I thought I'd start another one of those conversational threads. Everyone here either owns a C-Class or is interested in one. So we all have that in common. Yet how did we call come to own/show-interest in the C-Class.

What were you looking for in a car when you bought or started looking at the C-class? Luxury? Speed? Status-symbol? etc.

 

As I started the thread, I thought I'd kick this off.

I personally have loved Mercedes-Benz cars since as long into childhood I can remember. No one in my family never owned one but I found myself at the dealers all the time in Germany as a little-lad taking home brochures. So the badge/brand is a big player in my decision.

I also try to be logical when I buy cars and I nearly actually bought a Lexus instead of the w203. In fact, I had the contract signed and all but the dealer handled the situation shamefully (was not an actual Lexus dealer). And then the w203 came along within my budget and I was over the mood the Lexus deal fell through :-D

The reason I mentioned the Lexus story is because I was primarily looking for a car with Luxury as the main feature, speed came second and it had to be a smaller size sedan (my wifes only stipulation). So the w203 fitted in perfect.

 

reliability, 4 door, sports sedan, manual, something I wouldnt modifiy! lol (that changed). I was just looking for something different from the Honda/Acura brand since thats all I drove really. Since my friends have been in MB business all their lives thought I'd look into one and found mine for a really good deal and it was a 6 speed!!! I really liked the C class after I drove a pewter C350 from an auction that my friends boss just picked up and I was taking it back to the shop. Sporty and luxurious and thats when i really looked into getting one.

 

I wanted a rear wheel drive diesel sedan with solid engineering & a little style !!

At the time the only other choice was a BMW which did not ride as well ( runflats) , had a 'busy' interior & no spare tyre.

 

I have loved Mercedes since childhood, too. My grandfather had a LWB 1985 560SEL that he used to drive my friends and I around in and I was fascinated by that car. I wanted a C-Class for a long time and years before I got the one I have now I nearly bought a 1999 C280 Sport. I loved that one, but the deal didn't work out and I ended up with an Accord instead. I test drove the 2001-2004 C-class cars numerous times, but I have always had a distaste for them - particularly inside - and it remains to this day. Once they facelifted it for 2005 and literally got rid of every gripe I had with the W203, I new I had to have one.

 

I can see the importance of a spare tyre where you are from.

 

I NEVER thought I would ever have a Mercedes and now I have two (bought in the same weekend!).

Mrs. NCMudbug was getting tired of mini vans (she'd been driving one or another for over twenty years) and finally the tranny started to act up and the A/C went away - we were not getting it fixed. I was thinking in terms of a Jetta, but she saw a pretty CPO 2006 C230 and we ended up getting it. I figured she could drive it for another ten years at least.

That made the 2002 Chevy Malibu I was driving seem a lot worse than it seemed the day before. I had been looking for some time - just to see what was out there. I wanted something sporty with a manual tranny. It was looking like I might end up with a Mini, but it really wasn't my style. The day after we bought my wife's C230, CarMax had a 2005 C230K with a 6 sp. manual. It was about the same price as the Mini's I was looking at and I liked the styling A LOT better so I bought it.

For me, I wanted something sporty, with a manual tranny. Beyond that, most things were negotiable. I would have probably loved to get an S2000, or an older style Miata (I don't like the fender flares of the newer ones), but something that was more practical (read, that will carry more than 2 people and won't make Mrs. NCMudbug afraid to ride with me - she has no interest in riding in the Lotus!) would be better. I didn't like the dark Diamond Black Metallic at first, but I've warmed up to it a lot. It really is beautiful - when it's cleaned and polished. My car has a lot of features I really enjoy (6MT, CDC, sun roof, auto lights, rain sensor wipers, rear sun screen, etc.) but it doesn't have fully electric seats (neither of them do) which seems pretty odd for a car of this price. That's not a big deal, though. In the end, I think I may have preferred to get a BMW instead, but so far I'm pretty happy with my car. Mrs. NCMudbug would prefer to sit higher than her car allows, though. We're all coping though!

 

Full power & memory seating was an option on the C230 (driver only) and standard on both fronts in the C320/350/32/55. When I was looking for my W203 that was one of the must-haves, and so I have it. Now I wish that 6-speed and Bi-Xenons were also on that must have list, though that would have really narrowed things down possibly too much. I'll trade you my full power and memory seat for your 6MT?

 

I used to have full electric & memory seats in my Australia GM (Holden) Caprice.


