Ill stop by the Lexus dealer Friday or Saturday. I owe Tom a visit anyway. -----Original Message----- From: "ernest breakfield" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> Sent: 2/22/07 10:53 AM Subject: Re: [MBZ] MB "quality" vs the rest
hi Tom! i'd love to see what the rest of those reported defects were; if you're ever able to share that info and think of it, please do. FWIW, i actually suggested that you might be more "accepting", certainly not "excepting". ;-) i don't find it the least bit unusual or unreasonable to expect that a technology as (relatively) mundane as brakes should be enacted properly after decades of basically similar design. and, FWIW, i'm not picking on 'Merikun cars either; i willingly took a loss to get out of our Volvo a few years back after owning it for less than 2 years because of the intolerable number of issues it had. interesting that we would have such different perspectives and expectations; obviously it must not be because of our jobs, as i've been in a similar profession for most of the last couple of decades. cheers! e Tom Hargrave wrote: > 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 > > > > _______________________________________ 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
