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Here’s Why People Hate Mercedes
The VIN sticker on the door jamb reads December 2020 for the 2021 model year, the Alabama plant where Mercedes-Benz manufactures utility vehicles like there’s no tomorrow since the ML for the 1998 model year, and MPV instead of SUV. This GLE is a thoroughbred AMG that costs $113,950 at the very least and more than $150,000 in this very spec.
As for the headline, well, let’s begin with the first issue that Scotty Kilmer identifies on this vehicle. Weld spatter on the passenger door’s jamb wore some paint off the door even though it’s been reportedly fixed by the dealership. Even though it’s a like-new sport utility vehicle with very few miles on the hand-built V8 engine assembled in Affalterbach by one man from start to finish, the driver-side mirror wasn’t made correctly.
Three speakers are already kaput, the windshield washer reservoir cap doesn’t fit right, the oh-so-cool Panamericana front grille had to be replaced because the bolts were tightened so tight from the factory that the plastic developed cracks and the powerplant had some idling problems from the factory. Scotty Kilmer also finds a plethora of diagnostic trouble codes after hooking up his fancy scan tool to the GLE 63 S through the OBDII port.
In chronological order, the 68-year-old mechanic finds communication malfunctions with the electronic ignition lock and steering column module, a communication malfunction with the interior ambient lighting, implausible data received from the control unit of the radar sensors, a malfunction of sorts with the start/stop system, an incorrect signal from the infotainment system, an invalid signal from the AMG Drive Unit, a malfunction with the telematics services solution, and a general electrical fault between the digital instrument cluster and touchscreen infotainment system.
For the range-topping GLE with just 21,000 miles (33,796 kilometers) on the clock, a $150,000 price tag, and less than a year since it rolled off the assembly line in Tuscaloosa, these faults are completely unacceptable. If you ask me, the peeps at Mercedes-Benz should change their self-indulging catchline from “the best or nothing” to “the best money pit or nothing.”
