I work for Mercedes and one of the worst things they could’ve done was getting rid of the entry level A220 to focus on upscaling their lineup… When prices went up, it drove a lot of people away from the brand. It’s very awkward calling people who have leases coming due on their GLC’s that were paying $550-600/MO to tell them that a similarly equipped 2023-2024 is over $800/MO…
Why the huge price jump on the GLE too? I love my 2016 and have been debating getting a GLE450 (as you probably know the 350 no longer has V6) but the prices have gotten crazy. I’m leaning towards an MDX type S
@@BruceCultureAllengle450 is no longer the lowest trim To be fair new gle looks a lot more upscale than previous one & you are comparing 3.5 liter v6 N.A. with v6 turbo Get x5 much cheaper than gle450 lowest trim has the b58 engine Gle350 is slow yes
The reason I own Lexus cars and not any German cars is reliability and maintenance costs. They are all ridiculous. I have no issues whatsoever with my Lexus and never had. Oil changes and tires , that’s it. Bulletproof. Great video. Thank you.
But yet you have a profile pic of a jet. That takes a lot of maintenance. I traded a Lexus in on a BMW because the Lexus was boring with a weak engine and lazy transmission along with old tech. "Reliability" is always the crutch argument for those who are perfectly fine with mid levels of anything from a car.
@@alexv2045 I wouldn't say it drives like trash. The ES350 we had was very smooth and a comfortable ride. But the engine felt like it was struggling just to get to highway speeds and user interface with the infotainment system was very outdated.
Owning a Lexus is no longer a flex. They are behind the entire industry when it comes to technology. Also, BMW reliability has improved drastically while still making the most engaging vehicles to drive.
Mercedes is suffering the same misery that all car makers that pursued a heavy EV strategy. The EQ cars are nice, but incredibly overpriced and impractical for most buyers. I bought a 2024 GLE and am thrilled with both the car and the value for money that car delivers.
If you can’t afford to pay for a car in cash, you shouldn’t buy it. Most people are truly keeping themselves poor. The best car is the one that’s paid for.
Truth!!! I've paid cash for all of mine. Who wants to pay a lard ass at a bank or loan company to get fatter. But, I gotta admit that back in the day I used to finance all my cars and trucks. Thank God I found a new way.
Then buy a second Hand Mercedes, many are hardly run in but have dropped many Thousands of Anything in 4 or 5 years, any Gremlins have been killed etc, I got a 4 year S-Class, S350L for €22,000, it started off at €80,000 4 years before, chauffeur driven with only 60,000 KMs( 40K miles) .
Traded in my Mercedes C300 for an Acura RDX, and maintenance costs are only a quarter of that Mercedes. In addition, there are more things I can fix myself on the Acura.
@TheRealCatof but even the towing experience and Service center experience is different. Mercedes Dealership have service rep who is always ready to serve you and update you when needed, towing service is quick and easy. Try buy a Dodge or Ford. You have to wait in line with 5 people in front of you, there is no free rental car while your car is in the shop. Waiting area has leather couch and big TV, you car gets cleaned inside and out side after service, etc... The only difference is oil change is $250 instead of $50 compare to a Dodge dealer.
@@konstantinkennedy2244 huh .. we are comparing Benz to BMW. I was a Benz customer for years. BMW includes service for 3 years with every lease at no extra cost
This is why I only pay cash for my cars, and pretty much everything. Car payments should not be the norm. Save up and pay in full or buy something else cheaper within budget.
Plenty of examples of why buying the entire thing in cash is bad to do, and doesn't make sense. Putting a large down payment on a vehicle like 20, 30, or 35 grand makes way way way more sense than buying it fully in cash.
@@HoodrichShinobiProvide examples. Otherwise, that's the stupidity that keeps people poor or middle-class. Do you like making payments on everything and having your income eaten away because you think being in debt is a good thing?
@@JamilLynch you have a low IQ if you couldn't deduce basic examples such as: building your credit, and making small payments to invest the bulk of your money elsewhere real estate, crypto, gold, etc.
if a car is 50k and you put 30k down you can invest 20k into something that will turn it into 40 or 60k over the course of 3 or 4 years. You're not paying 60k in interest on a 20k loan. This is all super basic stuff. Kindergarten levels of understanding finances and investing.
@@HoodrichShinobi i am debt and mortgage free all because I pay cash for everything. It’s common sense with no mental and financial gymnastics. If you can’t afford to pay for something twice in cash, sorry you can’t afford it. Stay within budget and buy something cheaper. You can’t invest to your full potential if you have a ball and chain hooked to your legs (debt analogy). I invest $500k in between car purchases which I pay in cash. It’s all possible because I make no payments to any debt. Sprinting is faster than a gimped run with something weighing you down.
I work for a very reputable, nationwide used cars dealership, that also sells brand new Mercedes-Benz's. The salesmen for the new cars keep complaining about how absolutely nobody wants to buy Mercedes-Benz's and even Opel and Kia are selling more. Meanwhile on the side of the used cars, we feel bad for every customer that buys a used Benz, because we know Mercedes will not honor their warranty if something goes wrong with the hybrid system and because the maintenance costs are ridiculous. Not to mention, knowing that the customer will immediately lose 20% of the car's value as soon as they leave the dealership, is just heartbreaking. Yeah, our job is to sell to make a profit. But we do care about customer experiences. And knowing that by the customer wanting a Benz they are screwing themselves over, it is sad.
Read onto C40 and the WEF goals and you will find that that is the point. The people at Davos are psychotic and they’re using ‘climate change’ to conceal their motives. Watermelons- Green on the outside, Red on the inside
Yes, Lexus and toyota the best. they don’t need maintenance. great cars. We always buy them and use them around 5-6 years. did oil change once in its life. excellent cars.
@@alwong604 naw that’s a lie. Boring and lame. Keep that jap scrap. So bad that Lexus has trying to be benz for 30 years now LOL and failed at it.. enjoy that Toyota 🤡.
I have a lexus and all my family members have toyota and lexus. My GX460 is an absolute tank. It rides smooth and I have had zero issues in 4 years of ownership.
They have the TX which is a 3 row SUV. The LX is bigger on the outside, but since it is built like a truck, it is smaller on the inside than the TX. The TX can be had with up to a V6 @@JoeGiz64
I am an old geezer now and have owned many cars but the best and I mean BEST was a 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis with all the options. I bought it because I said to my wife "let's get a really nice car this time, we deserve it." Great V8 engine, transmission and on the highway got 25 miles to the gallon cruising at 75 as the engine never ever strained., Smooth as silk.I could be in that car for eight hours and the seats were like a Lay_Z-Boy. Ate up the bumps in the road like a Rolls I am guessing as I never rode in a Rolls. Built like a truck. I was sitting at a red light and a man had a heart attack and ran into it with his Chevy truck. It didn't even move. The body shop put on a new front fender and bumper and off I went. When it was time to let it go I sold it to a farmer for 750 dollars who used it to chase his cattle in his pasture. BEST CAR EVER MADE! Take your Mercedes and well do whatever, I don't want one.
I owned an S Class. Traded it in on a Lexus. We are all Lexus and Toyota household, and never going back. I suggest, Mercedes focus more on reliability.
@@8MunchenBayern8how does tht even matter if it breaks down so you can't drive it. Get over the luxury. A car is meant to move first. Everything else comes after
@TheRealCatof The W222 S-class has a nicer interior than any Lexus. I agree the new generation is not that great. LOL Genesis, yeah, you can keep your glorified Hyundai.
@lCatof I daily drive a 2011 MB. It's literally started every single time, except once. That was because of a dead battery. People that never owned MBs and they just regurgitate what they hear on the internet or they didn't do their research and they bough models/generations known to be bad, deserve that. But you can keep up the cope, you can't afford a S-Class :) Have fun with you Haaayoondai.
Car manufacturers,especially the luxury segment,are failing to understand the law of diminishing returns : cars are primarily there for transport and the further you go away from this and keep on adding items not essential to this purpose, the more customers you will lose. There is already too much electronics in motor vehicles...I would much rather have a vehicle with 50% less electronics for a 30% plus discount.
No legacy top selling or even new brand wants to be slated for selling an unsafe car. Unfortunately (it's actually fortunately if you think about it) the car has evolved to be something beyond just an a-b box. Endless research and development on safety technologies, environmental friendlies, inflation and new comfort levels have taken a toll...
