5th gear's review of the new S500

"Mercedes Seeks to Reverse

Damage to Its Image

Big Print Campaign Aims

To Win Back Consumers

In Wake of Quality Woes

By GINA CHON

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

January 30, 2006; Page B4



Mercedes-Benz has spent the past few years scrambling to eliminate quality problems that had cropped up in its cars. Now it faces the even tougher task of rebuilding consumers' faith in the brand.



Once No. 2 in the U.S. luxury market behind Toyota's Lexus, Mercedes dropped to No. 4 in recent years after defects in certain models hurt the brand's ranking in a widely followed quality survey. Among the flaws: a glitch in a high-tech brake system that forced a vehicle recall in 2004.

[Mercedes Graphic]

Mercedes plans to run 60 to 90 ads over the course of the year.







Now, with a redesigned version of Mercedes's flagship S-class sedan hitting showrooms next month, the luxury brand of DaimlerChrysler AG is hoping a barrage of print ads can restore the shine to its three-pointed star.







[snip]



Sorry, I had to trim the rest of the article for copyright reasons. A portion of an article, properly attributed, or links are OK, but copying the whole article could open a legal can of worms if the copyright owner decided to pursue it.



For those wishing to read the rest of the article, but don't want to register, do a Google on BugMeNot.



Sorry for the inconvenience.



-- Tort

(moderator)

 
Gotta love the great directing and producing of European television...unlike the nonsense they show in the us...WIFE SWAP YES!...I cant wait this summer...ohhhhh England....here I come....Car is going to be awesome...Top gear did a great joke of the cruise control system...



-Justin
 
IMO the new S class is an ugly beast. The redesigned and less-Bangle-ized 7 series is much better looking. Ive seen both in person and S class just kinda makes you ask yourself "why?" Personally I was a big fan of the previous S class, now that was a gorgeous car!
 
I like it well enough, but some of the design elements of the front and back remind of a Lexus or Toyota Avalon sedan.
 
I think the looks are so so looks A LOT like a Maybach, its the technology that is so cool with the new S...



-Justin
 
4830Deuce said:
Gotta love the great directing and producing of European television...unlike the nonsense they show in the us...WIFE SWAP YES!...I cant wait this summer...ohhhhh England....here I come....Car is going to be awesome...Top gear did a great joke of the cruise control system...



-Justin
Click to expand...



Are you really going to England? I'm applying to go to Spain. :nervous2:
 
Here's the issue on Benz quality:



2005089a.gif
 
There reliablity hasn't been good... Its been all downhill... hopefully they can eventually climb back up.



I have a 01 S500, luckily nothing major has gone wrong yet... (knock on wood)
 
From everything I'm hearing, it looks like the quality is coming back, which is a very good thing. Remember, MB was at the top for quite some time, while companies like Lexus were still in diapers trying to figure out how to copy MB. But yes, their cars turned into complete crap. In my opinion, I've got the last quality car they made, right before they went off a cliff. Only time will tell.
 
The JD power study doesn't tell you what kind of problems people are having. I read somewhere that a problem in that study can be anything from someone who doesn't like a cup holder to a total engine failure, Not really the same thing.
 
Mark77 said:
The JD power study doesn't tell you what kind of problems people are having. I read somewhere that a problem in that study can be anything from someone who doesn't like a cup holder to a total engine failure, Not really the same thing.
Click to expand...



One of the reasons that I take those survey's with a grain of salt. While the Lexus has the fewest problems on the list it may be that those problems were engine failure or electronic issues etc. The Benz that had more problems it could have been a defective batch of clips. There's no way to tell from the survey. In addition, what's a problem to me may not be a problem to you. There is NO way for those wonderful little survey's to take this into account.
 
There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last summer or fall, stating that in Germany, that the cost of the old S classes were skyrocketing and that sales of the new S class had fallen way off. In fact, in the "old days" big Benzes were a favorite of taxi drivers because of the quality and "bullet proof" structure of the old S classes. The new models have had lots of problems, many of which have had to do with all the electrical gizmos now being delivered with the car.



I hope the new S class returns to the over engineered S class of yore. I believe Dano may be right, he has one of the old tanks, although I really like the body style right after his. 200,000, 300,000 miles on those old tanks, no big deal. Plus, the quality of materials is not at all what it used to be. Look at the car mags, they agree that Benz's, of late, are engineered to a price, not a standard.



I passed on a 2003 S class, just too many issues. With that said, I may just go out and buy and early 90s S class, or maybe even go back to the old 6.9 450 SEL. Saw one at an auction that had a few thousand miles on it. Looked, felt and smelled brand new. What a car!
 
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