My w203 came with partial electric. Because I'm pretty much the only driver, I haven't missed full electric too much. The partial electric adjust the aspects of the seat-adjustment mostly commonly used. Would be nice to have fully-adjustable seats again. Oh well.

 

I wanted something different in my area and wanted nothing to do with a large crowd scene like my generation.

But i never knew i would get a mercedes at my age. When my old car got totaled, my sister sold me her 2006 c230 sport sedan with 15,000 miles fully loaded (it had everyhing beside bi-xenon) for 20,000 about 3 years ago.

 

Nice offer but I don't think so (though I know your car is probably the best available at your mileage and probably better than a lot with fewer miles)... I would like to have Bi-Xenons so that is on my list of possible mods. The "cheap" seats really mean that my wife and I almost never drive each other's car. It's too much of a pain to readjust the seats.

 

Mechanic drove my Benz today. So today I did wish I had memory seats. But it doesn't deter from the pleasure of owning the car at all

 

For many years it seemed to me it didn't make sense to buy a new car. In California the registration was in excess of $1000 a year! An X had a BMW 325is and paid 15K for it used, the annual registration was over $800. It would've been probably $1500 a year on the C Class. Fuggetabout it! Also I didn't see any advantage to the newer cars. In the 70's car technology seemed to go backwards.
In the 80's all they built was crap and still no real advances from the 60's.
The 90's airbags started to appear, but only on the most expensive cars, or as
a driver side only thing, so you could survive and spend the rest of your life in therapy
over the death of everyone else in the vehicle and still, no power, still building crap.

I was looking at used BMW's. Someone had suggested the
318ti,you know the hatchback.
I had a 320i at the time, with the same engine so
I wasn't completely sold.
People wanted ridiculous prices used for 3 series BMW's 15-20K and more on the sedans and not M series. And everybody had one!
Nothing I was looking at gave me any joy.
Didn't inspire me. I considered sports cars like the Honda S2000 and the 350Z but they weren't practical enough. I looked at sedans and they weren't able to haul anything, and I did not want a sport ute truck.

I nearly bought a 1989 M6 in perfect shape but then the guy changed his mind.
Good thing, it wouldn't have held up as well as the c coupe. It would have been a nice collectible as a
2nd or 3 vehicle. I always liked the old big BMW 6 coupes.

A friend mentioned the new C Class 'coupe' and I took a look. Interesting. A Mercedes, the best engineered car (or so I thought ha!) in the world for $24,500 with a supercharged engine and a 6 speed. Nice!
I did a side by side comparison online and the C coupe had more features stock and more power than
a 3 series that cost 5 grand more!

I called the local dealer they had a couple in stock.
But it wasn't till I went to the NAMM show in LA in Jan 2002 that I actually saw a C Coupe at Fletcher Jones. I had to rent a car since my old 320i was in bad shape. They gave me a new Cadillac a free upgrade!

When he folded the seats down on the c coupe and showed me all that space and the
panoramic sunroof the sky parted and the angels sang!
You see I'm a musician and I need space to haul my gear, though lately I haven't been playing much.
I also like to camp and take road trips and the hatch provides much needed space and a nice compromise between a straight sports car and a sport ute.
Well, then I saw the C Class had 8 airbags standard, I saw that in fact new cars had improved! You could be in an accident and walk away! Driving didn't have to be a life and death thing at 30 mph, so yes the new cars were better!
And at the time all maintenance except brakes and tires was INCLUDED!

Still I decided to think about it.
I did the math.
I buy a used car for 15 grand.
I spend $1000 a year maintaining it, and lose 5 grand in depreciation, and in 5 years sell it for $5K. Total cost $10K.
Or I buy the C coupe. Spend nothing maintaining it, lose 10K in 5 years depreciation and it would be worth 15 grand.
So in my mind, the cost of ownership was the same.
I also found out that the registration was going to be fairly reasonable thanks to Arnold's recently revamped registration fees and I was getting pretty sold.
I nearly bought a Capri blue C coupe with Oyster leather, but no sport package! At the time it was an extra $1500 just for the dark blue.
My buddy pried me out of the deal I was almost going to make,
and said you need to get exactly what you want.
So, I scoured all of California for a light Blue metallic C coupe with leather, pano, auto and sport package.
I'd never had an auto but I liked the 5 speed auto with the tiptronic
speed selector. Nice, no clutch!