Not to mention most of that garbage in there is continually mandated by governments. It's the same with the emissions garbage. It's why every year, the cool engines creeped up high and higher in how much you had to spend to get them.. because governments based emissions off of total yearly fleet percentages. And those percentages were raised by governments each year. Which is why now only the $200K+ MBs have the V8
@@GerberFlerber Car manufacturers haven't exactly been good boys themselves, neither have a certain percentage of the population who use cars for more than a-b transport under influence or making public roads race courses. It's a hard balancing act but one thing is for sure, very soon few people will be affording cars and that's not good for anyone. System needs a reset!
@@GerberFlerber I know they are getting better, but you still have to have very high salary to afford to take care of a sports car. Lexus is simply easier to live with they dont push their engine to the limit so they last longer. I am a car guy(Audi A4) but understand a regular person who simply doesent want a headache.
Do not buy new MB unless you're buying the absolute top model and have NO issue paying for anything. If a costly repair will ruin you, do not BUY a MB.
You can talk numbers all you want because it has nothing to do with Benz issues. MB is in bad shape and has been for well over a decade and the reasons are this 1. First and foremost, reliability and the huge lack thereof. 2. Insanely high cost of parts and repairs and the incredible high frequency of repairs.
I’ll take a Lexus any day over a Mercedes. Everyone I know has an issue with its quality and craftsmanship. They are making them too cheap and bad quality
I would never buy a Mercedes on the American continent, made in Mexico? No thanks. My Subaru WRX is made in Japan, my Honda Accord was mostly made in the USA and my old Toyota Camry was made in Japan. I don't think Lexus has factories in Mexico...I think they are still made in the US and Japan so yeah way higher quality than Mercedes sold in the US.
the big issue is the options packaging which now will kick the base price stratospherically. i've owned benz' for a quarter century and still own two. but i won't buy another. if i try to put even some little extras on i need to buy at least two option packages at thousands per package. i can afford it but i won't do it.
@spycdc too small of an engine to put in that car or suv even with a little turbo. The base models should all start with 6 cylinders like they used to. Mercedes is being cheap and making a killing by putting 4 cylinders engines in these 75k cars and suvs
@@pimpc713 that i will agree with even tho we get an extra 20hp from the electric boost as well tho... everything else said in this video is bmw bias tho im sure u can agree.... service fees and maintenance is just about the same
Oof you got bent over by the dealer for being uneducated and a walk-in-the-door customer. I have two EQS at 6xx and 7xx a mont both MSRP's over 118k. Learn the programs, incentives, rebates, trunk cash, apr, money factor and put together a deal with a dealer. Otherwise move on to the next car if you don't want it that badly.
@@TheGamerShowsYou I think you're the one getting bent over for not only leasing a car, but leasing an EQE for $700 a month. What a great way to flush 25k + insurance and down payment down the toilet. Had you invested that much into Bitcoin you'd have over 400k.
@@Chthonian121 Both EQS are a 12-month lease which includes business write-offs to cover business expenses as these cars are being utilized. The vehicle's final sale price was less than 94k enabling me to receive over 21k in incentives, and trunk cash/rebates on top of scoring 17% pre-incentive off MSRP. You need to sit down and learn what cars are meant to be leased and what cars are meant to be financed. Once they are up the GLS is up next and will quality for section 179. Please don't speak to me about Bitcoin, as I continue to lease vehicles for free because of dividend payouts and am able to properly write off business expenses for travel and insurance. You on the other hand will finance the car and get hit with the depreciation of over 40grand on that EQE AMG. Go check MMR values (if you even know how) before walking into a dealership and being bent over on an EQE.
I’ve had a C300 2009, 2012, 2015 and currently have a 2018 C300. Always the sport 4matic. I can say I’ve never had an issue with any of them. Maybe I got lucky. My 2018 only has 30K miles and is now 6 years old. I bought mine when my lease was up. Just made sense with only 20K on the odometer. This was during Covid years when used cars were in high demand. I made a deal with my sales guy. My car was worth $4K more than the lease to buy contract said. So the dealer bought it from me before lease end. Gave me a $4K check. I then bought it back from the dealer and used the $4K to reduce the cost of the car. How this benefited the dealer I have no idea. I did buy the MB extended warranty up to 80K miles. So if I do have issues in the future I’m covered. I do agree the new models look cheap and uninspired.
Great info, thank you! I reside in California and I went to 4 different Mercedes dealers and emailed another 3. I have to say, their customer service is non-existent. None of them wanted to go below MSRP. They also had an awful lease program and money factor. I finally went to BMW. After 2 hours of negotiations, I was able to get a truly fully loaded 2024 BMW 760i xDrive ($138K). They took 15% off of MSRP plus $8000 rebates. Amazing customer service, great deal, and they offered me their buy rate, which I was extremely happy about it. Mercedes has a long way to go. From the top down, Mercedes need to learn about human relations and customer service. While at the BMW dealer, the GSM showed me the recent 2024 Consumer Report. BMW ranked first and Mercedes was 26.
After only owning German cars with all there issues in maintenance and repairs with poor resale value, I decided to go Lexus and trust me it was the best decision I ever made.
@@martinsvensson6884 everything is expensive in europe. Basically every dealership/ workshop rip you off. It's still a bit less expensive with a toyota/lexus. If you buy a VW Golf or smth, then you can argue they are low maintenance.
Mercedes became undesirable when they declared that they had been over-engineering their cars and dropped their standards. Their cars went from being bullet-proof to being problem cars, always in the garage to have something fixed. They aren't worth the money, they are like a nightmare girlfriend.
So true. Australia just moved to a fixed price. Where you look at the car in the showroom at the agent (old dealer) then get the car from HQ. No negotiation. The reduction in sales was exciting! Smart way to hand your customers over to Lexus and BMW
I'm an American who has been living here in the Stuttgart region of Germany for the past four years. I can tell you that Mercedes already has problems with build quality, and is the reason why I would rather make car rentals with Audis and Volkswagens at the Stuttgart Airport. Lease or purchase prices are really high too, but if their build quality were any better, I may actually go for the hometown team. The last time I rented a Mercedes was a brand-new 2023 E350. But right off the bat, the rear seat seat belt sensors were not good in that all three belts had to be buckled-in otherwise the no-seatbelt sensors would go off. The drive south with that car into Switzerland was otherwise good, but for a car with less than 7000km on the clock, it was quite surprising to me this fault was already present.
I remember watching a video on another car channel last year and they were interviewing a high up Mercedes employee during a new model unveiling and the guy literally said our goal is to make money when asked about why their options cost so much. Obviously any business is trying to make money but when the goal and the message is blatantly we just want to make our stuff more expensive and not actually making the best product then something is wrong.
It's ridiculous how Audi, Bmw, Mercs, expanded their production models to meet a wanderlust level that drastically reduced their making qualities. That squeaky and crackling Mercs interiors, those overengineered Bmw engines, Audi's unrecognizable performances. No wonder customers keep going back to Japanese and Korean cars.
Thank you, Ari. I have leased Mercedes SUVs for the past 15 years and am now seriously considering an X3 for my next car after hearing your comments. My local dealership marks up money factors and lease inception fees, though my breaking point this year was $1,300 for a B service. I tried to shop that but couldn't get other dealers to return my calls so I went to a certified independent shop. My dealer cut out the snacks and drinks in the waiting area and eliminated free car washes, all niceties that I enjoyed. My neighbor always drove an S class but last year he bought the big Genesis and loves it and bought the GV80 for his wife. Mercedes has some rethinking to do.
Mercedes has horrendous customer service. I leased an E Klass In 2017 and had it meticulously serviced at my local MB dealership. Oil changes every 5,000 miles and only MB parts were used. The engine threw a rod and MB corporate tried to blame me for the engine failing with under 22,000 miles on the odometer so I filed a lawsuit against MB for designing the engine with inferior piston rods and bad rod connectors. Due to a non disclosure agreement the matter was settled out of court and I was fully refunded all of my lease payments, oil changes and paid a settlement for the inconvenience. My 2019 Volvo S60 has been a far more reliable car.
