Mr Wilfred Stefen
Daimler Chrysler UK Ltd
Tongwell
Milton Keynes
MK15 8BA

8^th March 04

Dear Mr Stefen,

Having been a proud Mercedes-Benz owner since 1990 with my first ever 190 and my father also owning a selection of MB products from the old 220/8 in 1971 culminating with his ownership of an S Class in later years. I have considered myself to be a bit of an MB enthusiast, also being a member of the MB Owners Club and MB Owners Association in the UK.

It saddens me to feel that I have to write to you to express my dissatisfaction with the MB product that I have unfortunately purchased from MB-Direct. I am the unhappy owner of a 2003 Mercedes ML270CDI Auto. Since I have had this car I have been hoping that I would get used to it and that I would start to like it and that maybe it would "grow on me". After 4 months to the day, I can honestly say that I really wish I had taken out the GAP insurance that was offered to me at the time of purchase, so that I could drive the car into a wall or set fire to it and recoup all that I had spent on it !

Although MB-Direct in Birmingham have offered to take the vehicle in part exchange for another MB product, I have spent an additional £2,000 on top of the original purchase price, which I think was £31,500K (although this initial purchase price is difficult to establish, as I was entitled to some MB Owners club discount) for the vehicle. What I have been trying to obtain is a price from MB (as you know the product and this car in particular !) to purchase the vehicle back, this is proving to be almost impossible as MB-Direct were not keen to offer a price and my local dealer still hasn't called me back about a price for the vehicle. I feel so disappointed with this vehicle, that I really do not want to be tied into any MB product anymore and am seriously considering either a new Range Rover or a Toyota Amazon, with my own feelings steering me to the latter. I do not normally complain, but in this case, I feel that unless I put pen to paper, my feelings and the feelings of other disgruntled MB owners (details of which can be found on the 2 MB club web-sites in the UK) will not be heard.

I feel that you are misleading potential purchasers with the claims that you make for the ML on your website, my reasons are as follows:-

1. Ride

   Your advertising says "And unlike ordinary off-roaders, when you're driving in the city or

   cruising down the motorways, it drives like a luxury saloon" ...well I find that the ride is absolutely dreadful and it feels like the vehicle is on solid tyres, every pothole reverberates into the cabin and after even a short journey I feel absolutely worn out. It is by no means a relaxing car to drive, in fact I would consider this to be the worst car that I have ever driven from this respect, offering no possibility of relaxation or enjoyment. I previously owned a 1995 SL320 and supplemented this with a 1998 Ford Explorer for children carrying and for transporting goods. I do not consider that the ML is as comfortable or as relaxing to drive as my old Ford Explorer with over 100,000miles on the clock and a purchase price of £6,000 a year ago. In a attempt to solve this problem I have spoken to MB Technical and they suggested I speak to my local dealer, they in turn cannot suggest anything else apart from smaller wheels and bigger tyres to "insulate" you from the road. When I then tried to get a set of steel wheels for the car (which, to me would seem to be the cheapest option) they said they cant get any, so that leaves me to get another set of alloy wheels and tyres, to see if that will make a difference. Brabus and the other Mercedes tuners also cannot offer a solution.
    

2. Economy

   Again I take issue with your advertising. In my experience I find it difficult to better 25mpg, which is a combination of both motorway and city driving, your advertising suggests that I should be attaining around 30mpg (combined). This again puts it on a par with my 1998 4Litre V6 Petrol Ford Explorer, from which I get between 20-25MPG, 25MPG being the combined figure, the lower figure is for all town driving. This seems to suggest that I have spent Thirty odd thousand pounds on a Mercedes diesel for no actual benefit (well, no benefit to me anyway !)
    

3. Refinement

   In a car whose initial purchase price from new was somewhere in the region of £37,000 you would expect a large degree of comfort and refinement. May I firstly say that I was dreading changing my car because of other owners comments and I felt that I would be disappointed. In this case only to be proven absolutely right in having these fears. The vehicle is only refined if you compare it to a Diesel Sprinter or Transit Van and then only in that it is trimmed in leather inside, carries 5 people and has air conditioning. In every other respect these load carriers offer a similar ride, but with the addition of better economy and increased carrying capacity, but at a greatly reduced cost and subsequent depreciation.
    

4. Quality

   Internal panel fit is poor and there is a persistent squeaking when turning the steering wheel either way, The heater has an intermittent fault, but only on cold mornings so the dealer cannot do anything about it unless it persists ! The drivers seat base looks like it has been removed from a high mileage vehicle and fitted into this 16,000 mile car and the vehicle smells of exhaust fumes internally. I am given to understand that this 03model is better than the earlier ones, but this just goes to show how MB standards and quality have slipped over the last few years. I do not know if you are familiar with the consumer magazine "Which" it is similar to JD Power in the US. "Which" magazine produces a report based on car owner surveys. Their October 2003 survey indicates that MB have slipped 2 places from "best" to just "average" for reliability and it is the newest cars from 2001 that are letting drivers down, 61% of owners were satisfied with dealers when buying (which was above the average) and 51% when servicing which was just about on the average. If your product is now an "Average" product, then why don't you charge "Average" prices for it. If you are marketing yourself as a "Premium" product with subsequent premium pricing, then you must have standards and quality to match.
    

5. Depreciation

Getting back to just the ML, I noticed the following comment on your web-site "it's hard to believe you're driving what has been described as one of the ultimate off-roaders" well I certainly agree with this comment because I just shudder to think what driving something worse could be like !

I am sorry to have to make these comments to you, but I thought I would always be able to rely on MB for a quality product and that my only decision in buying another vehicle would be which one to choose, whether sports, saloon, estate or 4x4. I feel that my wife has had the best idea, she picks up her Audi Cabriolet in 2 weeks time and as soon as I can sell my ML, I will be doing the same, we will then have an end to our association stretching back some 33 years.

Yours sincerely

Nick Ratcliffe
Marketing Director
Daimler Chrysler UK Ltd
Tongwell
Milton Keynes MK15 8BA

Customer Reference 3828996

7^th May 2004

Dear Mr Ratcliffe,

Thank you for your letter accompanying the Mercedes magazine which was dated March last. I hesitated to respond as I have been in correspondence with Daimler Chrysler UK regarding my total disappointment with the Mercedes ML270CDI that I purchased in December 03 from MB Direct.

I would like you to print the letter enclosed to Wilfrid Stefen in your publication as I think it would be useful for customers both old and new to truly understand how Mercedes quality standards have slipped so that they can make a properly informed decision when spending £30K plus on a new vehicle.

The build quality of the ML, both inside and outside is appalling and the only description that I can offer on the vehicle is that is like driving a "shed on wheels". Please see the copy of my letter to Wilfrid Stefen disputing Mercedes’ claims for the vehicle and asking for Mercedes to take the vehicle back and give me my money back or a reasonable proportion of it bearing in mind that I just cannot drive the car, it is sitting in my garage losing money and gathering dust and that no-one else seems interested in the vehicle either.

The whole exercise of buying a new Mercedes to replace both my old 1995 SL and Ford Explorer load carrier has made what should have been a pleasant experience into a costly nightmare both mentally and financially for me. I always thought I could rely on Mercedes for producing quality cars, well this is just not the case any more, so much so that I have totally lost interest in your product and the sooner I can dispose of my ML the better. Please remove my details from your database, I do not wish to have any marketing information from Daimler Chrysler UK ever again.

The way I feel at the moment is that I will never buy a Mercedes again and I will make sure that I inform as many people and publications of my recent experiences with your product as I possibly can,

Yours sincerely

Chris Kisielewski