acr2001

This is the list of repairs that my W203 has had during its life. It's not a salvage, it's never been in an accident, it has a perfect Carfax. It was in great shape when purchased.

2005 C240 4Matic. 40,000 miles.

All maintenance done on time with OEM parts and fluids. The vehicle is a CPO but I am the original owner. It had 17,000 miles on it when purchased and was used by the dealership employees. Believe it or not, it was in immaculate condition inside and out with hardly a scratch.

Major problems are in bold.
In chronological order:

1. Oil leaking from left UPPER valve cover (the smaller one) onto exhaust causing smoke. Removed and resealed with RTV per dealership TSB.
2. Center console (upper portion) botton sticks. Replaced upper portion of console.
3. Cup holder mechanism no longer functions. Replaced.

-- 2007, I purchase the car as a CPO --

4. Passenger side rear view mirror signal housing has water in it. Replaced.
5. Nearly half of the wheel bolts corroded (rusted). Replaced.
6. Front ashtray does not close properly. Replaced.
7. Sensor on drivers door for "summer open" (roll windows up and down with key) no longer working. Replaced.
8. Air conditioning stinks. TSB followed, disinfected, filter replaced, ozone treatment done, etc. This fix lasted for 2 months. Problem returned.
9. Drivers side rear speaker crackling. Replaced.
10. Wheel bolts are rusted again! (No corrosive cleaners are used on the wheels, just soap and water, car does not go to a car wash). All wheel bolts replaced.
11. Passenger side mirror no longer heats (defrost). Mirror replaced. Contacts were rusted out.
12. Passenger side mirror turn signal once again has moisture. Intermittently does not work (bulb out warning). Replaced again.
13. Squeaking noise from under hood. Idle pulley replaced.
14. Engine oil leaking from both valve covers. Both gaskets replaced.
15. New noise from under the hood. Power steering pump replaced.
16. Passenger side door does not open properly / makes cracking noise. Dealer refuses to fix - "Door check is not covered under CPO warranty"

--2010, CPO and Factory Warranties End-- (Obviously it was a mistake not purchasing the extended warranty)

17. Drivers side door does not open or close properly / makes cracking noise. Not worth fixing.
18. Alternator burns up. Entire alternator is rusted out (See my thread with pics). Replaced alternator with upgraded (C320) Bosch OEM Alternator.
19. The alternator took the battery with it. Replaced with new Mercedes battery.
20. Water in passenger side fog light. Oh well, still works.
21. Passenger side mirror intermittently giving "bulb out" warning again, cleaned pins, fixed.
22. Fuel gauge behaving erratically. Moves up and down about 1/8th of a tank randomly. Does not show a full tank, shows 1/8th of a tank short each time.
23. "SRS restraint failure" error pops up randomly. Restarting the car gets rid of it.
24. Engine begins idling roughly, sometimes surging and causing the car to accelerate a bit from a stop. Dumped a bunch of Techron into the fuel tank, so far so good (been a few weeks).
25. Poly V belt appears to be in excellent condition. Makes tons of squeaking noises. Replaced it with an aftermarket "squeak-stop" belt which works beautifully.
25. Transmission electrical connector is leaking fluid - replaced connector, o-rings, cleaned wire harness, replaced (half) fluid and filter.
26. The stink from the air conditioning has become overwhelming and causes passengers to become physically ill. A/C is repeatedly sprayed with lysol / other "AC disinfectants". Problem does not resolve. Drains are not clogged. At this point it stinks all year round, even in the winter
27. 3 of the COMAND unit soft buttons (the ones along the screen) stop working. All three likely use a common ground within the unit which is broken. This unit was purchased and installed myself, but it is a NEW 2008 G-class unit (MCS II just like from the factory in 05), in mint condition, never abused... until today. Giving the unit just the right slap causes the buttons to work.
28. Rear suspension part snaps - not sure what part yet (just happened today! yay!)
29. Front brake pads have worn at an angle (they are worn to 50%) and both sides cause very loud squeaking upon light to moderate braking. It's been getting louder over the past 2 years. Enough that heads turn. Need to replace them and the rotors which are also worn at the same angle.