I’m a huge Mercedes fan and I always will be, but I have to admit their pricing has gotten out of control in the last 5 years. They really need be more competitive by offering a C300 for a flat $600 a month for 36 months and an E350 for a flat $850 a month.
everyone keeps talking about Mercedes like it is Ford or Toyota or something , it is not , it never was , Mercedes is and it always was , a luxury brand , which not everyone can afford … comparing to other brands, Mercedes actually , didn’t raise their prices that much , you can get cheapest model for around 50K - 60K , and you can get S class , top of the line , Mercedes flagship model , for $120K … check out prices on new Dodge , Ford, RAM, Jeep etc … not even to mention pick up trucks , which are starting at around 60K for the lowest trim , stripped down , work truck , to easily 100K - 120K for highest trim … Mercedes is not struggling because they are expensive, they were never cheap to begin with, they are struggling because economy sucks , and people have no money …
Agree on the Lexus and Toyota standpoint. However I would say they need to go back to basics : W124, 212, 221, 222, 203, 204 and so on… Is electrification truly the answer? Was it superb engineering and a fantastic engine lineup including the AMG’s that made it all work?
Lease based on the final price of the car and how much down. When I went to turn my 2023 in, the s500 4Matic was a v6 (2024 model) and as equipped was 123k. S580 V8 was over $130k. The lease rates with the increase in interest rates with 10k down was over $ 2k/month . My loaded 2020 was $ 116k (s560 4 matic) and I was paying 1350/ month for the 3 yrs. Not sure what dealership you’re at but that’s the pricing I was quoted. Of course the price could be less with more down. Wasn’t getting into a v6. Too much tech for me. Done with MB.
The S500 you looked at has an *inline* 6 with a mild hybrid, not a V6. They no longer produce a V6, favoring the smoother and more efficient I-6 design, which they never should have dropped in the first place.
@@chippoz Definitely! Any S Class should have the V8! But as far as sixes are concerned, the I-6 is at least buttery smooth and still develops a healthy 429 HP and 384 lb/ft, so not too bad. It is kind of sad, however, that MB no longer seems to be the reliable German tank it used to be.
Exactly my sentiments! The v8 S class growls like the beast that it is! When I had the 6 cylinder loaner…it moved for sure but sounded like a Toyota Corolla!
Fk Mercedes, every dealer I went to to buy one had mark ups, went and bought. A BMW instead. Went back a year later and same thing a 50k mark up on a G Wagon and a mark up on a AMG. Went and bought a Lexus.. I would never buy a Mercedes because of their screw the customer mark ups.. these dealers are so unethical.
This is so true. I was deciding leasing between a GLE 450 and BMW X5. Similar msrp, Mercedes wanted $9k down BMW wanted $2k down BMW still ended up being $300 cheaper per month…. I love Mercedes design but the prices are just fucking crazy imo.
I'm not leasing but I was looking for a small used car in 2022. The Merc CLA looked quite attractive to me and they have reasonable prices. But then I got on TH-cam and there was many people saying DO NOT BUY THIS CAR! What they said is that they cut too many corners to make a cheap Merc. And then comes the high parts price. Mercedes is a premium brand and they butchered it to make a quick profit. That's happening to a lot of car companies these days.
My mom went and saw an EQB the other day. Was quoted $67K, it has no heated seats, no heated steering wheel, and likely gets under 200 miles range on average. She ran fast, and she’s a diehard Mercedes buyer. That’s no good if they’re pushing those types of customers away.
Was a lease customer for S class through my business for the last 9 years…36 month 12k/yr miles. Had a 2014, 2017, and a 2020. Each time I rolled into the new one, was a minimal increase in the monthly payment. Made sense for me to lease in 2023 (Last year when I turned it in). Hated the new model AND the lease rate was astronomical! Went from 1250/mo to over 2000! And the new car was a v6 not even the v8 I had before! Before leasing I owned my S classes (2011, 2007, and before that a 2001 BMW 740il). Those cars I ran into the ground and were reliable. The newer ones are so tech crazy you can’t own it after 3 years. MB LOST ME AS A LIFE LING CUSTOMER. We wound up replacing our 2015 Yukon with a 2023 and I still daily drive my 1995 Mercedes wagon had from new.
2014 S550 owner here since buying it 2 years old Benz CPO for $62k 3,200 miles. Has 100k on it now, other than some minor issues this has been my daily driver and runs and runs. I like the new S580….getting that next.
I have a 2021 Mercedes work van, a 2013 glk250 and just sold out 2015 G550. After Covid seemed like everything changed. Trying to talk to anyone at the dealership weather it is in sales, or parts or service was non-existent. I just took my van to them to find out what is wrong with it as it kept going in limp mode. They could not find the problem and told me it’s the low pressure fuel pump. I told them that it had been changed already. They continued to try and milk me for more money and I said nope! I picked up my van and purchased a high pressure fuel pump. I got home and took all the parts off to get to the hpfp and found one of the screws loose as in way loose. Earlier I had the van in for a recall in that area and am 100% sure they did tht on purpose. The van works great now. It’s so sad as Mercedes makes great work vans. Also the Glk250 is a great suv. Sadly I will no longer purchase Mercedes again. I will replace the Mercedes van with a Nissan van and our suv with Chevy Tahoe diesel motor, or a gmc diesel suv with more room. Mercedes lost me as a customer and there are many with the same story.
Last December, I lost my lease on my 2024 AMG GT53 after a month of driving one because I got told the credit union that hey use would not allow me to ride share. I had to do the walk of shame and hand the keys back in. I told the dealership a week before we even customized the vehicle, what I would be doing with it. They assured me it was all good. Not sure if anyone else has had this issue
It’s funny because here in my country it’s the exact opposite. Exactly because Mercedes sales are heavily based on the lower end Mercedes A,B and CLA class cars, Mercedes vehicles are preferred over more expensive B,W options such as the X1, X2 and 2 series
I so agree. I wanted lease a GLS 580 they couldn’t sell . I offered them 1800 a month for 36 months they wanted 2300 and didn’t even negotiate. So I left
family members as well as me owned many models through out the years but ever since 2018 models introduced quality been going down hill and prices been going up for no reason at all. Less features and bad build quality plus smaller engines. Honestly the only excellent model are the G Wagons. If you can afford it get the G wagon without hesitation don't waste time on S class unless its a 2019 and under model. Currently i own a S 63 coupe and a 2019 G550 and i have no problems at all and many people came up to me wanting to buy them.
I went into Mercedes yesterday to enquire about the S580e. They advice me i would have to wait a very long time. They don’t even allow you to spec that car online. Mercedes are selling Many more of their higher end cars hence the jump in profit.
I remember over a decade ago Mercedes made a new budget entry it was about 35k got my pops into one he was super happy. Those days are gone now now your paying that for fully loaded Civic's lol The Korean brands are what the Japanese were twenty years ago and the German's are German.
Mercedes is starting to go back to their late 90s early 2000s phase where they put cost cutting measures into place instead of good solid vehicles and they paid the price for it reputation wise at the time. They had to knock it out of the park with vehicles like the W204 C Class and W212 E Class to get back to the top. Now, their focus is pure tech and power with no consideration to reliability or longevity. I've now owned 2 MBs and are generally happy with them but once the time comes to sell my current one I will be going the Acura or Lexus route.
I lease all my cars for write off purposes. I love leasing Toyotas for their reliability AND 2 years of maintenance for free. Sure a MBZ is nice and all, but nice and all ain't worth the $ Glad I chose the new Sequoia of the GLS
You hit the nail on the head.🧐👍🏾 Just from a tax write off standpoint alone Leasing is the way to go. I always go Acura or Audi because of their insane lease deals. I've never owned a Mercedes-Benz. One Benz dealership laughed in my face when I told them what usually pay to lease. Now with Tesla pricing dropping through the floor im going electric when my lease is up.
Merc has to learn, through failing, that making a bed with too many models, and then shitting that same bed with all sort of wokeness, SocialJustice Issues and shoddy build quality paired with horrible reliablility is a bad recipe !
i live in india and recently picked up a gla amg 35 , i thought my lease was less than what was said here as the msrp of the vehicle was 70 L ( 85k dollars ) but i found out i was paying 900 dollars as lease , in which i could pickup a glc in the us , the lease for glc here in india is a astonishing 1100/mo
Had 3 mercedes Gls for 8 years with the same payment for all 3, with other Mercedes before that, over 10 years with one brand, and they decided to throw it all away one day in 2018 when i went to re lease and the payment was doubled and then some. I easily walked away and went to volvo for the same payment and honestly got an all around nicer car thats been more reliable. Thank you Mercedes for giving me the opportunity to experience something better, 3 Volvo’s and 6 years later i don’t have any regrets.
