CD Article: 2008 Mercedes-Benz C350

[CD_Editor]

Test Drive:


The new Mercedes C350 "may not have the power or fancy footwork of the BMW 335i," reports contributor Peter Bleakney, "but Mercedes is happy to play up the sedan's sharp styling and mature demeanor, with an emphasis on value and traditional Mercedes solidity."

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[Demosthenes X]

Great car - I'm sure Mercedes will sell lots of them even while offering less horsepower than the BMW or Infiniti.  I think I'd take the C300 and the manual transmission myself, though. 

[tpl]

Great car - I'm sure Mercedes will sell lots of them even while offering less horsepower than the BMW or Infiniti.  I think I'd take the C300 and the manual transmission myself, though. 

After reading all the specs on all 3 of the new C class  I would take the C300 manual as well but I would grit my teeth cross my fingers and try the automatic  AWD car as well.  I am not sure I could actually write a cheque for an automatic equipped car...unless it was a DSG.

[Mitlov]

Glad to see MB pursuing what it does best--solid-feeling cars.  Now let's hope that the feeling of solidity is a reality (mechanical and tactile), not just an initial sensation.

Edmunds' long-term C300 Sport has already had a knob snap off, and has already had the door lining cut by someone's ring.  Unfortunate.

[JSCC]

Less HP? Only for now.
MB bumped the 2009 SLK350 to 300HP+, I'm sure we will see that engine in the C and E very soon.

Hello? Audi, does more power come with "New Luxury"?
300HP 3.6L or 3.0L twin turbo?

[Car guy - Big Time]

WARNING: I've owned this new Mercedes for 15 days - the Transmission has failed, power doors completely failed leaving me outside in the cold and one xenon head-lights have burned out. The total cost of repair is $ 8,543. BEWARE OF THIS MERCEDES TRASH!

[JSCC]

 

Details will be useful.

[Mitlov]

WARNING: I've owned this new Mercedes for 15 days - the Transmission has failed, power doors completely failed leaving me outside in the cold and one xenon head-lights have burned out. The total cost of repair is $ 8,543. BEWARE OF THIS MERCEDES TRASH!

Post a picture of your car, with a piece of paper saying "Mitlov is a tool" handwritten on it in the photo, please.

[Beetlejuice]

WARNING: I've owned this new Mercedes for 15 days - the Transmission has failed, power doors completely failed leaving me outside in the cold and one xenon head-lights have burned out. The total cost of repair is $ 8,543. BEWARE OF THIS MERCEDES TRASH!

Post a picture of your car, with a piece of paper saying "Mitlov is a tool" handwritten on it in the photo, please.

Here you go!!

[mmret]

That's a definite transmission failure. Also notice how the doors are closed and the headlights are off? Busted HIDs and broken doorlocks, clearly!

[sailor723]

Maybe this belongs in a different thread but can anyone explain what happened to MB over the last 15 years to go from being one of the top 2 or 3 brands  to ranking consistantly near the bottom of most quality/reliability surveys?

We had first an 86 and then a 93 300E in our family that were virtually trouble free. In the case of the 93 it was sold at 9 years old never having had a repair other than front brakes. I remember going on a 600km roadtrip in a friend's 8 year old  87 300E that had over 240,000kms on it ....completely tight,no squeaks or rattles and everything worked! Now it seems all you read/hear are horror stories?

[Mitlov]

My mechanic's shop uses a 1982 Mercedes sedan with 450,000 miles (720,000 km) as their shuttle.  It runs beautifully and doesn't even rattle.

Sailor, I think this is what happens when companies get lazy, rest on their laurels, and rely on their name and reputation to sell cars.  Quality slips as corners are cut in the name of increasing profits.  Not to mention the Chrysler debacle consumed a huge amount of Daimler-Benz resources.  Hopefullly now that they're free of that entanglement, we'll see reliability increase again.

[sailor723]

I wonder if trying to keep pricing down enters into it as well?

I seem to remember the 93 300E we had cost around $63,000. The 08 E300 4matic base is 65,800 on the MB site. This for a car 15 years later with 4matic and all the modern safety advances/hi-tech gizmos etc. that the 93 lacked

I checked an inflation calculator in the Bank of Canada website and 63,000 in 1993 dollars is around 82,500 today. (CPI change of approx 31% 1993-2008 although I think car prices may have risen faster than that)

I know this isn't like me to say but maybe MB's not charging enough to produce the quality and reliability they used to?

[johngenx]

The problem is that MB can't figure out how Lexus makes dead-reliable cars at the pricing where they can only make junk.  One problem that they've had for a long time, and it's only become worse, is the electrical components they outsource through VDO and Bosch.  On the older cars, if something was going to break, it was a VDO cruise module or Bosch electric window lift motor.  Based on my conversations with late model owners, the problem is much, much worse and those companies are still to blame...

[Mitlov]

I wonder if trying to keep pricing down enters into it as well?

