Car buyers, beware: If you’re eyeing a Mercedes Benz, it may not be worth the investment. At least, that’s the warning one woman is telling her 21,000 TikTok followers.
Valeria (@_glambyval_) issued the PSA after she said she experienced several issues with her Benz.
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but do not get that Mercedes. Do not get that BMW,” she said. “I have never had more issues with a car.” Instead, she advised viewers to “keep it cute” and stick with other car manufacturers, including Honda, Lexus, and Toyota. As of Monday evening, her TikTok had amassed more than 75,300 views.
Why did the content creator warn against buying a Benz?
Valeria said that her Mercedes is the second car she’s ever had. Still, she said she was “fed up” with the vehicle and its supposed host of problems, including the fact that gas and car insurance are expensive.
“I’ve had it. I’ve had it,” Valeria said. “My patience is gone.”
In 2021, she said, she purchased her first ever car: A Lexus IS 300 with red interior. She said payments on the car were only $400 per month. It was “a perfect freaking car,” Valeria said.
Then, the content creator said that her brother got into a car accident, which convinced her to buy a larger, sturdier vehicle. As a result, Valeria said she leased a Mercedes.
“This was the worst mistake I’ve ever [made],” she said.
While some problems—including how expensive gas is—aren’t unique to Mercedes drivers, most issues Valeria listed were specific to her car. For example, she said that her driver’s door won’t open and that her car’s engine will shut off. She also said that her Mercedes’s dashboard meter is blacked out.
Valeria ended her video with a PSA to views: “Listen to me: Don’t do it. Save yourself the $1,000 car payments… I cannot wait to get rid of this damn car and get myself back into a Lexus. Hell, I might put myself in a Honda just to not have these damn issues anymore.”
Are Mercedes not reliable cars?
There’s not a ton of evidence suggesting that Mercedes are less reliable than other luxury brands. According to Top Speed, though, dependability may vary based on model. It said that the “new C-Class and CLS may suffer from reliability issues, while the S-Class and A-Class are surprisingly reliable options.”
In a 2020 reddit thread, Mercedes users explored whether the cars are reliable, too. While the cars certainly weren’t perfect, viewers didn’t register too many complaints with the vehicle.
“Maintenance is a bit more [than] budget minded vehicle but that’s expected, utterly reliable if taken care of,” one user said.
“They are not cheap to maintain and of course things go wrong,” another added. “But I would not call them unreliable. In fact some of the most reliable vehicles ever produced have been produced by Mercedes Benz.”
“Totally depends on model and year,” a third viewer said. “They’re not as cheap to maintain as the Japanese cars, but generally they’re a hell of a lot more durable over the long haul.”
Indeed, if there was one consistent complaint about Mercedes, it’s that they’re expensive—both to buy and maintain.
@_glambyval_ Yes i have a lemon lawyer 😂 its in the process
♬ original sound – Valeria
“Cost wise they’re expensive to service,” a fourth commenter on the Reddit thread said.
Even so, at least one commenter said they believed that Mercedes are “worth the price of admission.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Valeria via TikTok comment and to Mercedes via email.
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