I used to be a Mercedes and fan boy… literally… but I think around 2015 or so, their cars turned to super cheap trash and touch screen galore and the seats got small and it just was no longer the premium experience. I went to Lexus and haven’t looked back. I’ve had two Lexus LS460’s and two Lexus GX’s they have been wonderful cars. Mercedes needs to get back to its roots, I don’t care as much about reliability (hear me out) as long as there is a reason it isn’t as reliable as its counter parts. Example a 1992 Mercedes with mechanical fuel injection… or a 1992 Lexus LS400 with electronic fuel injection. Of course the electronic fuel injection is going to be more reliable BUT the reason for the lack of reliability is the technical complexity of mechanical fuel injection. I’m not making an excuse for a lack of reliability BUT it was a marvel, sort of like mechanical watches, sure there are $10 Casio watches that are more accurate with more functions BUT I’m wailing to pay the premium for a mechanical watch for the craftsmanship and technical complexity of it. A new Mercedes is a bunch of cheap mass produced screens, small seats and a huge price tag. Older Mercedes had the highest quality of everything, it wasn’t mass produced monkey grub. When you plop some cheap screens on a dash and slap a more expensive price tag on it than the old generation car, consumers wonder what they are paying for. You went the part of cheap screens and plastic to cut costs PASS THAT ON TO YOUR CUSTOMER or… charge that high price but give us justifiably high quality bespoke components.
I went to trade in my MB lease when it was up they wanted 5k on top day I took delivery.. I have been leasing MB since 03 same dealership. I laughed bought a 04 Camry for 3500..Dropped my 18 E300 off n drove away.. They thought I was joking.Thats my daily n I bought a 911 for fun
Cadillac has the same problem. I leased an XT6 for around $680/m 3 years ago. A Lyriq for around the same MSRP is leasing for over $1000/m now. Needless to say, I left it on the lot...
We need to speak with our wallets. Dont buy/lease cars that fall apart after 3 years. Planned obsolescence should NEVER be rewarded. Thats why we are where we are today
Turning the SL into a soft top was the dumbest move ever. Love the SL hard top. Incredible car that's more than fast enough, and nice to cruise in as well.
Its their financial managers lol. I went and bought a c300 and when sign my docs, the financial manager was hella mad because he could see me any packages on top of the ridiculous price for the car
I used to buy new Benzes every year or two. Not any more for the past 5 years when all their classes look the same, too much electronics (which go bad), and abysmal hybrid/battery replacement costs that make all new MBs unattractive to buy.
I think the problem with all of them is that they are making cars that they want, not what the customers want. Here is one example, the german cars look chinese...and there is a trend for ugly wheels.
All my benz'es are super reliable, never have problems but my buddy's brand new 3 series only got towed and he got it back with a check engine light and till this day it's still on lol I mean you literally get what you pay for. You'll see a lot more older benz'es on the road than older bmw's because bmw stands by that planned obsolescence. Lexus is a great, reliable brand as well.
German cars now have a high maint costs (expected) but the frequency of repairs is the dam problem. My wife drove her loaner more than the car (BMW X3) for the first year.
Sister works there, who never takes time off except for the occasional emergency and when she happened to take an unpaid Friday off due to her husband getting a cancer diagnosis, her manager went and reported it to headquarters HR and demanding a pay cut (on top of a fairly poor salary to begin with). Sick, disturbed people work throughout Mercedes, and if reliability/maintenance costs weren't enough to scare you off, I'd say the lack of humanity should
Selling cars worth 30,000 dollars for 75,000 dollars is the problem for all car companies. Mercedes has been getting by on it's brand name and cache since the 60's. Back then they were making great cars though. Now they've been using the cookie cutter method and are not the best sellers in their own country. Buying one is a suckers bet at best. This isn't just a problem with or for Benzes either. EVERY car company is a problem today. They're all making shitty cars and trucks and artificially inflating costs and maintenance and anything else they can to pry every dollar from you that they can. Finally the day has come where they have to pay to play. People should wait now. New buyers should hold out a couple years longer before making a new purchase or lease and watch them "correct" even more until you can afford what you want. Trust this will happen. Just be patient.
I purchased a C280 that was off lease and the purchase price was 1/3 of new price, so besides everything else going on with higher prices every year and increasing interest rates these "premium" brands have horrendous depreciation.
I work for Mercedes and one of the worst things they could’ve done was getting rid of the entry level A220 to focus on upscaling their lineup… When prices went up, it drove a lot of people away from the brand. It’s very awkward calling people who have leases coming due on their GLC’s that were paying $550-600/MO to tell them that a similarly equipped 2023-2024 is over $800/MO…
Even I somewhat agree with you A220 never sold well, and with its smaller mark up they chopped it off. It's still offered in Canada and Mexico.
Why the huge price jump on the GLE too? I love my 2016 and have been debating getting a GLE450 (as you probably know the 350 no longer has V6) but the prices have gotten crazy. I’m leaning towards an MDX type S
@@BruceCultureAllen not sure I understand your question well. What are you comparing and with what?
@@konstantinkennedy2244 The new GLE price recently went up. I believe you could get a new one for as low as 60 now they start around 70
@@BruceCultureAllengle450 is no longer the lowest trim
To be fair new gle looks a lot more upscale than previous one & you are comparing 3.5 liter v6 N.A. with v6 turbo
Get x5 much cheaper than gle450 lowest trim has the b58 engine
Gle350 is slow yes
The reason I own Lexus cars and not any German cars is reliability and maintenance costs. They are all ridiculous. I have no issues whatsoever with my Lexus and never had. Oil changes and tires , that’s it. Bulletproof. Great video. Thank you.
Always lease Mercedes
But yet you have a profile pic of a jet. That takes a lot of maintenance. I traded a Lexus in on a BMW because the Lexus was boring with a weak engine and lazy transmission along with old tech. "Reliability" is always the crutch argument for those who are perfectly fine with mid levels of anything from a car.
@@alexv2045 I wouldn't say it drives like trash. The ES350 we had was very smooth and a comfortable ride. But the engine felt like it was struggling just to get to highway speeds and user interface with the infotainment system was very outdated.
Owning a Lexus is no longer a flex. They are behind the entire industry when it comes to technology. Also, BMW reliability has improved drastically while still making the most engaging vehicles to drive.
@@jr1885 Correctamundo. Especially the B58 engine which is used in the Toyota Supra.
Mercedes is suffering the same misery that all car makers that pursued a heavy EV strategy. The EQ cars are nice, but incredibly overpriced and impractical for most buyers. I bought a 2024 GLE and am thrilled with both the car and the value for money that car delivers.
what do you mean by value ? the payment or total price ? thank you , I'm considering buying a GLE , and hello from Miami , FL.
Mercedes is not suffering anything. They had €13 billion profit last year
Did you see any reviews of the EQC SUV? The build quality is horrendous.
GLE 2024, wait until the warranty rut out
If you can’t afford to pay for a car in cash, you shouldn’t buy it. Most people are truly keeping themselves poor. The best car is the one that’s paid for.
Totally true
Truth!!! I've paid cash for all of mine. Who wants to pay a lard ass at a bank or loan company to get fatter. But, I gotta admit that back in the day I used to finance all my cars and trucks. Thank God I found a new way.
If you have like 0% financing for whole term, there is no reason to pay cash smh
Then buy a second Hand Mercedes, many are hardly run in but have dropped many Thousands of Anything in 4 or 5 years, any Gremlins have been killed etc, I got a 4 year S-Class, S350L for €22,000, it started off at €80,000 4 years before, chauffeur driven with only 60,000 KMs( 40K miles) .
💯 percent.
Traded in my Mercedes C300 for an Acura RDX, and maintenance costs are only a quarter of that Mercedes. In addition, there are more things I can fix myself on the Acura.
RDX is a GREAT VALUE! TRULY underrated!
Customer states next episode
German cars want you to go to the dealership for a simple tire replacement.
No its not lol. Its in same range according to stats.
Acura is a much better choice than Mercedes
Traded in my C class a couple of years ago for a Subaru. Routine maintenance costs dropped by two thirds at least.
But you are missing out on the "Luxury experience" of owning a Mercedes though.
trade my c class in for a bmw
Better yet take a course and learn to do as much of it yourself do a better job too.
@@steak5599c class isn’t very nice lol a W205 C63s is fire though
@TheRealCatof but even the towing experience and Service center experience is different.