Finally (I guess this doesn't count) the dealership repainted the rear bumper (before I purchased the car) improperly (painted over the old paint without even scuffing it up). All of the paint is peeling off the bumper. I guess it's my fault for missing this during my pre-purchase inspection.

There are probably a few other problems which I have forgotten.

Is it wrong of me to feel like this car is a piece of junk?
I think I'm going to sell it before I have to dump any more money into it.

LILBENZ230

It is not wrong to feel like that. Clearly, you have a bad one.

BigBodyBenzC240

I would get rid of it and go find yourself another Benz! You just had a bad one!! I love mine and the only major problem mine has has was I had to replace the P/S pump and rack and pinion, other than that its been regular maintenence. Very reliable car!!

WhirlPool

Mine has 320K miles (yes yes you're reading right) and the only major issue i had is the engine ECU going bad and got fixed for 600ish $$.

I'm loving it.

Carsy

With all those corrosion problems, are you near the sea or have salt on the roads?

It could have been deck cargo on the way out !

Whatever , something has happenned to that car before you bought it. ie Dune buggy use ?

I think my 4 year old Leyland P76 had been dunked in sea water as the McPherson Strut mounts rusted out threatening to put the struts through the bonnet.

W203E35

Those are a lot of issues. A lot of rust issues too. Whirpool 320k miles??? WOW!!!

You just got a bad one I guess.

Glyn M Ruck

Man - what a rotter - where was that car built?

Mine continues to be the most reliable car I've ever owned.

2 X Castor bushes under warranty - (known problem), one 5 cent tranny plug crush washer, RHS rear stop lamp bulb. That's it!

Why so many corrosion related problems? I'll bet she's broken a spring due to corrosion.

WhirlPool

Karo ... LOL ... yea.



She was a working girl ... hehehe. With love and care kept in great condition.

anonymousmoose

acr2001

New York City. Plenty of salt and extremely rough roads. It sits in my driveway when not in use. It isn't particularly wet or humid there. I'm roughly 2 miles from the water and it doesn't seem to have been a problem in the past. Although our 02 E320 also fell apart like this car. The wheel wells rusted out, but that was because Mercedes didn't galvanize their cars in 02 (idiots??) also we had a hub snap causing one of the front wheels to fall off while driving a mere 20 mph!!! That was a great day.

Strangely, if you get under the car there isn't much corrosion. The muffler / exhaust hangers are pretty rusted (but still structurally sound for now). Otherwise it looks good. The alternator I can't explain - the windings were VERY rusted out.

acr2001

Built in Germany, Stuttgart if I remember correctly?

carbonfiberwhor

Im very skeptical about many of the cars that are 2005 and down. MB took there income of 3Billion down to 1Billion to work on the cars and make them better. Hence why they are so good 2006+. It sounds to me that the area you live in has terrible winters so they use a TON of salt.

I live by the ocean and I dont have a spec of rust on my 06 230 or my W140 S-class (from 1996). Maybe it could be the way YOU maintain it but I've also heard many problems with the 240's and komp's cars.

Try to get an 06+ for your next MB and THEN judge the brand.

acr2001

We had an 02 E that was as bad if not worse. We also have an 08 E, if that car is anything like these two, then goodbye Mercedes. So far it has been pretty good.

What you say about 2005 and down vs 2006 I'm not so sure about. The 05 and the 06 W203 are very similar (except for the power train). Most of the parts that failed in my car are identical to the parts on your 06. Also "many problems with the 240s" is not true either (compared to the other W203s). The C320 is the same car, same engine, just larger and a few added options. The "facelift" year was 2005. The change from 05 through 07 was a new power train which is far superior, but they also removed a ton of features to save even more money (no more prewiring). Most of the failures on my car are unrelated to the power train. They are mostly the exact same parts that are in your car. The transmission electrical connector o-rings were updated, so at least you should not have that problem assuming the update was in time for 06 and not 07 (or does 06 get the new trans too?) The engine in the 240 was one of Mercedes most reliable and most commonly used engines, the M112. It was used in the following cars:

1998–2005 C240
1998–2004 CLK240
1998–2004 E240
Also E28
1998–2000 C280
1998–2004 C320
1998–2004 E320
1998–2005 S320
1998–2003 ML320
1998–2004 CLK320
1998–2003 SLK320
2003–2008 Chrysler Crossfire
2001–2003 C32 AMG
2001–2003 SLK32 AMG
2005–2006 Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6
2003–2005 ML350
2003–2006 S350
2003-2006 SL350

As far as what you said about how I maintain it, like I said, I follow all of the maintenance, and I wash it regularly with a plain old car wash soap - nothing corrosive. I even take the time to blast the underside with the hose during the winter (when its above freezing) to wash the salt off.

