Overview & Reviews

"Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz?" That's the opening line of "Mercedes-Benz," a song most famously recorded by singer Janis Joplin in the early 1970s. The tune gently poked fun at materialism and our desire for the finer things in life. It's fitting that the renowned German marque figures prominently in the lyric. Mercedes-Benz has long been known for crafting vehicles that emphasize luxury and refinement. For many, its vehicles are sleek symbols of status, success and good taste.

In January of 1886, Karl Benz unveiled the world's first automobile, a three-wheeled vehicle dubbed the Benz Patent Motor Car. A few months later, Gottlieb Daimler and his chief engineer Wilhelm Maybach rolled out a four-wheeled vehicle powered by his Daimler engine. The first Mercedes was crafted in 1901, shortly after Daimler's death. Built by Maybach, the car was commissioned by Emil Jellinek, one of Daimler's primary distributors, and was ultimately named after Jellinek's daughter, Mercedes.

In 1926, the companies founded by Daimler and Benz merged to form Daimler-Benz AG, and the Mercedes-Benz brand was born. The company's insignia was a three-pointed star wreathed in a laurel; the star was dreamed up by Daimler years earlier, and its three points signified the fact that his engines were used in vehicles that traveled land, air and sea.

Right from the start, the Mercedes-Benz name was synonymous with automotive excellence. One of the automaker's earliest vehicles, the 1931 Mercedes-Benz 170, distinguished itself as the world's first production car to offer a technology that was nothing short of extraordinary for the day: four-wheel independent suspension. The '30s and '40s saw Mercedes establishing itself as the brand of choice for car buyers seeking the ultimate in luxury, thanks to coveted cruisers like the 380 and 540K.

The 1950s witnessed the introduction of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL "Gullwing," a sports car that has been described as being the world's first supercar. With its dramatic styling and race-bred technology, the 300 SL reigns today as a classic coveted by collectors worldwide. The decade also saw Daimler-Benz making strides in the area of safety technology. The company's Mercedes-Benz 220 sedans were the first vehicles to incorporate its patented "crumple zone" body design, created to absorb impact in the event of a crash.

In 1963, the company cemented its reputation as the home of automotive luxury with the launch of the Mercedes-Benz 600. The elegant, luxurious sedan was also available as a limousine and featured an ahead-of-its-time air suspension system and a V8 engine that boasted 300 horsepower. The decade also saw the launch of the Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3. This full-size sedan went from zero to 60 in under seven seconds, distinguishing itself as the quickest luxury car is its day.

The 1970s saw the birth of the brand's storied S-Class line of vehicles, opulent sedans and coupes that coddled passengers with powerful engines and a long list of luxury features. The decade also saw Mercedes continuing on the cutting edge of safety technology, by being the first to offer antilock brakes in its vehicles.

Daimler-Benz's safety advancements continued in the 1980s. Its cars were the first to offer airbags and traction control. The manufacturer also raised the bar in terms of ride comfort and handling when it introduced multilink rear suspension. The technology debuted on the compact Mercedes-Benz 190 E, and it remains a vital component of the company's chassis engineering to this day.

Mercedes-Benz vehicles got an extra dose of power and performance in the 1990s, thanks to the manufacturer's partnership with AMG, a performance and tuning shop that was eventually purchased by the company to help produce ultra-high-performance versions of some of its vehicles. The first AMG model offered in the U.S. was the sporty C36 AMG in 1995; since then, Mercedes has gone on to offer an AMG-tuned version of almost all of its vehicles.

The company's current lineup is the most comprehensive in its history. With a variety of sedans, coupes, SUVs and roadsters filling Mercedes showrooms, it seems like the only thing missing is a pickup truck. Surely, the fact that Janis Joplin's song holds as much relevance today as it did four decades ago is a strong indicator that the brand's premier status is still very much intact.

User Reviews:

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  Too many problems for 80k car - 2003 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
  By Doug Long - March 3 - 10:00 am

  Our car has been in the shop way too much for a car of this price. We are at 60000 now and have real problems. Will trade out in the near future...maybe a lexus

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  Not bad - 2006 Mercedes-Benz M-Class
  By David K - March 2 - 9:20 pm

  My first MB. Has rough downshift from 2nd to 1st gear. Acceleration gets better after 500+ miles. One day after a heavy rain, the CD player failed to eject the CD and displayed "no CD" in the unit and I had to use a plier to pull it out. The rear door also failed to open at the same time.

