Sure. I'll send some pictures to you now.

Mercedes from the late 90's and early 2000's such as the w202,w210 and w203 are still around doing the job while most cars from 1995-2005 are long gone. They still had outstanding quality in the upholstery for instance. Their quality fell sharply in the late 2000's with the apparition of screens and cheap plastic everywhere the interior of w204 was a disgrace.

The quality died in batches. My early w220 has some rust, which is ridiculous. But the ride is still exceptional, the engine is incredible and the interior, with the leather across the dashboard, is second to none. With each development a new way is found to squeeze the quality lower, but it wasn't all at once. I'll be sad when the rust gets too much.

100% agree

The same goes for Alfa Romeo the other way round. Thanks to the rusty Alfasud from the 70s, they kept that bad reputation for ever.

@Koyaanisqatsi Alfas are just upscale FIATs. Definitely better than the '70's & all, but within 2-3 years, the buttons get sticky, leather panels begin to peel, glass delaminates. Maserati & Ferrari also have these issues. Never buy them new & know what your up against- you'll be happier

...but next quarters profits would decline. Short term thinking drives poor outcomes.

Boring to some, but it would be better for sure. Ford wanted it that way too, but he had to bend to the market.

Sadly the company wouldn't last many years. It is nonviable

It's called death by design for making profit, companies don't care about Climate change.

Lovely! Feel free to send us more details and photographs of your pride and joy on rev.community@dw.com. We love when our viewers share their automotive stories with us. :-)

Great 👍👍👍👍👏👏👏👏

Wow. How many Miles had your w201?

I 100 percent agree I have w124 e280 ‘94 with over 400k miles and never breaks down and it is just so easy to find parts and fix it. It just runs like a new car

Is it 4-speed or 5-speed?

Amazing brother! You own some beautiful cars. Take care of them and enjoy them :)

Still look beautiful today? May I correct you? They look better than today's cars.

Cool, maybe you can mail us some pics Rev.community@dw.com

That is impressive. I couldnt imagine riding around almost daily in some 50s American marshmallow suspension car.

@@DWREV Done. Check your inbox.

amazing how poor the engineering and quality are now by comparison. 2013 C250 junked after cam adjusters failed at 78k miles. 2017 c300 with only 34k miles traded after crankcase vent valve failed at a prospective repair cost of 3$3-5k. should have kept one of my mid 80s turbo diesels.

@@galbraithmp I do agree that 80’s diesels are true german leopards in disguise. As for the modern cars, i drive a 2013 W204 C63 with a naturally aspirated engine that gives me nothing but thrills and joy every time i get in it. As with the old ones, careful and timely maintenance is the key to longevity as well as durability.

I own an E32 BMW 750iL and my uncle has a W124 E300 NA Diesel with almost 400K. I absolutely love his car, very slow but very reliable and just a joy to drive

I have a 1987 420SEL with only 90,000 km on it. My late father bought it new. No plans to ever sell it.

@@yenchang760 would you like to send us a picture of your car? If possible, please send your picture to rev.community@dw.com Thank you! 😊

@Jack L - We would like to hear and see more of your car. Would you like to send us a picture of your car? If possible, please send your picture to rev.community@dw.com Thanks

Neat! Do you drive it regularly? Send us photographs on rev.community@dw.com :-)

Growing up, my family had a W124 which we loved, but quality went down hill with subsequent models. My last German luxury car was an Audi from the mid 2000s, least reliable car I've ever had. Haven't bought another since.

While Mercedes does have some engines from certain eras that are questionable, most of them are pretty reliable. They're more reliable than BMW and Audi. I know someone who, for example, has an A45 AMG. It has a highly strung and powerful 2 litre 4 cylinder engine currently with 280,000 kms and going strong. Other parts though like the interior plastics and fabrics is where they went down. I've seen many newer C Classes like the W205 have awful interior material and build quality with rattles, cracking armrests, peeling aluminium look bits etc. However, mecahnically and safety wise, they're still strong.

@@SDav21 well, BMW's B58 engines are also up there as well, Toyota even put one in their "supra" which is a Z4 chassis with Toyota bits. Highly robust and high compression ratio

The bean counters took over!!! They replaced the old school engineers with the new age college graduates that use robots and aluminum everything and they started hiring women!!!

the engineers no longer have control of what they do its all accountants now sadly

What turbo did you put on? I know the Garrett can take a larger impeller but that can't reach >300hp

They can but the corporate nature of Mercedes nowadays is holding them back and they need to abide by things like emission rules, regulatory compliance, etc. etc. and all that boils down to is additional expenses which means they would have to build their cars on a tight budget.

Nobody will pay the necessary price for a base model Mercedes made to those standards these days.

There is more profit margin to a luxury product, which is why merc is the way it is now.