You are certainly right about the terrible winters and quite a bit of salt.

tommy

Bah - you've got nuthin on me.

Last week, it was ignition system, motor mounts, and front bushings. This week, it's steering system (power steering, rack & pinion). Next week, who knows? And that's before taking into account the rust that I'm going to have to get done. Isn't this fun?

Think I could be on my 4th Honda Fit (or a Fit as a DD, and a nicely modified S2K for weekends) by now. But it's all good - I'm just waiting for the ccoupe (also known as the Edsel of Deutschland) to really get hot in the used marketplace.

acr2001

I made the mistake of telling my friends that (oh god I'm making the same mistake telling you guys!!) I was thinking of just leasing a fully loaded Mazda 3 for now since it will be a major $ savings and very reliable. The damn thing includes keyless ignition, cornering BIX headlights, navi, leather, 10 speaker bose, dual zone climate control, memory drivers seat, ipod connectivity, bluetooth, 6 disc changer, etc. AND it's faster than my slow *** C240 (I got my *** handed to me by a Civic the other day).

TruTaing

Dang, that sounds rough sorry to hear you've faced all these issues.

C230 Mulac

dude that is a laundry list of problems, definitely just a bad one!

my '06 230 only has 71k on it so i can't really say much, but it's never had any major problems, or minor problems really. it's been regularly maintained, i bought it at 49k with only one previous owner, perfect carfax, and the only thing i had to do was once the thermostat got stuck open and the car wasn't warming up to normal operating temperature. i got it replaced for about $250 parts and labor. other than that, car is running great and no sign of anything going bad soon!

this might make a difference though, the original owner had it imported from Germany so it's a legit German built MB. i love the car, it's very sturdy and dependable.

sorry to hear you're having so much trouble, i would definitely try another newer one before you throw away MB, they're great cars!

acr2001

I'm not trying to say your cars are crap guys. I'm just..... having a hard time with the thought that this was a rare bad one, having all these unrelated issues. I really hope so because I love Mercedes engineering and design. It's just been complete junk reliability in my experience.

Carsy

You put my mind at rest

Go the diesel working girls

C230 Mulac

MB diesels are amazing, AMAZING, nobody in the world can touch them.

my very first car when i started driving (2002) was a 1983 300 SD (3.0 straight 5 turbo diesel) that thing was a TANK. it was horrendously slow but very very reliable, easy to work on(because it didnt have all this new electronic bs) and it treated me well. the ORIGINAL tranny went bad at 245k(only because me being 16 drove it like a dumbass and gunned it all the time, kinda hard not to when your car is that slow ). i sold it at 255k and i wish i still had it

Gynecologist MD

+1 with all who agree that MB's diesels are ridiculously long lasting.


Another sad thing is my car, but also in a funny way when comparing to your car.


Mine IS salvage, it's been in 3 accidents, it has a horrible Carfax. It was in bad shape when purchased.

And yet, I still didn't have no where near that many problems.

But too bad I got a SRS light on

Silver C

Wow, not only you got a lemon, but one rotten one too! Hope all is well..

slammer111

WhirPool, that is intense. Did you get your "high mileage" badges?

Also, since there are only 6 digits available on the odometer, guess you're halfway to having a car with 0km.

Glyn M Ruck

Well I have a friend in KL, Malaysia with a 2003 C240 that is approaching the magic 1 million kilometres. No major repairs. Servicing by Cycle & Carriage & one hell of a lot of brake pads, rotors & tyres.

Crna Mechka

Feel your pain man. I think you just got really unlucky with your purchase. I bought a 2004 C240 4-Matic previous September and she's been pretty solid for the most part, just had to replace a lot of wear and tear items, general maintenance, etc. 2005 is a bad year for C's it seems (at least from my experience in reading this forum), both the V6's and the Kompressor's.