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:

• 

  Greatest Value in Luxury - 2006 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
  By finance1 - January 19 - 2:23 pm

  Lease on my E-class expired. This car is the deal of the year. Engine more than adquate for highway ramps and passing. Interior features are what you expect in a MB- nice stereo, easy to use navigation. Class styling and at a fraction of new (as this more than adequate engine doesnt seem to get respect in the resale market).

• 

  CLK430 2001 - 2001 Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class
  By Vinh Pham - January 18 - 10:00 am

  Too many problems, at 45k my sunroof and noise problems were still not fixed, new transmission, new car seat motor (3 times, new catalic converter, new A/C drier, sterring wheel shock, new cup holder (2 times), remote door opener, window motor ..... it seems like we dont have good mechanics or poor design, even an aligment took more than 3 times to get it working right, I never had that experience with my Lexus LS400 or Infinity Q45.

• 

  Consumer - 2003 Mercedes-Benz M-Class
  By Merc - January 13 - 10:00 am

  Not up to par on features vis-a-vis competitors in same price range. Significantly improved quality since intro in 98 Already see condensation in left headlight assembly. Will have to get replaced. Not something I would expect in a $50,000 vehicle. Had I not gotten a terrific deal. I would have gone to competition but they are all selling at MSRP or above. (Volvo, Toureg, Cadillac, Lexus) Ridiculous.

• 

  frist time with a mercedes - 2003 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
  By ortho - January 13 - 10:00 am

  fun to drive, better looks than bmw and solid built.....

• 

  Sharp,comfortable luxury car - 2003 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
  By carmbu - January 10 - 4:53 pm

  After about 50,000 miles, i still enjoy to drive the C240 everyday to work. It has never stranded me, and is a comfortable highway cruiser with decent gas mileage getting about 28mpg highway, though with just 168hp, I thought it would be better. I maintain it well and the interior and exterior look like the day I bought it. The car has been to the dealership though about 8 unscheduled times for various issues such as both catalytic converters failing, speaker failure, headlight assembly failure and battery dying without any warning. Still, all covered under warranty.

• 

  Hard to trade in this elegant workhorse - 2000 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
  By Warren Woessner - January 6 - 6:33 am

  I live in Minnesota, so bought the car new with the 4matic feature. I love the way it looks inside and out and it has been mechanically very very reliable. I only have 50000 miles on it now in 2008 and it is starting to show its age a bit. The most serious things that have broken are both rear window power lifts, but the repair costs were not outrageous. Adequately powered by todays standards (barely), still I cant bear to part with it. And it looks better than the new ones.

• 

  2008 ML350 - 2008 Mercedes-Benz M-Class
  By spicoli - January 2 - 5:06 pm

  Too new to be totally fair with this vehicle, just bought it October 18. The SUV only has 101 miles however we have already received a warning message indicating a problem with the rear tail light. The dealership wants me to bring it back in however they are over 40 miles from my house and this vehicle is leased. Kind of soured me on the whole "new car" experience. So far we like the SUV and it has a lot of power, especially compared to my X5 which was terribly slow. I will follow back with a reliability report and how this issue is handled by MBUSA.

• 

  How can you forget me? - 2004 Mercedes-Benz M-Class
  By Keih - December 31 - 2:00 am

  Love this vehicle except for the electronic quirks. Every so often the doors lock and will not unlock even with the key and certainly not with the remote. The memory seats lose their memory and the console computer loses the date and the language defaults to German. I have had it in three times for this and even changing the computer has not stopped these intermident problems. However, over all I am very satisfied with the power, finish and reliability of the M-Class

• 

  Dont Buy One - 2004 Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class
  By Scubabelle - December 26 - 10:00 am

  I immediately had problems (sunroof rattle, rattle/creaking from the dash, poor a/c, squeeking brakes, etc.). The dealership couldnt "duplicate" the problems and denied they existed. My car was in the shop approx 20+ days in nine months. I called the dealership, its owner (AutoNation) and Mbz Customer Relations. After approx 50 calls (no exaggeration), I finally got Mbz to buy it back under the Calif. Lemon Law. They kept putting me off hoping I would go away. The only reason I got them to buy it back is because I didnt give up - certainly not because anyone cared about doing the right thing. I will never buy a Mercedes again.

• 

  the tires are not great - 2011 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
  By beiz - December 18 - 1:37 pm

  My 2009 C300 sports 4matic is good in general. After driven 16,000 miles, I heard noise at highway speed. I took it to the dealer and they could not find anything wrong but charged me $50 for the check. 2 months later, I still felt its too noisy at high speed. I took the car to a different dealer and was told that the continent tire making the noise. They recommended to replace the four tires with a price over $1000. I couldnt believe the news. I paid over $40,000 for the car with expensive package and assumed Mercedes-Benz had the quality free of worry. It turned out the car used a cheap tire on it. With only 16,000 miles of normal city driving, the tires need to be replaced!