I know the feelin'!
Posted on 12/26/2004 4:36:26 PM PST by Brilliant
The price of unreliability is getting outrageous. If you want to buy what Consumer Reports has determined will be the least reliable sedan available in the U.S., you're going to have to shell out between $75,000 and $125,000. That's because the dubious honor went to a car Consumer Reports also calls "sumptuous," "quiet and luxurious" and "a delight to drive": the Mercedes-Benz S-Class.
Mercedes-Benz (a division of DaimlerChrysler) has been struggling with quality problems over the last few years. But the rest of the list of the least reliable sedans reads like the valet lot of a Davos hotel at convention time. Ten of the 11 are European-made and include some of the most celebrated and technologically advanced sedans on the market, including 3 Mercedes-Benz models, 2 BMWs and 2 Jaguars (see table). The average price: $51,000, compared with an average price of $32,000 for the mostly Japanese vehicles on the list of most reliable sedans.
The problems, says David Champion, a former Land Rover and Nissan engineer who runs the auto testing program for Consumer Reports, are electronic. "The engineers have gone a little wild," he says. "They've put in every bell and whistle that they think of, and sometimes they don't have the attention to detail to make these systems work."
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class has a computer-driven suspension system that reduces body roll as the vehicle whips around a corner. It has cruise control that automatically slows the car down if it gets too close to another car. Its seats are adjustable 14 ways, and they are ventilated by a system that uses eight fans to whisk away perspiration.
But drivers who responded to Consumer Reports' surveys cited "serious" problems with the vehicles' electrical systems, power equipment and accessories. The S430 Consumer Reports used for its own test came with a broken "back" button on the navigation system. One small mistake in entering a destination address made the system unusable.
Mercedes-Benz doesn't believe there's a problem, saying in a statement: "The data utilized by Consumer Reports is volunteered by [Consumer Reports] readers, not verified, and does not correlate to our own data or that of other surveys." In recent J.D. Power and Associates studies Mercedes-Benz scored better than the industry average for initial quality but worse than the industry average for longer-term dependability.
BMW says it has fixed the problems with its 7 Series-but not by making the vehicles any simpler. "People drive our cars because they're sophisticated," says spokesman David Buchko. "Our goal is not to take stuff out of the car but to make what's in the car as reliable as possible." Sales of the high-end sedans for both BMW and Mercedes-Benz are suffering. Through the end of October, 7 Series sales were down 19% from 2003 and S-Class sales were off 12%.
My former auto mechanic (drat - he left the state) who was born and educated in Germany, preferred the Japanese cars. He said "Germans build cars the most complex way, Americans build cars the cheapest way, the Japanese build cars the simplest way."
They were nicknamed "Ronsons" because of their tendency to catch fire when hit. Hundreds of American lives would have been saved if we had just copied the T-34 instead of building the M4. If we had put a diesel engine into it, that would have been the premier tank of WWII.
No question about that. Having owned four of the old ones (Mk VII, XK 150 S, E type roadster and E type coup) I was always in awe of how beautiful these cars were and yet how poorly they were put together.
Just be sure to replace the rubber bushing between the transmission and the drive axle every 100k miles.
I still have my box of TV tubes. Just in case.
Must be fewer Lucas parts!!
We have the last year pre-Ford, but they had actually cleaned their act up quite well. Maybe they were motivated by the possibility of the sale, and a cash infusion.
The only downside is a little trademark dilution...I notice some Fords are Jaggier, and some Jags are Fordier...
Joking aside, it has been very reliable as far as being a driver.
Gives a great rejoinder when confronted by a snob at a Jag Club Meet. "Wish it were newer?"
"I ALREADY HAVE a Ford!"
Not mine.
"Just be sure to replace the rubber bushing between the transmission and the drive axle every 100k miles."
Had it done three weeks ago!
I have a 1991 300ZX-TT. It is gradually falling apart - the cd player is dead and a rear speaker shorted out. Otherwise, it still flies down the road.
My wife has a 1998 Lexus ES300 (fancy Camry). We love it. It's the best car we've owned. Great looking inside and out.
I need to replace my Z sometime but am having a hard time finding a car. I'm leery of a Pontiac but the upcoming Solstice looks perfect. We'll have to see.
She abhors them... My 15 yr old daughter is rebuilding a $100 280Z, including patching metal, and rewiring. they are a team... and I just stay out of the way (and drive them all!!!). Wife is a lot younger and has me chasing around tracks and junkyards with her...
Summit Point (WV) is right around the corner from us, and when she found out that she could take a course, then get on the track... that was a Christmas Wish Supreme... 3 yrs ago! Nowm we both race. I have a 300zx non-t top coupe, and its stock, pretty much. Its non-turbo, so its a boat, lots of fun...!
Love those things.
Sometimes I feel bad for all those people who have Jeep Cherokees and think they are driving something equal.
Then sometimes I don't.
Anyone who doesn't buy 'Merikhun is unpatriotic.
;)
I know the feelin'!
I am too, and I agree with EVERY WORD YOU SAID.
It is not the engineers who are going wild, it is management and marketing that come up with all these new ideas 6 months before the vehicle is to go into production.
Peter Egan's column in Road & Track a few months ago was about just this subject. He figured it will be horribly expensive to replace all the gizmos in a restoration project 10 years from now.
270,000; not bad at all! Of course your car is worth keeping and restoring. The jury is still out on the new ones. As for restoration, you're right. Up to 2000, with the right discs and or manuals and tools, they are still in great measure fixable by the patient do it yourselfer!
Say, didn't Nissan buy up a bunch of old Z-cars a few years ago, then refurbish them and sell them through selected dealers? I recall reading something about that, but I don't know if the project ever got past the planning stages.
Bring back the 2002 with "minor" improvements and it will outsell all sorts of cars.
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