Yeah, I was in it just the other day. Its like 2.5 years old. I interacted with the car in a normal way, I didn't bang on parts of the guys interior no.

The point is you have to judge a product by its contemporaries. I still stand by the statement that the C Class has the best interior of the class. If you go pushing on ANY car and trying to find something that feels cheap, you will.

 

Talking about build quality, I have no rattles or squeaks in my 2002 ES300 or in my 2015 Ram 1500. My wife's 2014 civic on the other hand is a joke.

Anyway, I have not yet had a chance to sample a 2019 ES, but when I do I will report back here. I have a hunch that it will be a best in class interior again.

 

Thanks for agreeing. Its just a pattern I have notice on ClubLexus. The Lexus ES is getting hosed for its build quality, which is pretty good but not the best. And I'm happy people are calling it out since that's the way to improve a car. However - we never get this level of hosing or criticism for German cars on ClubLexus though. Everyone on here seems to love the German cars here - one way or the other.
I think one Lexus Enthusiast user said it best, when he claimed that a lot of ClubLexus Car Chat members aren't Lexus owners anymore and have moved onto to German cars but stick around to comment.

Like my daddy always said, "Son - if you get a MD, JD or Ph.D, you can write BS and people will believe you." Similarity - when you have as much prestige as MB, you can sell something with a glaring issues and people will look pass it.

I wouldn't say all. But there are some specific brands and models that have this issue more often than not. I know it sounds crazy but I think my friends 07 Acura TSX build quality is better than my other friend's 2015 W205 C300. The C300 is already experiencing rattles and squeaks.

I wouldn't call what I did "banging" on the interior of my friend's C300. Its just pushing the sides and the edges of it. Hell - I actually wouldn't have notice if my friend didn't tell me to do it.

Here's some videos for your reference, if you care (its not me in the video but the person in the video did the same pushing I did):

Its the base trim in the first video but the wood trim does the same thing...

Lastly - your argument of pushing on any car, you'll likely find something cheap is a poor way to defend MB for this. Face it - MB has some squeaky parts it shouldn't have - especially for a car that nears 60K with all options selected. Saying its the best interior its not the same as saying it has the best build quality. I think the interior of the C300 interior looks good too but the build quality meh at best.

 

Class hierarchy, people just want to ***** about something they probably will never own. (whether they are down class or up a class over the ES)

I think part of the illusion for Mercedes is that they set the trend for the idea of what is new and in style. Their design changes when they do them really advance the idea of planned obsolescence of what is now "in style" So when you achieve that, people tend to overlook things. You get a very "wonderful" feeling when you sit inside a new Mercedes. It is further enhanced when at the dealer away from competitors cars as well.

 

that C class obviously is poorly made vehicle that looks nice... i wasn't aware of it before, but just checked some UK reliability sites and owner reviews are atrocious. It is specifically for C class too, their other models are better rated.

 

Well. I don't think Mercedes really set the trend for "what's in". I think what Mercedes Benz is good at is offering premium features but for a price. I say this is good because half the times to almost all the time - MB is usually the one that this type of tech or feature first. This could also give people the perception that everything Mercedes Benz makes is golden.

Credit to where credit is due. Its great that MB offers new tech faster than the rest of the competition. This is something I sort of wish the Lexus ES had, to be honest. I wish Lexus would increase the introduction of new tech. But, I can also see why the Lexus ES didn't do that or why Lexus doesn't do this. Lexus (Toyota) makes cars in small and simple packages geared to what people need. Also - it plays into the culture of Japan as well. Japanese culture isn't into the "luxury" car market. Lexus doesn't sell that well Asia and some Toyota models are known to be actually pretty "luxurious" over there.
^Getting back to the ES a little bit. Because of how Toyota is - I predict majority of the packaged Lexus ES will be just the F-Sport or luxury package (not Ultra Luxury). Also majority will carry no Triple LED Beam headlights. Just like how the Lexus GS - you'll be hard press to find a Triple Beam headlight model. Or how usually - the NX/RX don't have that much triple beam headlights. Or how Lexus never made an enough to bring the Triple Beam headlights to the Lexus IS from Japan (and other countries) to the USA.

That's what I have been saying. The C-Class W205 is a poorly made vehicle (bad build quality) but looks nice on the inside.

There is definitely tons of reviews knocking the build quality. The problem is how the community dismisses it because its a Mercedes Benz. There are forum posts on MBWorld that talks about this. However - these usually get off track and get dismissed quickly by hardcore regular forum posters claiming either "troll" or "just a hater trying to knock down Mercedes Benz because they are the best."

