keep rolling in: Mercedes just isn't making 'em like it used to.
One owner says his $145,000 V-12-powered S600 sedan sits in his garage in Virginia because the doors and trunk won't open and the battery keeps dying.
Most of the models in the Power study have been revised in the last two years, and many of the problems have been fixed or are being addressed in redesigns of the vehicles, said Johannes Reifenrath, spokesman for the Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker.
Suzy Valentino, an 18-year-old Orange resident, is just the type of trendsetting young buyer Mercedes and other carmakers are trying to woo. But she recently traded in a 4-month-old Mercedes for a new Cadillac sport utility vehicle because of problems with the Benz, taking a $7,500 loss in the process.
She bought her 2003 Mercedes C240 sedan, a $34,000 "entry-level" luxury car, in February with earnings from her modeling career.
It "was nothing but trouble from the start," Valentino said. Within a few weeks of driving away from the dealership in Anaheim, she recalled, the electrically operated sliding sunroof stopped working — in the open position and during a rainstorm.
In just four months of ownership, Valentino said, she took the car back for repairs four times for the sunroof and four other times for problems with warning lights that inexplicably flashed on and off, a taillight that quit working and a brake pedal "that shook and bounced anytime I stepped on the brakes."
Then in May, fed up with an expensive car that wouldn't run right, Valentino drove to a nearby Cadillac dealership and bought a 2003 Escalade. She wangled a trade-in allowance of $26,500 for the nearly new Mercedes — 22% depreciation in four months.
"I will never, ever, look at another Mercedes again," she said. "The whole experience was just awful."
The dealership, Caliber Motors, declined to comment.
Autospies.com, a San Diego-based Internet magazine devoted to following the goings-on at the world's top luxury and performance car firms, has written a number of stories about Mercedes' quality problems — including the inability of the company to install promised navigation systems in early models of its new-for-2002 E-Class cars.
Although some customers paid in advance for the delayed systems, Mercedes discovered when they arrived in the United States this spring that they weren't compatible with the wiring that had been installed for them.
Watchdog on the Case
Autospies founder and Chief Executive Donald Buffamanti, a former computer industry executive, said he had received "7,000 to 10,000 complaints" from consumers about Mercedes' offerings since launching the Web site two years ago.
Mercedes's biggest problem child, Buffamanti says, is the M-Class SUV, introduced in 1998 and built in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Early reports found trim pieces falling off the trucks as they rolled out of the factory — though analysts say many parts have since been upgraded.
Despite the quality glitches, Benzes still sell well in the United States, a major market for its top luxury models.
One of those Lexus fans is Michael Rothberg, a New Jersey physician.
Early last year, he had abandoned the Lexus brand and bought a $101,000 Mercedes SL500 Designo special-edition sports car after seeing it in a dealership and "falling in love at first sight." But the car has spent 100 days in the shop for problems that include "foul-smelling" upholstery glue that "makes my wife sick," he said. The result: Rothberg is switching back to Lexus.
"BMW is the great performance car. Lexus is the great quality car. Rolls-Royce is the great prestige marque. Mercedes is caught in the middle — not a place a brand should ever be."
Auto Spies perspective: If things don't turn around soon in the quality department, the brand may be pinned with a stigma similar to the reputation earned by older Jaguars. Is it too late fix? We say no. There is no problem in the car business that can't be fixed with great products and ideas.
One thing that has to change for sure, is the system luxury car manufacturers have in place for handling customer service issues. MB and the others can’t use the “Big 3” system for handling customer issues via 800 numbers. Let’s face it, that system is USELESS! And that’s a compliment! You can’t have highly educated people driving $125,000 cars talking to minimum wage, Burger King caliber employees who have NEVER even sat in a car like that, let alone expect them to provide great customer service. And let us be clear, it is not their fault. It is the fault of the MB’s and BMW’s for not being smart enough to figure out a better system.
Let’s pose a scenario…How long would an employee like that last, as the concierge at a Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons hotel? Maybe one hour?
Are you luxury car manufacturers getting it?
Doesn't the customer who buys a MB, have the same expectation of service with their car, that they would have at a fine hotel?
The person I talk to, should be providing me the same service that I receive at one of those hotels or at a fine restaurant.
We’re certainly paying enough for it, when we buy these cars!
MB, BMW, Jaguar, Audi and the rest…Just pray Lexus doesn’t read this article and jump on this idea first…Your feedback welcomed at rumors@autospies.com
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