Mercedes Dealership have service rep who is always ready to serve you and update you when needed, towing service is quick and easy.
Try buy a Dodge or Ford. You have to wait in line with 5 people in front of you, there is no free rental car while your car is in the shop. Waiting area has leather couch and big TV, you car gets cleaned inside and out side after service, etc...
The only difference is oil change is $250 instead of $50 compare to a Dodge dealer.
I went from Benz to BMW. On top of getting a better payment, I also get free service with every BMW lease
How is it free? Can I bring a honda or audi to your bmw dealer to service? Oh yeah, you are paying for it.
@@konstantinkennedy2244 huh .. we are comparing Benz to BMW. I was a Benz customer for years. BMW includes service for 3 years with every lease at no extra cost
@@lssg12you sure did not understand my sarcasm. You are paying for your oil changes, they are not free but rather part of your monthypayment
@@konstantinkennedy2244Dumbass
Benz are for folks that's AT LEAST 50 and up. Why would guys in their 20s 30s and 40s want a Benz.
This is why I only pay cash for my cars, and pretty much everything.
Car payments should not be the norm. Save up and pay in full or buy something else cheaper within budget.
Plenty of examples of why buying the entire thing in cash is bad to do, and doesn't make sense. Putting a large down payment on a vehicle like 20, 30, or 35 grand makes way way way more sense than buying it fully in cash.
@@HoodrichShinobiProvide examples. Otherwise, that's the stupidity that keeps people poor or middle-class. Do you like making payments on everything and having your income eaten away because you think being in debt is a good thing?
@@JamilLynch you have a low IQ if you couldn't deduce basic examples such as: building your credit, and making small payments to invest the bulk of your money elsewhere real estate, crypto, gold, etc.
if a car is 50k and you put 30k down you can invest 20k into something that will turn it into 40 or 60k over the course of 3 or 4 years. You're not paying 60k in interest on a 20k loan. This is all super basic stuff. Kindergarten levels of understanding finances and investing.
@@HoodrichShinobi i am debt and mortgage free all because I pay cash for everything.
It’s common sense with no mental and financial gymnastics. If you can’t afford to pay for something twice in cash, sorry you can’t afford it. Stay within budget and buy something cheaper.
You can’t invest to your full potential if you have a ball and chain hooked to your legs (debt analogy).
I invest $500k in between car purchases which I pay in cash. It’s all possible because I make no payments to any debt. Sprinting is faster than a gimped run with something weighing you down.
I work for a very reputable, nationwide used cars dealership, that also sells brand new Mercedes-Benz's.
The salesmen for the new cars keep complaining about how absolutely nobody wants to buy Mercedes-Benz's and even Opel and Kia are selling more.
Meanwhile on the side of the used cars, we feel bad for every customer that buys a used Benz, because we know Mercedes will not honor their warranty if something goes wrong with the hybrid system and because the maintenance costs are ridiculous.
Not to mention, knowing that the customer will immediately lose 20% of the car's value as soon as they leave the dealership, is just heartbreaking.
Yeah, our job is to sell to make a profit. But we do care about customer experiences.
And knowing that by the customer wanting a Benz they are screwing themselves over, it is sad.
I am genuinely worried about the future. $1000/mo is the normal car payment. Imagine how more shitty the world will be in just 10 yrs and beyond.
Read onto C40 and the WEF goals and you will find that that is the point. The people at Davos are psychotic and they’re using ‘climate change’ to conceal their motives. Watermelons- Green on the outside, Red on the inside
It will be Mexico in 10 more years.
i know right bro. shit actually terrifies me. literally bought a fatass ak47 just in case all this falls apart
We will be meh-hi-co in 10 years
you can use money to wipe your ass in the future
Lexus is now what Mercedes was in the 60s-80s.
I would say 90s too
No.
Yes, Lexus and toyota the best. they don’t need maintenance. great cars. We always buy them and use them around 5-6 years. did oil change once in its life. excellent cars.
@@Tainted10 You are right. Lexus is better than Mercedes ever was. 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s... Take your pick. Overrated German junk.
@@alwong604 naw that’s a lie. Boring and lame. Keep that jap scrap. So bad that Lexus has trying to be benz for 30 years now LOL and failed at it.. enjoy that Toyota 🤡.
Bought a GLE in 2022. The last ever Benz. Service sucks and the car has depreciated from $163k to $95k in two years. What a piece of crap
you paid $163K for a GLE? That doesn't sound right
@@kermicgreen3370probably a 63s model, but even so $163k is fairly high, most it should ever hit is $130k unless this is CAD
i bought a 2 year old gle43 for 60% of the new price. excellent vehicle!
@@Fred-zn2ur for that price I would just buy a GLS
You paid double what they cost new. There's the problem ✅
I have a lexus and all my family members have toyota and lexus. My GX460 is an absolute tank. It rides smooth and I have had zero issues in 4 years of ownership.
What is the biggest Lexus SUV these days? Does it still have a V8?
@@JoeGiz64 The LX. The new GX doesn’t have a V8. It has a V6 with hybrid tech.
@@Widemouth1832 Thanks for the reply. The V6 hybrid crap scares me.
They have the TX which is a 3 row SUV. The LX is bigger on the outside, but since it is built like a truck, it is smaller on the inside than the TX. The TX can be had with up to a V6 @@JoeGiz64
I got the 2010 GX460, 14 years and 160k later with no major issues.
I am an old geezer now and have owned many cars but the best and I mean BEST was a 1986 Mercury Grand Marquis with all the options. I bought it because I said to my wife "let's get a really nice car this time, we deserve it." Great V8 engine, transmission and on the highway got 25 miles to the gallon cruising at 75 as the engine never ever strained., Smooth as silk.I could be in that car for eight hours and the seats were like a Lay_Z-Boy. Ate up the bumps in the road like a Rolls I am guessing as I never rode in a Rolls. Built like a truck. I was sitting at a red light and a man had a heart attack and ran into it with his Chevy truck. It didn't even move. The body shop put on a new front fender and bumper and off I went. When it was time to let it go I sold it to a farmer for 750 dollars who used it to chase his cattle in his pasture. BEST CAR EVER MADE! Take your Mercedes and well do whatever, I don't want one.
Bought an E450 and I love it. Did my research it’s the most reliable recent Mercedes
I owned an S Class. Traded it in on a Lexus. We are all Lexus and Toyota household, and never going back. I suggest, Mercedes focus more on reliability.
guarantee that S class was nicer to drive and be in though.
@@8MunchenBayern8how does tht even matter if it breaks down so you can't drive it. Get over the luxury. A car is meant to move first. Everything else comes after
@TheRealCatof The W222 S-class has a nicer interior than any Lexus. I agree the new generation is not that great.
LOL Genesis, yeah, you can keep your glorified Hyundai.
@lCatof I daily drive a 2011 MB. It's literally started every single time, except once. That was because of a dead battery. People that never owned MBs and they just regurgitate what they hear on the internet or they didn't do their research and they bough models/generations known to be bad, deserve that. But you can keep up the cope, you can't afford a S-Class :) Have fun with you Haaayoondai.
@TheRealCatofI would also take a Genesis over a Mercedes. Genesis turns more heads anyways.
When my Dad bought his S class in the 70’s he did so because of its expected reliability. No one can say that about MB any more.
Car manufacturers,especially the luxury segment,are failing to understand the law of diminishing returns : cars are primarily there for transport and the further you go away from this and keep on adding items not essential to this purpose, the more customers you will lose. There is already too much electronics in motor vehicles...I would much rather have a vehicle with 50% less electronics for a 30% plus discount.
No legacy top selling or even new brand wants to be slated for selling an unsafe car. Unfortunately (it's actually fortunately if you think about it) the car has evolved to be something beyond just an a-b box. Endless research and development on safety technologies, environmental friendlies, inflation and new comfort levels have taken a toll...
Not to mention most of that garbage in there is continually mandated by governments. It's the same with the emissions garbage. It's why every year, the cool engines creeped up high and higher in how much you had to spend to get them.. because governments based emissions off of total yearly fleet percentages. And those percentages were raised by governments each year. Which is why now only the $200K+ MBs have the V8
@@thabzmad7265don’t care abt any of those things give me fast car cheap. Fuck the epa fuck the safety standards ruined car manufacturers for decades
@@GerberFlerber Car manufacturers haven't exactly been good boys themselves, neither have a certain percentage of the population who use cars for more than a-b transport under influence or making public roads race courses. It's a hard balancing act but one thing is for sure, very soon few people will be affording cars and that's not good for anyone. System needs a reset!
