£500 for a company car? How much would PCP be a month on the same car?

I believe you and would never touch a VW again, well not until they sort their quality control out anyway, same with Mercedes. Do Skodas have the same reliability issues as all I hear are good things about the VRS.

185k and counting with the only mot failure being a leaky steering rack :D
Still on original clutch, battery, turbo and exhaust :D

That is really odd. How can Skoda get it right yet VW/Audi, the premium arm of VAG get it so wrong?

God knows :D

These are pretty impressive ratings from 125 owners. Would be a little hesitant in buying a car that size with 200bhp though.

It is a Golf underneath so I'm guessing they can't be that weighty :)

Hmm, they look chunky. I thought they were more Passat size than Golf. I started another thread on here regarding a Lancer Ralliart being a possible next car, I may have found another contender.

1360kg from what I can see on the interset :D

What year Mercedes though? I know there build quality was shocking from 1999-2006 but supposed to be back on form after that.

That was build quality. There is plenty more I could go into from my experience. Rusting is another issue and I have rusting panels that are 2-3 years old.

I would be interested too as i have a 2012 C class on my short list for a replacement car later this year.....

Nik

quote=mattvortex;10988613]What year Mercedes though? I know there build quality was shocking from 1999-2006 but supposed to be back on form after that.[/quote]

Gonna say surely they have a corrosion warranty

Last merc I done paint work on was probably a 10 plate. Painted the bonnet and when i feathered back the stone chips the corrosion wasn't just where the chip had broke the galv it had crepet right under it so a tiny chip was about 2 inches across. Not good as the car was a year old at max.

Only if you keep the servicing within the MB dealership. They have a 30 year policy which after 6 is almost impossible to claim... that's just the MB way, and logic unfortunately.

My mate had a 1 year old SL AMG with rust on the boot. He didn't have any issues getting it done for free though.

Irrespective of it getting done for free it just shouldn't happen should it. Such a massive company with a good reputation but this problem seems to slip everybody's minds.

No it shouldnt. Mercedes handling of issues like this makes it even worse. There are some pretty horrific stories on mbcub.co.uk one where Mercedes kept a customers car for 6 years as there was a dispute over who should claim against warranty work. Mercedes eventually lost in court but they dragged it on with counter claims and appeals in the hope that the customer would be worn down and realise that the depreciation would be the biggest lost. It was stubbornness and principle that made the customer dig his heals in.
Mercedes then won a lawsuit that prevented the customer from divulging for 5 years and only now has this come to light.

That is disgusting!! I personally wouldn't spend my hard earned on a merc they just don't tick a single box for me what so ever but for people who do love them and spend money on them it's a shocking way to repay them for buying there cars!

Link?

I'd like to read the full story on how a car can be held for 6 years :eek:

Nik

Ill have a look. I read it a year ago and couldnt find the link the last time I mentioned it on here. I dont know whether it was under legal advice but it appears to have disappeared. Either that or Im not searching properly.

Edit - Ive given up Im afraid after 20 minutes. I cant remember what the fault was and have tried all combinations of words that I can remember, 'held at dealers', '5 years courts', etc.
They held it as he refused to pay for the work.

Ive just this minute contacted the dealer after finding more rust. The door in question has already been replaced, so that would make it 3 different rear offside doors over its 6 1/2 year life due to rust!

that's sad, I wont have mine for more than 3 years as it will be a company 1.

slowly going off mercs.

To be honest Vauxhalls have been good to me, easy to fix cheap and not too bad to drive.

Don't go off mercs, I was lucky enough to have a brand new C250 Eco Blue Thingy Diesel on hire last year, doing some good fun journeys like Essex to Holyhead by way of the lakes and valleys.

One day I needed to get to Preston from London, during rush hour, she pulled to 140 on the M6 toll as well as, if not better than the Scoob, and given my heavy right foot did a heck of a good mpg - not sure what other car would have done this journey at this speed at a better mpg:

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d3...j/c9dc058f.jpg

But perhaps of more relevance is that having driven a decent range of vehicles in 2012 I noted that only in the Merc would I get to the end of the journey and realise the car had done EVERYTHING perfectly, I would travel 200+ miles and not have touched a single solitary button during that time, not been uncomfortable or left tired. And on top of that it made you realise just how crap the steering is in Audis.

Different people place different values on cars. When you do not need to pay for any repairs yourself you see cars very differently to how those who do see them.

Well done - there's nowt like going steady in rush hour!

I'm yet to see any traffic on the M6 toll! :)

Can u elaborate on how Audi steering is crap? How do u reach this conclusion? Personally i think it's perfect.

It has the weird habit of never settling in a dead straight line at high speeds on motor ways, always very fidgety and inaccurate. It must be something about the VW group steering set up, because I know of a few friends with Seats who complain of the same issue. You are forever having to correct the self centering mechanism....which doesn't self center effectively or accurately. Truth be told I found it a major irritant.

Plus there is absolutely no feel when you hustle one down country lanes and the first you know about understeer isn't when your finger tips tell you, but when the trees at the side of the road get much closer to your wind screen than you want!

To be clear the last two Audis I drove both suffered from completely uninvolving and vague steering, they were a brand new A6 and A5.

My a5 is far from vague. Granted its not as responsive as some cars but for a executive saloon I find it excellent. I haven't noticed the steering wandering one bit. A guess people have different driving styles and habits but I honestly can't fault it. Compared to mercs and bmws av driven I find it far superior.