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  pleasure to review S550 - 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
  By kiri desai - March 1 - 11:37 pm

  Great car, you got to experience it.

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  Buy extended warranty, maintainence$$$ - 2006 Mercedes-Benz M-Class
  By don - March 1 - 10:00 am

  Dealership charges $600 for glorified oil change (schedule C). Have had for 4 yrs only about 7000 mi/yr. Now my warranty is up- last month. Only 28,000 mi., I have had numerous transmission problems, only the Mercedes dealership will take care of it. Have spent over $5000 since warranty out.

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  Amazing Benz - 2010 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class
  By NH Benz guy - March 1 - 10:00 am

  I love this car. I traded in my 2008 Saab 9-3 aero xwd for it. I loved my saab so much but I needed more room and since I moved to the city, got tired of the standard transmission. The GLK has great edgy looks and a powerful V6. The 268 hp in this car feels so much better than in the ML350 since it weighs hundreds of pounds less. Great long distance comfort and very stable at high speeds. Had it up to 120 and it felt rock solid as a true Mercedes should.

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  what I think. - 2006 Mercedes-Benz CL-Class
  By DD - February 28 - 10:33 pm

  While there isnt much visual differences between the CL500,600,55 the 65 stands alone when it comes to power. The 604hp is almost too much for the rear wheels. I wish it had all wheel drive and was about 1500lbs lighter and was truly stand out that this vehicle cost close to $200K I was tempted to leave the window sticker permanently in the window. I also wish MB would not have put a governor on the vehicle it tops out at 155 where it still has plenty of room to stretch out to the 200 mark. I admit I dont feel 100% safe driving at the mid triple mark speeds b/c it is close to 6K lbs and would hate to have to try to stop or make a swerve If cash is tight go buy a BMW

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  Edmunds and Carfax excellent research tools - 2014 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class
  By Craig Wojciekofsky - February 28 - 3:44 pm

  get the Carfax report

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  You will think this is SUV is awesome if you havent driven a lexus ever... - 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class
  By Udaya Liyanage - February 28 - 3:25 pm

  I own 2014 GL550 for more than a year now. At best, this is an OK SUV. This is my second and last GL. MB does not have the reliability, built quality or attention to detail to warrant the price tag and more than $10k premium over other SUVs. GL is annoyingly unreliable. Keyfob stops working when it gets cold. You can get stranded outside your car in a cold night if your keyfob happens to get cold for whatever reason. Disctronic plus and Presafe features stop working in the middle of driving when its rainy or snowy outside, when you need them most. I reported to MB customer service and dealership to no await. Other owners seem to have similar annoying problems they get used to. Why pay 100k?

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  Better than our former 2008 E350 - 2011 Mercedes-Benz GLK-Class
  By whoever - February 27 - 12:10 pm

  We just returned and terminated our 3-year leased 2008 E350 5 months earlier last week and decided to lease this 2-wheel drive GLK-350. We have driven the E350 for the 3rd year but could never get used to it, because every time we got into it, we felt cramped and always got the phobia with lot of blind spots all around, its wheel base is too long to make easy turns into any shopping center entrance opening, as the right rear wheel would often hit and ride on the curb and keep damaging the wheel rim and the tire. The E350 drive side rear-view mirror is equipped with a dark auto-dim film, so it makes the driving at night often impaired and dangerous, and its a very stupid over-killed fixture.

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  Gotta Love It! - 2007 Mercedes-Benz GL-Class
  By browniemtb - February 27 - 12:03 pm

  We order a new 07 X5 but after having borrowed the demo from the dealer we found the X5 still to small for a family. Still has the BMW performance though. So we purchased the GL450 and found that it has the size for the family and pretty decent performance. The interior features are great and the safety features are even better. Mercedes did a nice job with this vehicle and I think they hit a high luxury SUV market that BMW has yet to hit. If you need room for kids and cargo look no further! I just hope the build quality coming out of Alabama is better than Ive read in the past.