I called every dealership in California, no one had it. Went to Fletcher, Laguna Nigel, and finally, Carlsbad on my way down the coast ( I live in Norcal).
They said hey, has anyone checked the computer for you?
Well no, I said. The found my car and below sticker when many dealer were trying to get a premium or not discounting.
I put a $1000 down flew back in 2 weeks and spent 3 days driving my baby home on highway 1 the whole way.

After a year I started modding, fixing the inadequate suspension 1st.
Then the pulley, and then the AMG brakes up front while they were still around $600.
It's been love ever since.

 

I'm afraid to drive my car by reflective surfaces.. I was telling John Anderson the other day that I think it believes itself to be a Toyota. I wouldn't want it to catch a glimpse of itself and find out otherwise. Around 115.5k miles, seems the ride is excessively harsh lately regardless of tire pressures that I have been moving around trying to solve it.. livable, no other real issues.

 

Have you replaced your shocks yet?

In the past, I've gotten away with letting shocks go. I guess the change is so gradual that I don't notice it. Maybe that's your problem - you're too sensitive! No other issues is outstanding, though!!

I wonder how I'll feel in another 60k miles...

 

No, I haven't aside from a rear one that was replaced under warranty at 35k. It doesn't have any alignment/bounciness/unstable problems that I would associate with shock wear. Replaced the shocks on a car a few years ago and no noticeable improvement in ride quality - big expense for nothing, not sure I'm ever going to do that particular thing on this car.

 

Hmmm... I guess the rough ride is due to bushings?? If that's the problem, they're always fun and expensive to replace. Not sure what else it could be... I guess at a certain point unless you LOVE the car it just gets more expensive than it's worth... then it's starts being time to start looking around...

 

These should last through my time with the car.. It could probably use a suspension refresh, but I may never do it. I've had this car longer than any other before it and sometimes I get a wandering eye.

 

Several things led me to the C-Class and MB in general:

1. When I was a kid, some family members drove Benz. Large gorgeous cars, and they drove forever. That made an impression on me.

2. Owned a lot of other cars, including a Fiat X19, and was never really happy. I drove a 911 in the late 70s and was blown away by the acceleration and power, but I felt that was a fleeting criterion. Similarly, drove several BMWs over the years and found them to be wanting on the lux side, but fast.

3. Drove my first C-Class (1998 C230) and instantly fell in love. Smooth luxury ride, reasonable power, good fuel economy, and a very quiet cabin. Quiet cabin means I can listen to music of all kinds at all speeds and not be annoyed by road or engine noise. That means a lot to me. Glenn Gould playing Bach Partitas or Bill Evans trio where I can actually hear the bass playing is not possible in most cars. In addition, it was extremely reliable. The only reason I traded it in was because it was RWD, and after some scary icy road driving in Michigan, I decided I needed 4Matic.

4. I don't need a lot of room. 95% of the time, I'm alone in the car and I'm under 6' so, even though I liked the E-Class that I considered, I like the nimble C--easy parking and the higher mpgs better than a big backseat for passengers that I rarely have.

So, for me, it's a combination of several things--family and history, luxury and quiet ride, reasonable power and fuel economy, high mileage potential, outstanding safety features (ABS, ESP, Trac Control, etc). Badge stuff to impress people? Nope.

 

Funny story for me. I was 16 at the time and already had a few cars that were farm cars. When I got my license I got my dads old J30 which sadly was not in great shape (had an accident two days after he gave it to me when he borrowed it) It had a lot of miles but was honestly a good car for a 16 year old. 5 months before I turned 17 my parents were going thorough a divorce and my mom causally asked me what I wanted fore my birthday. So as a joke I found an 01 c320 with around 80k on the clock for a good price. She looks at it and says lets go look at it. My father had promised me a w203 when I was 13 or so he had a fully loaded c32 that i loved (i figured it would be mine) Sadly it had the glycol issue and he traded it on a e320 cdi when i was 14 So we went and looked at the c320 and My mom and i really liked it but my dad was like well one day we will get it for you. The next day my mother and I drove to the dealer and bought it I have since paid her back for it but it was still a very nice gift. The reasons I wanted the W203 was because my dad had always had nice cars 911,944 turbo race car, Corvette, Ferrari, slk 55 amg, the c32, lotus, and i am sure some others lol and the c32 he had was always my favorite because it seemed somewhat practical but was also fast and had all the cool gizmos I love. I hope to always have a Mercedes even if it is not my daily driver. I decided a long time ago that I will never sell my c320 it is like an old friend except for it does not talk back and be a smart ***. My car has never let me down and has been relatively cheap to own. What more could I ask for