Is it because the old ones were "overbuilt?"
2006-06-29 23:11:11 · 15 answers · asked by MrSkagen 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Car Makes ➔ Mercedes-Benz
Why are new Fords or Chevys less reliable than the older ones? Money!!! Development costs are going through the ceiling. $1.5 billion to bring a car to market and that is on the conservative side. Once it gets to market people want a car that all they have to do is drive and put gas in. Service intervals on cars have been going longer and longer some don't even have an interval just a light on the dash that says "Service engine" or worse yet it talks to you out of the clear blue sky.
People have gotten lazy and do not service their cars at predetermined intervals. Say at 3000 miles, the older cars required an oil and filter change. Today the intervals are as high as 10000 miles. All the little things that normally would have been caught by the mechanic at 3000 miles are not and when they are not caught they then fail causing problems. Also, when a person goes to some place to have the oil and filter changed, because that is all the service manual says to do, then that is all that gets done. Mercedes Benz used to have a service guide that listed an "A", "B", "C", "D" and "E" service inspections. It was the most comprehensive service guide you could find in the market. The mileage intervals were 3000 miles. The pattern of the inspection/services went some thing like this:
AAABAAACAAADAAAE and then would start over again. It was a very simple program and if a person maintained their car according to the program they simply lasted longer. My 1967 MB200Diesel finially quit at 862000 miles. I had rebuilt the engine twice in that time and was about to do it again when the crankshaft became brittle and splintered. Of course the engine was toast after that and I couldn't find a good block to replace it.
Today a lot of people want newest biggest best and really don't care for their cars while they have them.
It really boils down to how well a person is willing to take care of a car as to how long it will last.
2006-06-30 20:23:58 · answer #1 · answered by .*. 6 · 3⤊ 2⤋
The problems Mercedes have now are not reliability. As the push the envelope of technology the have had some problems. Its the bells and whistles that have given them fits. The cars run great and have few real problems. Most are electrical glitches.
I had a 1976 450SEL and it was a great car but the engines MB uses now will do longer and have more power all while giving better gas mileage.
So while it may be a pain when a light goes off on the dash the car still runs so I would say its more annoying yet very dependable.
2006-06-30 17:27:02 · answer #2 · answered by uthockey32 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Are Old Mercedes Reliable
2017-01-11 19:14:02 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Before Benz and Chrysler got together is why. Benz used to design their cars the best they could make them / I remember when everyone complained about how many years the E type was in production because of different things.
Today Chrysler has taught Benz how to make trash with a better name than them so they can sell more next year - IE: Designed to Fail - american design at its best (why make a car last 300K - you can't sell as many)..
I worked on those cars a long time and would give my left pinky for a 450SLC (always liked the coup) but you could not give me a new benz if I had to drive it / if I could sell it to someone then maybe.
2006-06-29 23:24:52 · answer #4 · answered by theleb63 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have a 92 300CE Coupe, and it is much more well built than the newer ones.
At one time, MBZ philosophy was just throw mega-bucks into R&D, make the best in the world, and they will come. Then the Japanese got into the game(and competition in this rare instance weakened the product) because they had to compete, and simply cannot afford to produce a benchmark.
Look at the prissy-*** cars they make now...for wannabee stars who can't afford there rent, leasing a car to impress people they don't even know. We have really lost our way as Americans.
2006-06-30 09:31:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The old ones were massivly over engineered. But in recent years there has been cost cutting and quality has fallen. I worked for a dealer for 2 years and every new model had more shortcomings in build quality then the last...
Oh and Electronics on the new ones were a nightmare from a maintainance point of view
2006-06-29 23:28:11 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with u!!! The newer versions are Flimsy & have lost that solid built which was associated with Mercedes for many years!!! Sadly cost cutting has made its way into the build quality as well as into the Strength & Safety which was naturally associated with Merc!!!!!
2006-06-29 23:15:59 · answer #7 · answered by ROHIT K 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, but old ones consumes more gas than the new ones. Old ones require more maintenance than the new ones as the new ones built on the concept of light-weight, more electric circuits and controls and lower fuel consumption.
2006-06-29 23:17:35 · answer #8 · answered by omair 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its that deisel baby!!!! hahahahah!
naw germans make really good cars, have seen one? those suckas are made out of STEEL, cars bounce off of it! thats a good car, most older cars are better anyway. you can be your own mechnic. now a days you have to take the car in for service and it cost you an arm and a leg.
2006-06-29 23:17:04 · answer #9 · answered by st8champn30 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, that is one reason. Another is because no one has yet to put together a better combination of parts.
2006-06-29 23:16:03 · answer #10 · answered by applewormy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