@@thabzmad7265 they shouldn’t have to be let me drive how I want commie
We currently have 3 Lexus s. Was recently considering a Benz. But I think not. Lexus again🏖️
Yea , cause main point of having a car is that it drives you. Not opening it up every 30days to fix it.
Bmw will provide a more reliable experience and will be more fun than any Lexus just get any modern bmw with a b58
@@GerberFlerber I know they are getting better, but you still have to have very high salary to afford to take care of a sports car. Lexus is simply easier to live with they dont push their engine to the limit so they last longer.
I am a car guy(Audi A4) but understand a regular person who simply doesent want a headache.
@@lovrovalentic3056 I guess I just could never justify spending 50k on a n/a v6 when I could get a m340 for the same price.
MB is always on my target BUT the dealership is preventing me from getting one. They are so expensoive that sometimes it does not makes sense
Do not buy new MB unless you're buying the absolute top model and have NO issue paying for anything. If a costly repair will ruin you, do not BUY a MB.
You can talk numbers all you want because it has nothing to do with Benz issues.
MB is in bad shape and has been for well over a decade and the reasons are this 1. First and foremost, reliability and the huge lack thereof. 2. Insanely high cost of parts and repairs and the incredible high frequency of repairs.
I’ll take a Lexus any day over a Mercedes. Everyone I know has an issue with its quality and craftsmanship. They are making them too cheap and bad quality
I would never buy a Mercedes on the American continent, made in Mexico? No thanks. My Subaru WRX is made in Japan, my Honda Accord was mostly made in the USA and my old Toyota Camry was made in Japan. I don't think Lexus has factories in Mexico...I think they are still made in the US and Japan so yeah way higher quality than Mercedes sold in the US.
the big issue is the options packaging which now will kick the base price stratospherically. i've owned benz' for a quarter century and still own two. but i won't buy another. if i try to put even some little extras on i need to buy at least two option packages at thousands per package. i can afford it but i won't do it.
Yup, these packages....when in reality, you will never use like 90% of those 90% of time.
Just make them reliable! Thats it. Im not a fan of BMW but even BMW is trying to make them more reliable!
My bmw is now 5 years old, about 65k miles and no problems just regular maintenance.
Also putting 4 cylinder engines in 75K cars and SUVs is a cruel joke. What a rip off.
4cyl 🐌’s tho we got boost
@spycdc too small of an engine to put in that car or suv even with a little turbo. The base models should all start with 6 cylinders like they used to. Mercedes is being cheap and making a killing by putting 4 cylinders engines in these 75k cars and suvs
@@pimpc713 that i will agree with even tho we get an extra 20hp from the electric boost as well tho... everything else said in this video is bmw bias tho im sure u can agree.... service fees and maintenance is just about the same
I was quoted $1,800 a month for an EQE AMG (whatever the fuck that stands for) and I never laughed so hard out the door
Oof you got bent over by the dealer for being uneducated and a walk-in-the-door customer. I have two EQS at 6xx and 7xx a mont both MSRP's over 118k. Learn the programs, incentives, rebates, trunk cash, apr, money factor and put together a deal with a dealer. Otherwise move on to the next car if you don't want it that badly.
@@TheGamerShowsYou I think you're the one getting bent over for not only leasing a car, but leasing an EQE for $700 a month. What a great way to flush 25k + insurance and down payment down the toilet. Had you invested that much into Bitcoin you'd have over 400k.
@@Chthonian121 Both EQS are a 12-month lease which includes business write-offs to cover business expenses as these cars are being utilized. The vehicle's final sale price was less than 94k enabling me to receive over 21k in incentives, and trunk cash/rebates on top of scoring 17% pre-incentive off MSRP. You need to sit down and learn what cars are meant to be leased and what cars are meant to be financed. Once they are up the GLS is up next and will quality for section 179. Please don't speak to me about Bitcoin, as I continue to lease vehicles for free because of dividend payouts and am able to properly write off business expenses for travel and insurance. You on the other hand will finance the car and get hit with the depreciation of over 40grand on that EQE AMG. Go check MMR values (if you even know how) before walking into a dealership and being bent over on an EQE.
I’ve had a C300 2009, 2012, 2015 and currently have a 2018 C300. Always the sport 4matic. I can say I’ve never had an issue with any of them. Maybe I got lucky. My 2018 only has 30K miles and is now 6 years old. I bought mine when my lease was up. Just made sense with only 20K on the odometer. This was during Covid years when used cars were in high demand. I made a deal with my sales guy. My car was worth $4K more than the lease to buy contract said. So the dealer bought it from me before lease end. Gave me a $4K check. I then bought it back from the dealer and used the $4K to reduce the cost of the car. How this benefited the dealer I have no idea. I did buy the MB extended warranty up to 80K miles. So if I do have issues in the future I’m covered. I do agree the new models look cheap and uninspired.
C300 is pretty reliable. Especially later models up until 2020. Just parts are expensive but you can save getting work done outside the dealer 20-50%
Great info, thank you! I reside in California and I went to 4 different Mercedes dealers and emailed another 3. I have to say, their customer service is non-existent. None of them wanted to go below MSRP. They also had an awful lease program and money factor. I finally went to BMW. After 2 hours of negotiations, I was able to get a truly fully loaded 2024 BMW 760i xDrive ($138K). They took 15% off of MSRP plus $8000 rebates. Amazing customer service, great deal, and they offered me their buy rate, which I was extremely happy about it. Mercedes has a long way to go. From the top down, Mercedes need to learn about human relations and customer service. While at the BMW dealer, the GSM showed me the recent 2024 Consumer Report. BMW ranked first and Mercedes was 26.
After only owning German cars with all there issues in maintenance and repairs with poor resale value, I decided to go Lexus and trust me it was the best decision I ever made.
There is not any huge diff in maintenance costs according to stats between those brands with correpsoning models. Not here in Europe at least.
@@martinsvensson6884 everything is expensive in europe. Basically every dealership/ workshop rip you off.
It's still a bit less expensive with a toyota/lexus.
If you buy a VW Golf or smth, then you can argue they are low maintenance.
Mercedes became undesirable when they declared that they had been over-engineering their cars and dropped their standards. Their cars went from being bullet-proof to being problem cars, always in the garage to have something fixed. They aren't worth the money, they are like a nightmare girlfriend.
which mercedes are good?
So true. Australia just moved to a fixed price. Where you look at the car in the showroom at the agent (old dealer) then get the car from HQ. No negotiation. The reduction in sales was exciting! Smart way to hand your customers over to Lexus and BMW
MB is Teutonic Junk. Ex MB e430 owner here. 🐻
The M113 will always be legendary.
I'm an American who has been living here in the Stuttgart region of Germany for the past four years. I can tell you that Mercedes already has problems with build quality, and is the reason why I would rather make car rentals with Audis and Volkswagens at the Stuttgart Airport. Lease or purchase prices are really high too, but if their build quality were any better, I may actually go for the hometown team.
The last time I rented a Mercedes was a brand-new 2023 E350. But right off the bat, the rear seat seat belt sensors were not good in that all three belts had to be buckled-in otherwise the no-seatbelt sensors would go off. The drive south with that car into Switzerland was otherwise good, but for a car with less than 7000km on the clock, it was quite surprising to me this fault was already present.
I remember watching a video on another car channel last year and they were interviewing a high up Mercedes employee during a new model unveiling and the guy literally said our goal is to make money when asked about why their options cost so much. Obviously any business is trying to make money but when the goal and the message is blatantly we just want to make our stuff more expensive and not actually making the best product then something is wrong.
It's ridiculous how Audi, Bmw, Mercs, expanded their production models to meet a wanderlust level that drastically reduced their making qualities. That squeaky and crackling Mercs interiors, those overengineered Bmw engines, Audi's unrecognizable performances. No wonder customers keep going back to Japanese and Korean cars.
Thank you, Ari. I have leased Mercedes SUVs for the past 15 years and am now seriously considering an X3 for my next car after hearing your comments. My local dealership marks up money factors and lease inception fees, though my breaking point this year was $1,300 for a B service. I tried to shop that but couldn't get other dealers to return my calls so I went to a certified independent shop. My dealer cut out the snacks and drinks in the waiting area and eliminated free car washes, all niceties that I enjoyed. My neighbor always drove an S class but last year he bought the big Genesis and loves it and bought the GV80 for his wife. Mercedes has some rethinking to do.
