http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/d...rticleId=105280

Quality Problems Leave DaimlerChrysler Chief Lost In Stuttgart

Date Posted 04-05-2005

Mercedes-Benz

STUTTGART, Germany — DaimlerChrysler chairman Jürgen Schrempp himself was a victim of his company's faulty navigation system; the one in his car got him lost — three times.

In an ironic twist, the system couldn't find its way round Stuttgart — the city where Mercedes is headquartered. Schrempp said the navigation system on his Mercedes kept telling him to turn around as he was driving. "I realized only after the third time that there was a problem," he said.

Schrempp told German magazine Der Spiegel the problems were caused by giving too much responsibility for product development to suppliers: "It was wrong to rely fully and completely on system suppliers who supply a complete navigation system or an engine management system and thereby to trust that these parts work when they are brought together in the car." Mercedes recently had to recall 1.3 million cars because of technical faults.

Schrempp could face an angry showdown with shareholders at the DaimlerChrysler annual meeting this week. Shareholders are upset about the Mercedes quality problems and could vote not to ratify management's actions in protest; effectively a vote of no confidence in Schrempp.

What this means to you: Be glad you weren't on the other end of that phone call from Schrempp's lost car. Furthermore, this admission comes from a man who doesn't often admit to mistakes — so he must know the bad navigation might soon be the least of his troubles.

Wonder what would happen if he tried out an I-Drive?

I don't really get the point of the article. The author is saying that the navigation system giving poor directions is MB's fault? Don't all car companies outsource that? If he/she is trying to say that they don't pay close enough attention to the quality of the parts and supplies that they (MB) are receiving from suppliers, then fine, but the navigation system was a very poor example with which to illustrate that point.

I don't really get the point of the article. The author is saying that the navigation system giving poor directions is MB's fault? Don't all car companies outsource that? If he/she is trying to say that they don't pay close enough attention to the quality of the parts and supplies that they (MB) are receiving from suppliers, then fine, but the navigation system was a very poor example with which to illustrate that point.Are you saying that if your transmission fails (since it is made by Getrag and not Lexus) that you will blame Getrag and not Lexus?? :egads:

I couldn't care less who makes what in my OEM Lexus car, if something fails, Lexus is to blame not the company that made the part.

Are you saying that if your transmission fails (since it is made by Getrag and not Lexus) that you will blame Getrag and not Lexus?? :egads:

I couldn't care less who makes what in my OEM Lexus car, if something fails, Lexus is to blame not the company that made the part.

I completely agree with you. It's not just the part, it's the whole brand at stake.

Are you saying that if your transmission fails (since it is made by Getrag and not Lexus) that you will blame Getrag and not Lexus?? :egads:

I couldn't care less who makes what in my OEM Lexus car, if something fails, Lexus is to blame not the company that made the part.

excellent point. you go to mcdonald and get a piece of burger that's bad, do you go after mcdonald or the place that makes that burger piece? ......

even the lexus nav system i believe lexus get other companies to work on it, but they are taking full responsibility (look at the issues on the 04 ls430 nav). the manufacturer has full responsibility to make sure the stuff on their cars work

I don't think y'all understand me. If the antenna or receiver or whatever of the GPS system were to fail, sure it's the supplier, but I'd still lay blame with MB. But this failure sounds like a failure of the map DVD, as in the streets weren't perfectly updated. That's not a car manufacturer's fault. My navigation disc doesn't have I-66 labeled. I'm not crying to BMW. I'm annoyed at NavTeq, though.

I don't think y'all understand me. If the antenna or receiver or whatever of the GPS system were to fail, sure it's the supplier, but I'd still lay blame with MB. But this failure sounds like a failure of the map DVD, as in the streets weren't perfectly updated. That's not a car manufacturer's fault. My navigation disc doesn't have I-66 labeled. I'm not crying to BMW. I'm annoyed at NavTeq, though.

it's mb's fault for relying too much on the 3rd company and not do enough testing and qualification themselves.

on the 04 ls430, lexus went to another company (a new one) for the 4th generation nav. the initial badge of the nav was crap, a lot of errors, glitches, and wrong routes. tons of people took their car back to dealership and complain. do you expect lexus to give them another phone number to call to complain? no.... soon enough lexus talked to the nav company and they came out with new fixes and software upgrade.

bottom line, yes, mb will have to work with the nav company to get things to work right, but to the customers, it's mb's responsibility.

another example. the 01 is300, initially they had the brand of tire (i forgot what brand, firestone?) that were problematic. did lexus tell people go take their cars to tire manufacturer to get them changed out? nop, lexus issued a recall themselves and people went to dealership to get them changed.

the way i see it, a lot of parts on a car are clearly done (designed, manufacturered, etc...) by other companies. but as long as the car manufacturer (bimmer, mb, lexus, whatever) chooses to use those parts, they take the responsibility of making sure the part is up to the standard for their vehicle.

just my 2 cents of course

it's mb's fault for relying too much on the 3rd company and not do enough testing and qualification themselves.

on the 04 ls430, lexus went to another company (a new one) for the 4th generation nav. the initial badge of the nav was crap, a lot of errors, glitches, and wrong routes. tons of people took their car back to dealership and complain. do you expect lexus to give them another phone number to call to complain? no.... soon enough lexus talked to the nav company and they came out with new fixes and software upgrade.

bottom line, yes, mb will have to work with the nav company to get things to work right, but to the customers, it's mb's responsibility.

another example. the 01 is300, initially they had the brand of tire (i forgot what brand, firestone?) that were problematic. did lexus tell people go take their cars to tire manufacturer to get them changed out? nop, lexus issued a recall themselves and people went to dealership to get them changed.

the way i see it, a lot of parts on a car are clearly done (designed, manufacturered, etc...) by other companies. but as long as the car manufacturer (bimmer, mb, lexus, whatever) chooses to use those parts, they take the responsibility of making sure the part is up to the standard for their vehicle.

just my 2 cents of course

Maybe I'm just used to getting the runaround, I dunno. In many ways I agree with you that whatever they choose to use they should stand behind, though. Certainly would make it a lot easier for the consumer to deal with...

