2006 Mercedes ML500. Opinions?
To: assasino
STOP changing your name. Just because you weren't popular in answering other questions doesn't mean you could abuse yahoo's system & change your name. You probably answered more than once on my other questions. EVERYONE, look at assasino's name and look at his points. He is new & just answered two questions, both mine. This clearly means he is changing names & trying to attack me!
First of all, I am comparing a1998 Lexus LS400(sedan) to a 2006 ML500(SUV). I KNOW they are different types of cars, but even Consumer Reports use this fact to prove their point. It doesn't matter what type of car they are. The fact is that an almost ten year old Lexus has better reliability than an almost new Mercedes(the Mercedes was new when they tested it). This is simply a fact because Consumer Reports proved it. If this is too much for you to take in, complain to Consumer Reports! You accuse me of not knowing cars. I would debate you any day and win, only if you'd stop changing names!
ATTN:

This is interesting.
Please go have a look at my question:

In an a collision, would you rather be in a Toyota Camry or a Mercedes E Class (read my details below first)?

(Click on my name and the question above)

Please read all my details in response to the answers before you respond and think about which side of the debate actually provides concrete facts from unbiased sources. Click on my links in my detail of the question above. Very Cool (if you are into cars)!

And some other car has better reliability and less problems than Lexus. So what? What's the point? Opinions on your statement? OK, here's my opinion: you made a pointless statement.
If you are trying to compare a Toyota to a Mercedes, there's definitely no point.

id also rather buy the real thing. I couldnt imagine driving that piece of shiit. Well, lets see mercedes comes out with new technology and then japs copy it.

Lexus is NOT a high priced Toyota. A Lexus is a totally different vehicle, but it is the only thing people can think of to use against Lexus, because it is a sound vehicle that is much more reliable than a Mercedes. The question is not which car you think is better, but which one has fewer problems.
Take a look at Consumer Reports latest satisfaction surveys. For 2002 models there are 9 Toyota and Lexus models in the top 14 and 0 Mercedes. For 2004 models there are 7 Toyota and Lexus models and again 0 Mercedes.

Also if you look at Consumer Reports reliability ratings, you will find that every Mercedes model is rated as much worse than average, except for the C class which is only rated worse than average. However every Lexus is rated better than average or much better than average. Just more facts to prove that a Lexus is more reliable than a Mercedes, no matter if you THINK your Mercedes is a better car.

You are wrong.

I think that you've received some rather sad answers. Only Dodgeman is on the right track, the Lexus will be more reliable than the Mercedes.

Mercedes reliability died a long time ago, beginning with their attempt to slash costs in the mid 90's. Cutting 20% out of the cost of building the car has certainly had an effect on the durability of the vehicle. (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3165/is_n6_v31/ai_17070582)

Since the point was raised, let's talk about JD Power. The JD Power study quoted most often, including above, is IQS. This measures initial quality, which is to say, how many defects the car has out of the box. (From the JD Powers website: "The Initial Quality Study (IQS) provides in-depth diagnostic information on new-vehicle quality after 90 days of ownership.") Contrary to what the poster stated, over the road reliability isn't determined by manufacturing defects (which may or may not appear in the first 90 days). Five years from now, your repair experience will be a function of engineering choices: the aging quality of seals, wiring insulation, mechanical strength of the components, corrosion resistance. These issues will begin to crop up after thee, four or five years, at which point JD Power IQS will be misleading purchasers of 2012 cars.

JD Power does have a statistic called VDS (Vehicle Dependability Study) which supposedly addresses this problem. Press reports of this data are less common than IQS, and fragmentary. Here's a table if VDS results, which certainly doesn't suggest that Mercedes is in the same league as Lexus: http://www.autoblog.com/2006/08/09/j-d-power-dependability-results-are-out/ The problem with VDS is that it simply counts incidents, not cost or impact. So if your Lexus needs a $100 oxygen sensor, it will have the same effect on ratings as your Mercedes needing a new $8000 transmission. The only accessible source I know for reasonably detailed, long term reliability information is Consumer Reports.

I can tell you from personal experience that my '99 E320 has pathetic reliability for a car that's so expensive. It great JD Power numbers at the time I bought it. And it's easy to see why: my '99 was perfect out of the dealer, and for three years, no complaints. After that, it begain to have the 1k problem: take it to the dealer, and deposit $1K, and the problem goes away. After a while, it became the 2K problem, and I'm just worried that after 8 years it's becoming the 4K problem. I am now spending about 10% of the initial cost of the car every year on repairs. Lest you think I'm whining, I also own an '87 Mercedes that has run like a clock for 20 years, with only regular maintenance and replacement of normal wear items, and I've owned other Mercs through the years, all of which were rocks. That's why I buy them, or why I used to buy them: expensive to buy, but cheap to own. A friend of mine bought an Infinity the year before I bought my Merc, and it's still like new, with minimal maintenance expense. My repair cost so far this year is $2100, and counting. So yeah, Japanese quality beats Mercedes. Maybe, just maybe Mercedes has turned around: I'll check Consumer Reports in five years to see.