Mercedes has horrendous customer service. I leased an E Klass In 2017 and had it meticulously serviced at my local MB dealership. Oil changes every 5,000 miles and only MB parts were used.
The engine threw a rod and MB corporate tried to blame me for the engine failing with under 22,000 miles on the odometer so I filed a lawsuit against MB for designing the engine with inferior piston rods and bad rod connectors.
Due to a non disclosure agreement the matter was settled out of court and I was fully refunded all of my lease payments, oil changes and paid a settlement for the inconvenience.
My 2019 Volvo S60 has been a far more reliable car.
I’m a huge Mercedes fan and I always will be, but I have to admit their pricing has gotten out of control in the last 5 years. They really need be more competitive by offering a C300 for a flat $600 a month for 36 months and an E350 for a flat $850 a month.
I cannot find printed brochures for Mercedes-Benz cars anymore!!! I miss that!!!
everyone keeps talking about Mercedes like it is Ford or Toyota or something , it is not , it never was , Mercedes is and it always was , a luxury brand , which not everyone can afford … comparing to other brands, Mercedes actually , didn’t raise their prices that much , you can get cheapest model for around 50K - 60K , and you can get S class , top of the line , Mercedes flagship model , for $120K … check out prices on new Dodge , Ford, RAM, Jeep etc … not even to mention pick up trucks , which are starting at around 60K for the lowest trim , stripped down , work truck , to easily 100K - 120K for highest trim … Mercedes is not struggling because they are expensive, they were never cheap to begin with, they are struggling because economy sucks , and people have no money …
Mercedes lease has went up between 2-600 a month on certain models. Sad
Agree on the Lexus and Toyota standpoint. However I would say they need to go back to basics : W124, 212, 221, 222, 203, 204 and so on…
Is electrification truly the answer? Was it superb engineering and a fantastic engine lineup including the AMG’s that made it all work?
Lease based on the final price of the car and how much down. When I went to turn my 2023 in, the s500 4Matic was a v6 (2024 model) and as equipped was 123k. S580 V8 was over $130k. The lease rates with the increase in interest rates with 10k down was over $ 2k/month . My loaded 2020 was $ 116k (s560 4 matic) and I was paying 1350/ month for the 3 yrs. Not sure what dealership you’re at but that’s the pricing I was quoted. Of course the price could be less with more down. Wasn’t getting into a v6. Too much tech for me. Done with MB.
The S500 you looked at has an *inline* 6 with a mild hybrid, not a V6. They no longer produce a V6, favoring the smoother and more efficient I-6 design, which they never should have dropped in the first place.
Oh wow! Thanks for the info. I’m a v8 guy in the big cars!
@@chippoz Definitely! Any S Class should have the V8! But as far as sixes are concerned, the I-6 is at least buttery smooth and still develops a healthy 429 HP and 384 lb/ft, so not too bad. It is kind of sad, however, that MB no longer seems to be the reliable German tank it used to be.
Exactly my sentiments! The v8 S class growls like the beast that it is! When I had the 6 cylinder loaner…it moved for sure but sounded like a Toyota Corolla!
Lol at the Lexus ad before the vid started
I cant believe mercedes is going downhill, I never thought this would happen. Plus there designs are just hideous now.
Oh my god, it's about time someone saying the no pro but a lot of cons about Mercedes. Thank you
Fk Mercedes, every dealer I went to to buy one had mark ups, went and bought. A BMW instead. Went back a year later and same thing a 50k mark up on a G Wagon and a mark up on a AMG. Went and bought a Lexus.. I would never buy a Mercedes because of their screw the customer mark ups.. these dealers are so unethical.
German cars used to be good but they're all junk now
Focussing on volume over quality + increasing prices = only a matter of time before people flee your offerings.
This is so true. I was deciding leasing between a GLE 450 and BMW X5. Similar msrp, Mercedes wanted $9k down
BMW wanted $2k down
BMW still ended up being $300 cheaper per month…. I love Mercedes design but the prices are just fucking crazy imo.
I'm not leasing but I was looking for a small used car in 2022. The Merc CLA looked quite attractive to me and they have reasonable prices. But then I got on TH-cam and there was many people saying DO NOT BUY THIS CAR! What they said is that they cut too many corners to make a cheap Merc. And then comes the high parts price.
Mercedes is a premium brand and they butchered it to make a quick profit. That's happening to a lot of car companies these days.
My mom went and saw an EQB the other day. Was quoted $67K, it has no heated seats, no heated steering wheel, and likely gets under 200 miles range on average. She ran fast, and she’s a diehard Mercedes buyer. That’s no good if they’re pushing those types of customers away.
I leased Mercedes for years and my last one ended in 2022. With their new leases it would have cost me almost double for the exact same car
Was a lease customer for S class through my business for the last 9 years…36 month 12k/yr miles. Had a 2014, 2017, and a 2020. Each time I rolled into the new one, was a minimal increase in the monthly payment. Made sense for me to lease in 2023 (Last year when I turned it in). Hated the new model AND the lease rate was astronomical! Went from 1250/mo to over 2000! And the new car was a v6 not even the v8 I had before! Before leasing I owned my S classes (2011, 2007, and before that a 2001 BMW 740il). Those cars I ran into the ground and were reliable. The newer ones are so tech crazy you can’t own it after 3 years. MB LOST ME AS A LIFE LING CUSTOMER. We wound up replacing our 2015 Yukon with a 2023 and I still daily drive my 1995 Mercedes wagon had from new.
S500 is about $1,400/month right now. S580 is $1,800. those figures you quoted are from 2 years ago. MB didn't even release V6 in 2024 model year
2014 S550 owner here since buying it 2 years old Benz CPO for $62k 3,200 miles. Has 100k on it now, other than some minor issues this has been my daily driver and runs and runs. I like the new S580….getting that next.
I have a 2021 Mercedes work van, a 2013 glk250 and just sold out 2015 G550.
After Covid seemed like everything changed. Trying to talk to anyone at the dealership weather it is in sales, or parts or service was non-existent. I just took my van to them to find out what is wrong with it as it kept going in limp mode. They could not find the problem and told me it’s the low pressure fuel pump. I told them that it had been changed already. They continued to try and milk me for more money and I said nope! I picked up my van and purchased a high pressure fuel pump. I got home and took all the parts off to get to the hpfp and found one of the screws loose as in way loose. Earlier I had the van in for a recall in that area and am 100% sure they did tht on purpose. The van works great now. It’s so sad as Mercedes makes great work vans. Also the Glk250 is a great suv. Sadly I will no longer purchase Mercedes again. I will replace the Mercedes van with a Nissan van and our suv with Chevy Tahoe diesel motor, or a gmc diesel suv with more room. Mercedes lost me as a customer and there are many with the same story.
No one wants to buy an unreliable vehicle no matter how nice it looks. This is something the Europeans don't get.
The effective interest rate on most bmw, mb and Audi leases is anywhere between 12 and 25 percent. It is absolutely nuts.
The higher the lease price the worse the depreciation
Last December, I lost my lease on my 2024 AMG GT53 after a month of driving one because I got told the credit union that hey use would not allow me to ride share. I had to do the walk of shame and hand the keys back in. I told the dealership a week before we even customized the vehicle, what I would be doing with it. They assured me it was all good.
Not sure if anyone else has had this issue
It’s funny because here in my country it’s the exact opposite. Exactly because Mercedes sales are heavily based on the lower end Mercedes A,B and CLA class cars, Mercedes vehicles are preferred over more expensive B,W options such as the X1, X2 and 2 series
Thank you for keeping us informed Ari. These interest rates and money factors have gone up way too much.
I so agree. I wanted lease a GLS 580 they couldn’t sell . I offered them 1800 a month for 36 months they wanted 2300 and didn’t even negotiate. So I left
family members as well as me owned many models through out the years but ever since 2018 models introduced quality been going down hill and prices been going up for no reason at all. Less features and bad build quality plus smaller engines. Honestly the only excellent model are the G Wagons. If you can afford it get the G wagon without hesitation don't waste time on S class unless its a 2019 and under model. Currently i own a S 63 coupe and a 2019 G550 and i have no problems at all and many people came up to me wanting to buy them.