 

Those videos are really bad, next time I'm in his I will try that stuff out. He's a car guy like I am, I'm pretty confident that if he had those issues he would have told me about it. He's getting ready to buy the car out of the lease so he's clearly happy with it.

I think sadly though these sorts of things are just commonplace with cars today.

 

Context please. I wanna know how these videos are bad? They clearly show issues within the C-Class W205 line. Its literally laid out for you. If you choose not to believe it for whatever reason, that's you. But the fact is - video proof = real. This is on top of tons of build quality reviews on the C300.

Commonplace among cars? Not true at all. Again - I refer to my friend's 07 Acura TSX. His car is literally clocking in at over 120K miles at 11 years. The interior only has one rattle (which is the glove box) and everything still feels solid. The thing is - its not common among all cars. Some cars fair better in build quality and some don't. If we are talking overall build quality of a brand, Lexus or the Japanese cars beat Germans everything on build quality. If we are talking about materials and tech features, that's another story.

Lastly - bias and psychology has a lot to do with this. There are BMW drivers that believe BMW are more reliable than a Honda or Toyota. Two things - either your friend doesn't know or your friend is ignoring it through bias. He obviously love his car - as any car guy would. But there's an objective car guy and a bias one.
These are obviously noticeable on MBWorld forum post - where people shut down "negative" talk about Mercedes Benz. Even when evidence is shown - Mercedes Benz forum users will typically say, and I quote, "Its a one off situation." "You are a troll." "Just another hater because they can't stand MB being #1." and etc.. This typical mentality is toxic. We have to be all objective of all cars - even the cars we love. This is how we improve cars for everyone in the future.

 

squeaks are a standard luxury feature.

Just look at the 3GS. An orchestra of styrofoam rubbing, rattling, clicking.

 

You misunderstand me. What I meant was the quality issues shown within the video are really bad.

Yeah, your friends Acura is a 2007. Its generations ago. My comment was that this sort of thing has become commonplace TODAY, in 2018. I sit in and drive a lot of cars, and its rare that I sit in a car that I don't think has some area where theres something crappy about the product's quality, and that didnt used to be the case. Sit in modern Acuras...

I've never even owned a Mercedes, so no pro MB Bias here. I have never owned any German car.

 

Rattles are the worst. I've been lucky enough to not have had any on my IS350 or RX350, or my current Highlander. My GS350 had one initially but it seems to have cured itself and is gone.

The two worst cars I've had for rattles were my 2005 Acura TSX followed closely by my 2006 Scion tC.

 

Same with my IS. Seems all the rattles I have had are winter-only rattles.

TBH, I think rattles are acceptable after a certain mileage, but maybe not in the relatively-new-car realm (say, 30k or fewer miles), and certainly not for fresh-off-the-showroom-floor vehicles. At that point, you can't blame crappy roads or neglect by the driver. FWIW, haven't experienced any rattles with any other Lexus I have driven, either.

However some general squeaky/bendy plastics are acceptable until you get in the upper echelon of premium cars. Just my take on it. And to SW17LS's point, most people don't randomly touch the interior anyway.

 

Oh apologizes. I didn't know you meant the issues were bad. It seem like you called the videos bad from your statement.

Yeah. The Acura from 2007 is a generation ago. I was using as context. That something from 07 can still be this good today. I would like to point out that German cars from 2007 tend to be holding up on the crappier end today. Acuras has gotten worst over time. I won't deny that. But if we are talking about how overall companies build quality has dropped over time as a whole? Sure. It could be said if compared to older cars. But - there is still no denying that Japanese cars of today still have better build quality than Germans overall.

Of course - I know you don't own a MB and I wasn't suggesting you had a pro MB bias. Sorry if I implied it by accident. With that being said - its possible for people to still support MB or don't fault MB at all w/o actually owning one. A lot of reviewers online have a pro German bias - while its possible they don't even own German either. The power of the badge is great.

 

you definitely picked a bad generation. the 3gs was the worst gs i have had. the 4gs is so much better when it comes to build quality

 

I wonder if it had anything to do with the stiff sidewalls on the OEM Dunlop Sport 2050's which are very quiet, but very "thumpy" over bumps?
I will switch over to Pirelli Cinturato P1 225/50R17 98W's soon to find out if softer sidewalls makes any difference at all.