The Mercedes-Benz brand

[mbzse]

How has the M-B brand fared, with the change in car product range and some quality issues at the beginning of the Millennnium?
Result of a poll here:
http://www.interbrand.com/best_global_brands.aspx?langid=1000


Before BMW, and well before Porsche and Lexus...  
.

[scoot]

I don't think that data is meaningful.  First of all, the link is comparing 2008 "Brand Value" with 2007, which I assume means how much a company is worth or how much they sell, not how good they are or how they have changed over 10 years.   If you look at the link for 2001, you see the "brand values as follows:

Brand       2008 value $m       2001 value $m
Toyota      34,050              18,578
Mercedes    25,557              21,728
BMW         23,298              13,858
Honda       19,079              14,638
Ford         7,896              30,092
VW           7,047               7,338
Porsche      4,603               n/a

So the biggest growers, no surprise, are Toyota and Honda.   And the biggest loser by far is Ford (although I don't know why GM wasn't in the list).  BMW grew a LOT more than Mercedes.

Is there anyone who can really argue that MB put out good reliable cars in the past 10 years???   I think they have been fantastic but only slightly better than Jaguar for reliability.  People who want reliable cars don't buy them from Germany.   MB's glory days are in the Pagoda days, not in the present.

[abe280SL]

I don't know what that pol means, but IMHO....MB is NOT what it use to be.  Once Germany  started producing MBs for the masses...their quality and reputation went down.  I own(ed) MB cars from the 60s, 80s, 90s, 00s..and you can see the quality of the craftmanship up to the late 80s...maybe early 90s.  After that....well you know the rest.  Remember Zenith TVs, " the quality goes in before the name goes on"..in MB they rely on the MB label.."the name goes on before the quality goes in".
abe

[MichaelB.]

I see approx 5000 Mercedes a year at my Bosch repair shop. I may be qualified to answer this.

I can tell you that while the later model MB's my not be the TANKS built in the 70-80's - they are still very good machines.

There were a few weaker versions in the 90's (Early C-Class / Some E-class versions, any of the first ML's) but by 2003 nearly all of the weak links were gone. Today's MB is a very high quality car. Sure things can go wrong (an S class can have 20 control units within the chassis) as they are very complicated. But the value is there for the money.

I currently personally have three MB's of various vintage and style (S-class/Supercharged C Class & Vintage SL)and can confirm no maintenance nightmares to date.

[scoot]

My 2002 C230 sport coupe was out of all the cars I have owned, my most favorite (for a non-classic car) and also the least reliable.  This is as compared with 5 BMWs, 3 Toyotas, 2 Fords, 2 Datsuns.  The electrical problems were unacceptable.  The sunroof failure and subsequent $2000+ bill was unacceptable.   Lexus can build a luxury sport coupe/sedan that doesn't have these problems.  Mercedes can not.

[MichaelB.]

quote:Originally posted by scoot

Lexus can build a luxury sport coupe/sedan that doesn't have these problems.  Mercedes can not.

You my friend need to buy a Lexus then.

With that said... My shop has two Lexus in right now with electrical gremlins (dash cluster). But they are a fine car, as is a MB. However, the iron block 2.3 C-sport coupe was one of the cars that I referred to as a weak link (in 2003 MB built a much better C (at least in sedan form) that included a wonderful all aluminum 1.. But that one car does not make the MB brand soiled or unacceptable.

My Mercedes fleet (in comparison with the 75 other cars I have owned) are still near the top (if not the top). And that includes my current fleet: Ferrari, several of my Porsche's, Mazda's, Volvo, VW, new Dodge Ram (a Daimler product), '04 BMW and the like (18 vehicles currently).

Not every car is for everyone... But if I had to have one car, it would still be a Mercedes. The MB gives me the quality, performance, panache, heritage, look & feel that I personally desire. If I had to have only one car period it would still be an MB.

Make mine an AMG S65 please. That will fit the bill quite nicely.

[scoot]

quote:Originally posted by MichaelB.


However, the iron block 2.3 C-sport coupe was one of the cars that I referred to as a weak link (in 2003 MB built a much better C (at least in sedan form) that included a wonderful all aluminum 1..

Actually, that is something that I disagree with.  There are those who felt that the 2.3L was rough and that the 1.8 was much better.  On the other hand, the 1.8 had less torque and couldn't have a larger pully put on for much more HP from the supercharger (not that I did that anyway).  I was fine with the 2.3L -- it was the constant electrical grimlins coupled with the rediculous sunroof that did it in for me.  Kept it until year 5 of the 7 year/100k warranty and got rid of it.  But I truly enjoyed the car...   And it pissed me off that MB stopped selling a hatchback in the states....

[seattle_Jerry]

My dad has a 2006 S500. It has had around $30,000 in warranty work. Two transmissions, new front suspension, new seat electronics, new computer...theres a couple more I'm missing. Its always in the shop. It has died several times as he was driving down the freeway.

[MichaelB.]

Please give your father my card! I need more customers like him.