I bought my lease. I love Mercedes and would never switch to bmw but their payments were insane.
Mercedes had record profitability for 2023. Margins are also up according to their latest earnings report, they even up dividend payments to investors
On paper.. I seriously think that it's a giant house of cards and the gig is about to be up.
I went into Mercedes yesterday to enquire about the S580e. They advice me i would have to wait a very long time. They don’t even allow you to spec that car online. Mercedes are selling Many more of their higher end cars hence the jump in profit.
I remember over a decade ago Mercedes made a new budget entry it was about 35k got my pops into one he was super happy. Those days are gone now now your paying that for fully loaded Civic's lol
The Korean brands are what the Japanese were twenty years ago and the German's are German.
感恩了解，謝謝分享！
Mercedes is starting to go back to their late 90s early 2000s phase where they put cost cutting measures into place instead of good solid vehicles and they paid the price for it reputation wise at the time. They had to knock it out of the park with vehicles like the W204 C Class and W212 E Class to get back to the top. Now, their focus is pure tech and power with no consideration to reliability or longevity. I've now owned 2 MBs and are generally happy with them but once the time comes to sell my current one I will be going the Acura or Lexus route.
They abandoned quality while raising prices.
I lease all my cars for write off purposes.
I love leasing Toyotas for their reliability AND 2 years of maintenance for free.
Sure a MBZ is nice and all, but nice and all ain't worth the $
Glad I chose the new Sequoia of the GLS
You hit the nail on the head.🧐👍🏾 Just from a tax write off standpoint alone Leasing is the way to go. I always go Acura or Audi because of their insane lease deals. I've never owned a Mercedes-Benz. One Benz dealership laughed in my face when I told them what usually pay to lease. Now with Tesla pricing dropping through the floor im going electric when my lease is up.
Garbage EV are killing auto manufacturers.
Wild to think that a luxury automatker would damage their leasing programs... It's kind of the main market.
Merc has to learn, through failing, that making a bed with too many models, and then shitting that same bed with all sort of wokeness, SocialJustice Issues and shoddy build quality paired with horrible reliablility is a bad recipe !
i live in india and recently picked up a gla amg 35 , i thought my lease was less than what was said here as the msrp of the vehicle was 70 L ( 85k dollars ) but i found out i was paying 900 dollars as lease , in which i could pickup a glc in the us , the lease for glc here in india is a astonishing 1100/mo
GREAT content. Thank you. You’re a life saver.
luxury car prices too high and not enough separation of amenities to justify the cost.
Had 3 mercedes Gls for 8 years with the same payment for all 3, with other Mercedes before that, over 10 years with one brand, and they decided to throw it all away one day in 2018 when i went to re lease and the payment was doubled and then some. I easily walked away and went to volvo for the same payment and honestly got an all around nicer car thats been more reliable. Thank you Mercedes for giving me the opportunity to experience something better, 3 Volvo’s and 6 years later i don’t have any regrets.
I used to be a Mercedes and fan boy… literally… but I think around 2015 or so, their cars turned to super cheap trash and touch screen galore and the seats got small and it just was no longer the premium experience. I went to Lexus and haven’t looked back. I’ve had two Lexus LS460’s and two Lexus GX’s they have been wonderful cars. Mercedes needs to get back to its roots, I don’t care as much about reliability (hear me out) as long as there is a reason it isn’t as reliable as its counter parts. Example a 1992 Mercedes with mechanical fuel injection… or a 1992 Lexus LS400 with electronic fuel injection. Of course the electronic fuel injection is going to be more reliable BUT the reason for the lack of reliability is the technical complexity of mechanical fuel injection. I’m not making an excuse for a lack of reliability BUT it was a marvel, sort of like mechanical watches, sure there are $10 Casio watches that are more accurate with more functions BUT I’m wailing to pay the premium for a mechanical watch for the craftsmanship and technical complexity of it. A new Mercedes is a bunch of cheap mass produced screens, small seats and a huge price tag. Older Mercedes had the highest quality of everything, it wasn’t mass produced monkey grub. When you plop some cheap screens on a dash and slap a more expensive price tag on it than the old generation car, consumers wonder what they are paying for. You went the part of cheap screens and plastic to cut costs PASS THAT ON TO YOUR CUSTOMER or… charge that high price but give us justifiably high quality bespoke components.
I went to trade in my MB lease when it was up they wanted 5k on top day I took delivery.. I have been leasing MB since 03 same dealership. I laughed bought a 04 Camry for 3500..Dropped my 18 E300 off n drove away.. They thought I was joking.Thats my daily n I bought a 911 for fun
Cadillac has the same problem. I leased an XT6 for around $680/m 3 years ago. A Lyriq for around the same MSRP is leasing for over $1000/m now. Needless to say, I left it on the lot...
I'm not trying to back Mercedes but the video your were using at 5:00 was using a lower MSRP so the monthly will be lower.....
We need to speak with our wallets. Dont buy/lease cars that fall apart after 3 years.
Planned obsolescence should NEVER be rewarded. Thats why we are where we are today
Turning the SL into a soft top was the dumbest move ever. Love the SL hard top. Incredible car that's more than fast enough, and nice to cruise in as well.
Its their financial managers lol. I went and bought a c300 and when sign my docs, the financial manager was hella mad because he could see me any packages on top of the ridiculous price for the car
We leased a Mercedes.. it was horrible we traded the lease for a Lexus finished that lease and got another Lexus lol better quality product.
I used to buy new Benzes every year or two. Not any more for the past 5 years when all their classes look the same, too much electronics (which go bad), and abysmal hybrid/battery replacement costs that make all new MBs unattractive to buy.
If you need to rely on leasing to move inventory I think something is wrong with your product.
They don’t need new models they need reliability
Start making reliable engines like they use to make bring back M113 engine
You are absolutely right, they focus too much attention on EV that they neglect ICE sales
I think the problem with all of them is that they are making cars that they want, not what the customers want. Here is one example, the german cars look chinese...and there is a trend for ugly wheels.
All my benz'es are super reliable, never have problems but my buddy's brand new 3 series only got towed and he got it back with a check engine light and till this day it's still on lol I mean you literally get what you pay for. You'll see a lot more older benz'es on the road than older bmw's because bmw stands by that planned obsolescence. Lexus is a great, reliable brand as well.
yeah man, i went for a older mercedes instead of new and it’s been super reliable so far on all fronts. new ones seem like such a money trap
@@callofdestiny5671 oh yeah you ain't lying brother 🫡
Bought 2 X5’s instead of GLE. Former Mercedes owner here. Just makes more sense to me the way they are marketing their products
Actually I still own the older Mercedes, not a bad car at all
German cars now have a high maint costs (expected) but the frequency of repairs is the dam problem. My wife drove her loaner more than the car (BMW X3) for the first year.
It costs $2500 for all 4 new rotors and brake pads . I did it for $480.
Going to any dealership for work, is not smart lol
How do you calculate Money factor and why is higher residual better ? Because payments are lower ?
Why cancel the eqs?
Sister works there, who never takes time off except for the occasional emergency and when she happened to take an unpaid Friday off due to her husband getting a cancer diagnosis, her manager went and reported it to headquarters HR and demanding a pay cut (on top of a fairly poor salary to begin with). Sick, disturbed people work throughout Mercedes, and if reliability/maintenance costs weren't enough to scare you off, I'd say the lack of humanity should
I had a 2021 GLA; just got the brand new GLC. I love the brand experience. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon
Selling cars worth 30,000 dollars for 75,000 dollars is the problem for all car companies. Mercedes has been getting by on it's brand name and cache since the 60's. Back then they were making great cars though. Now they've been using the cookie cutter method and are not the best sellers in their own country. Buying one is a suckers bet at best. This isn't just a problem with or for Benzes either. EVERY car company is a problem today. They're all making shitty cars and trucks and artificially inflating costs and maintenance and anything else they can to pry every dollar from you that they can. Finally the day has come where they have to pay to play. People should wait now. New buyers should hold out a couple years longer before making a new purchase or lease and watch them "correct" even more until you can afford what you want. Trust this will happen. Just be patient.
I just want to say that your audio is nice and crispy mhm.
I purchased a C280 that was off lease and the purchase price was 1/3 of new price, so besides everything else going on with higher prices every year and increasing interest rates these "premium" brands have horrendous depreciation.