Ernest, I actually picked the data out of an article in an auto trade magazine while waiting to visit a friend who is a salesman at the local Lexus dealer. The magazine reprint was at the Lexus dealer because they were rated #1 last year. The article ranked the top 20 by model & then broke out the top 20 reported defects by type. My point is that the defects were not as serious as defects reported in decades past.
As far as "more excepting", I'd hardly say so. I've been around long enough to remember when the Dodge trucks I purchased in the mid 80's both had at least 3 defects and the Oldsmobile's we purchased in the early 80's went back to the dealer multiple times. One returned 4 times to fix a sun roof leak issue. The Olds we bought in the late 70's also had issues that the dealer had to fix under warranty. And by the way, I'm not picking on American cars. Several friends who drove Toyotas, Mercedes & BMWs were also making what seemed to be regular trips to the dealership. One friend's new BMW was so unreliable that he was afraid to take it out of town. He finally gave up after a year and traded it in on a Volvo, a turbo 740GL from memory. Also, you need to understand that my background is Quality Engineering & Quality Management and I did not make the " I bring this up because as quality improves, so do our expectations." statement at a whim. It is true that we scale our expectations, including our Quality expectations to our environment. Thanks, Tom Hargrave www.kegkits.com 256-656-1924 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of ernest breakfield Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2007 12:37 AM To: Mercedes Discussion List Subject: Re: [MBZ] MB "quality" vs the rest hi Tom! actually, if you pay attention to the details, you should be able to see it's 'ernest', as shown in my e-mail addy (not eArnest). secondly, it's not *my* list of complaints; i can't take credit for the work of J. D. Powers. i missed where that listing of complaints you refer to came from; can you share it? i'd like to see it, though i admittedly don't find it unreasonable that in this day and age all manufacturers should be able to supply brakes that don't squeal; especially seeing as how some obviously do. as i suggested earlier, odds are appearing higher that you may simply be more accepting (read: have lower standards). ;-) cheers! e Tom Hargrave wrote: > Earnest's data shows that American car manufactures had a little more > than 1 defect per vehicle on 06, which is a true fact. > > What his data does not show is the number one reported defect in 06 for > all vehicles was brake squeal. > > Break squeal? A manufacturing defect? > > I bring this up because as quality improves, so do our expectations. I > bet break squeal got no-where near the top of the list in the 90's I > also bet that it was a problem in the 90's. > > Tom Hargrave > www.kegkits.com > > > ----Original Message---- > From: Allan Streib <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: 02/21/07 12:07 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Cc: Mercedes Discussion List <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Subject: Re: [MBZ] MB "quality" vs the rest > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > Part of the problem is one of those "laws" like "a gas will expand to > the volume of its container." Well the complexity of cars increases > to the limit of our ability to manufacture them. > > There's no doubt in my mind that any American manufacturer could build > a basic car that would get you from point a to point b, price it > inexpensively, and have it be totally reliable, by sticking with > simple proven technologies. But, government regulations and > requirements are constantly changing, and the market does not want a > simple utilitarian car. Thus every model year includes new, "first > year in production" technologies, and the attendant quality issues. > > Allan > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