The key to reliability is simplicity. Unfortunately manufacturers are heading in the other direction.

Wow! How many kilometers did you drive with it?

W124 has the most comfy seats ive ever sat in

Mercedes-benz, The best or nothing.

​@@DWREVHello from Kosovo mate🖐I saw all videos for Mercedes in your youtube chanel congrulations👏.But please can I ask you something about Mercedes to other cars,I'm serching all the time for this answer which I'm sure you can answer to me🙂

In the garage I keep 3 German cars , In the humidor I keep Cuban cigars & An ounce of Jamaican Haze 🫶🏼

@@darthdaddy6983 respect

at how many km did you have to change the timing chain ?

@@BoranundBaran At around 152k kilometres for preventive reasons.

you get what you pay for

@@fredrezfield1629 It is supposed to be a great car and product. The early flaws of the M271 engine is what spoils the reputation. But once you fix them, it's a treat ! Still, I strongly believe that it should have been part of a Mercedes recall, and that's what really bugs me.

@@nickzourb190 M271 engine is shocking all i see is problems with them stick with the old v8s and v6 in my opinion

How many miles have you racked up on the odo? Feel free to send us more details and photographs on rev.community@dw.com :-)

Hi from New Zealand I have a 2002 W210 E320 CDI, also best car I have ever had

I had over 25 years two coupe w124 Automatic ...one 32 valve and later a 16 valve .....best cars ever bild ! one time i thought i have a big problem with the automatic transmision and was sure i had a expansive reparation because it did very late shifting , but it was the katalisator haha ....fixt it my self

facebook market place. dont be afraid to the work urself. usually thats how you score the cheaper mercedes

Lexus are definitely building the reputation Mercedes have lost.

Lexus never made a diesel car. Mercedes is simply a different level of car. Mercedes make industrially engineered cars and lexus does not.

The habits of consumers in the West have changed in general, from more focus at longivity 20-30 years ago and more, towards 'use it and throw it away, buy new'. Most manufacturers have just adapted to meet the wishes of the new generaton. Toyota/Lexus seems to be an exception, with more focus at longivity, making things that last, and less at fancy pricey funtions. and the brand typically got some more grown up customers. I stick to my '95 124 300 diesel, as I love the design and like to maintain everything myself. Got no interest in all the electronics of newer models

🤣

🫶🏼 w211

Happy to hear it’s treating you well

Lovely! Where are you based, and how many clicks on the odo have your cars managed to rack up? We'd love to know. If you like you can also write to us and email us photographs on rev.community@dw.com

The W108 received an engine overhaul in 1995 and it had over 350k km on the odo. She is with my in laws in Jogjakarta Indonesia. The w124 is my daily driver in sydney and it has about 359 K kms. My parent had w123, w116 and W114 and they all provided with the same solid ride and the thumping doors

I dont know about the W204. Engines were reliable but interior material and build quality was awful.

I don't buy the "keep it simple" argument. Not only because the S-Class models (all the way back when there was not a Class to mention, e.g., the W126) - which is the luxury model - that make the Mercedes-Benz the desired brand; but also because the Multilink suspension system was what made the W124 and the W201 so special in terms of affordable comfort. What made Mercedes-Benz so reliable and special was: engineering. Hard, time-consuming, and testing engineering - which is very expensive. After the W140, W124, and W201 in the late '80s and early '90s Mercedes-Benz stopped spending so much money in Research and Development, for both new platforms and new models. The W202 was proof of that, which was a reliable product, because it was quite similar to the W201. However, it did have very little to offer in addition. To contradict critics, the W203 was a quite substantial leap forward, but it went through little testing, and had many issues, with several recalls and bills over the roof. You can see that in your local taxi fleet. In the past, Mercedes-Benz ruled the Taxi market. Nowadays, there are some Mercedes-Benz, but Toyota with its Hybrid solution coupled with reliability; and many EVs, have dominated the Taxi market.

3:05 "They took their time back then, and didn't cost cut to death" This is the true statement!

Do you think the change is true of cars from all manufacturers across the board? Or do you feel it's especially true of manufacturers from Germany?

@@DWREV I think this problem exists through the board. I remember times when the Opel Astra F was called a disaster for Opel because of its low quality. But this type of car runs even after 30 years without problems. And also interior quality wasn't that bad when you compare it to modern Mercedes C-Class...cheap plastics, everything squeeks and rattles. Another example is timing chains. Back than they were all duplex-chains and had no problems with ripping apart or skipping teeth. Today engines die in big numbers because of timing chain failures. And all that has nothing to do with smaller displacement but higher output. Reliability can be planned and enginered! Back than people and also manufacturer thought more about their reputation than maximizing their profit in the short run...

Good point!