I seem to remember the 93 300E we had cost around $63,000. The 08 E300 4matic base is 65,800 on the MB site. This for a car 15 years later with 4matic and all the modern safety advances/hi-tech gizmos etc. that the 93 lacked

I checked an inflation calculator in the Bank of Canada website and 63,000 in 1993 dollars is around 82,500 today. (CPI change of approx 31% 1993-2008 although I think car prices may have risen faster than that)

I know this isn't like me to say but maybe MB's not charging enough to produce the quality and reliability they used to?

Pricing's not the problem.  MB's cheapest cars are also its most reliable.  The problem, as johngenx said, is electronics reliability.  MB absolutely loads their new cars up with techno-doo-dads, and they've got some of the least reliable techno-doo-dads on the market.  If you look at Consumer Reports reliability ratings broken down by components, though, their engines are still top-notch after several years (unlike my beloved VW/Audi).

[sailor723]

Ah....So with MB it's more a case of  " the more stuff on a car, the more to go wrong"

You know.... When you consider the number of complex systems and pieces of equipment on today's cars that didn't even exist 30-40 years ago it's a wonder reliability ratings have improved at all.

[stodge]

Anyone else think the side view (ignore the front) looks like the new Accord?

[johngenx]

Most things on a Mercedes that are made from metal and use stuff like gears and bearing are well made, even now.  What breaks?  Well, on the 2001-2007 C320, there are 16 little doors inside the dash that control the flow of the air by the automated HVAC system.  They are not well made and require the dismantling of the entire dash to repair.  The HVAC electronic control units break.  The computers that control the combined functions of the power seat, windows and a bunch of other stuff are interlinked and fry each other.  Big bills are the result.

Engines are super-strong and though I'm not familiar with the newer alloy block versions, the iron block engines last virtually forever.  Gas or diesel, only a lack of maintenance has them fail.  BUT, some of the stuff attached to the engine is electronic, and therefore, shite.  The Air Mass Meter is now a service item, not a part that actually lasts.  Crank Position Sensors are contantly failing.  On many years of cars, the electronic throttle (drive by wire) system is shite.  Parts for that cost more than some cars I've owned.

Bodies are usually among the best made, but MB makes their goofs there.  My 98 C230 has not been babied (though maintained very well) and sees bad winter roads.  Rust?  Not a speck.  BUT, many W210 (1996-2002 E-Class) cars have rust problems.  Those same E-Class cars also have a defect where the front suspension mounts rust away, meaning the suspension just falls off the car at some point.  Scary!!  However, except for some models, MB's bodies are long lasting and super-solid.

The list of things that has gone wrong on our C230 is small and none mechanical in nature.  However, the list of things that our 1998 E300 made was looooong and frustating.  And to my dismay, the interior was actually less durable than our C-Class!  In the E, the dash cracked, the driver's seat mounting frame broke and the rear power windows broke.  Cripes.  The engine electronics were total shite and the car lived at the dealership.  How could two cars so disimilar in their reliability be built by the same company?  Shocking.

My wife HATED that E300.  Warranty covered everything of course, but the hassle of arranging to have if fixed constantly wore her down.

The other day I was in D.M. Mercedes picking up an oil filter and while I was at the parts counter, she was having a look at the newest E320 CDI (the replacement for her car) and the saleman asked her if she was interested.  Her:

"Are you kidding?  I need a car that runs everyday, so I have a Subaru..."

What do you say to that?  He got the message.

[Demosthenes X]

You know.... When you consider the number of complex systems and pieces of equipment on today's cars that didn't even exist 30-40 years ago it's a wonder reliability ratings have improved at all.

No kidding.  Considering the number of hangups your average home computer has, I'm surprised cars like the EVO (where the computers are constantly detecting power, wheel position, slippage, yaw, and a host of other things I can't even begin to name) are able to run at all, never mind all the time.

The other day I was in D.M. Mercedes picking up an oil filter and while I was at the parts counter, she was having a look at the newest E320 CDI (the replacement for her car) and the saleman asked her if she was interested.  Her:

"Are you kidding?  I need a car that runs everyday, so I have a Subaru..."

 

[Mitlov]

You know.... When you consider the number of complex systems and pieces of equipment on today's cars that didn't even exist 30-40 years ago it's a wonder reliability ratings have improved at all.

No kidding.  Considering the number of hangups your average home computer has, I'm surprised cars like the EVO (where the computers are constantly detecting power, wheel position, slippage, yaw, and a host of other things I can't even begin to name) are able to run at all, never mind all the time.

I think that the EVO actually has a pretty good reliability reputation, though (like most performance cars) I don't think Consumer Reports has enough data to rate it.

And not all electronics are equal.  I have a fifteen-year-old Super Nintendo that still runs like the day I got it.  On the other hand, every laptop and VCR/DVD player I've ever owned has failed, or at least gone all buggy, in roughly three years.

Mercedes-Benz sure doesn't buy its electronics from the same people who made the Super Nintendo, that's for sure.  Lexus electronics, for example, are much closer to that SNES ideal of electronics reliability.