This reminds me of Microsoft's blaming 3rd party drivers' not following their coding standards for the majority of the BSOD (http://www.daimyo.org/bsod/)'s (Blue-Screen-Of-Death) in Windows a while ago. :rolleyes:

http://daimyo.org/images/a5608f2d211e062348145fd8b83a3509-45_640x480.jpg

http://daimyo.org/images/8da8a38ece0333ba659fca1adb68f6b0-44_640x480.jpg

Maybe I'm just used to getting the runaround, I dunno. In many ways I agree with you that whatever they choose to use they should stand behind, though. Certainly would make it a lot easier for the consumer to deal with...

yeah of course i am talking about companies that know what they are doing and stand behind their stuff 100%. i have seen cases where some companies will really just tell you oh sorry, that's done by someone else, and i don't know who, tough luck. that really sux :(

and i love the BSOD examples man. MS rocks huh? :D

Priceless. What a schmo!

Karma, baby!!!

Driver Follows Navigation System Into River

BONN, Germany (Reuters) - A German motorist obediently following the
satellite-guided navigation system of his car drove straight into the
Havel River in eastern Germany, police said Saturday.

He drove his BMW Friday night past a stop sign, down a ferry ramp and
about four meters (12 feet) into the river before stopping. The
57-year-old driver from Hamburg and his passenger were not hurt.

Police said the driver reported he was following the navigation
system, which had evidently failed to note that the road in the town
of Caputh near Potsdam ended at a ferry crossing.

``Normally accidents like this shouldn't happen,'' said police
spokesman Frank Heinichen. ``But that sort of thing can happen when
people rely too much on technology.''
Quote:
Originally Posted by AP
BMW Driver Obeys Navigation System, Drives Into River

POTSDAM, Germany (AP) December 27, 1998- A German couple out for a Christmas drive near Berlin ended up in a river - apparently because their luxury car's
computer forgot to mention they had to wait for a ferry.

The 57-year-old driver and his passenger were not injured in the
accident, police said Saturday.

Several companies sell computer navigators, some of which are attached
to dashboards and serve as electronic road maps. Some offer traffic
updates and Internet connections.

The German couple was out driving Friday night when they came to a
ferry crossing at the Havel River in Caputh, six miles from Berlin.

That information, however, was never stored in the satellite-steered
navigation system they were using, police said. The driver kept going
straight in the dark, expecting a bridge, and ended up in the water.

River traffic was stopped for two hours while the car was fished out
about 13 feet from the river bank.

``You can't always blindly rely on technology,'' a coast guard police
officer said.

Are you saying that if your transmission fails (since it is made by Getrag and not Lexus) that you will blame Getrag and not Lexus?? :egads:

I couldn't care less who makes what in my OEM Lexus car, if something fails, Lexus is to blame not the company that made the part.


id say both are to blame...


and I find it scary that the river guy... was gawking at his screen instead of seeing the road ahead. Good thing no one was hurt.. goodness.

LMFAO!! This is hilarious! :p

That's why I don't fool around with NAV systems. Not only can they lead you into some real trouble, but even non-life-threatening stuff can be annoying sometimes.....like when the unit says turn right and the sign says "No Right Turn" or "One-way ".

That's why I don't fool around with NAV systems. Not only can they lead you into some real trouble, but even non-life-threatening stuff can be annoying sometimes.....like when the unit says turn right and the sign says "No Right Turn" or "One-way ".

now that's just lame... thank god i havent' seen that on my lexus :)

now that's just lame... thank god i havent' seen that on my lexus :)Regrettably, this has happened to me for many times in my '02 ES. In a few embarassing cases I actually ran into one-way streets in the opposite directions by obediently following the nav's direction (in the one-way-street-ridden downtown San Francisco). Good thing that there were no cops around so I just quickly made a U-turn while all the other cars were honking at me. :egads:

Regrettably, this has happened to me for many times in my '02 ES. In a few embarassing cases I actually ran into one-way streets in the opposite directions by obediently following the nav's direction (in the one-way-street-ridden downtown San Francisco). Good thing that there were no cops around so I just quickly made a U-turn while all the other cars were honking at me. :egads:

damn, ok, note to self, do not drive my nav car in san francisco :)

Talk about having one's mind on cruise control...

Ultimate Diving Machine?
I-Dive?
Dive-By-Wire?

That's why I don't fool around with NAV systems. Not only can they lead you into some real trouble, but even non-life-threatening stuff can be annoying sometimes.....like when the unit says turn right and the sign says "No Right Turn" or "One-way ".You can't be serious................. :uh: