you'll never guess what my salesperson told me...
 

so i went to the dealership to help my mom test drive and buy a new car, (i used to sell cars for a living a while back), we drove the luxury package and she liked it because of the soft ride.

so we get back and the salesguy says that there is no difference in suspension, that if you simply push the C/S button the suspension will automatically raise and lower from Luxury to Sport mode and it's the first time it's available on a C class and it's standard. to prove his point he let us test drive a sport version. needless to say, the difference was obvious. we got back and he asks if there was a difference, my mom and i both replied that the ride was indeed stiffer in the sport and softer and quieter in the luxury. all he says is that he thought there was no difference.

anyhow, just thought i'd share that tidbit of salesguys saying anything to make a sale.

fyi - she went with:
C300 4-Matic Luxury
Arctic White w/Beige Interior
Premium Package 2
Multimedia Package
Panoramic Sunroof
Tele-Aid
Ipod Integration

she's picking the car up on Friday and i've never seen her so excited. i'll be sure to take pictures when i go with her to get it, and post the pics. up on here :y

Hard to say anymore. If you look at a brochure it says that only the C300 Sport and the C350 come with the Agility Control Suspension. Yet if you go to the website it says that all C classes have the Agility Control Suspension including the C300 Luxury. :nix:

Guess the only way to find out is to look at the window sticker on a C300 Luxury and see if it says Agility Control Suspension on it.

Agility control is standard on all C-Classes but the sport model is lower (by 15 mm).

Ha ha ha I just reread his post and realized the salesman told him the c/s button raised and lowered the suspension lmao... I totally missed that the first time and just focused on him saying it was the same suspension in both cars. Well least they still bought one :y

so now i'm wondering, since i was familiar with the older (W203) models and how their C/S button worked, did the salesman have some grounds in what he was saying at all?? as far as agility control and the suspension, does the C/S button now firm up or soften things or is it still just a remap of how the transmission and throttle are treated?

It remaps the transmission, to soften/stiffen the suspension you need the optional Advanced Agility Package, with which you get addtional "Sport" button to stiffen the suspension and make the trothle response quicker.

how do you add this option? i tried building both a C300 and C350 on mbusa.com and i can't find it. the S in the C/S is not the same "Sport" button?

Yes. This option gives the "sport" button. I my contry this costs about 2K EUR. I guess the Advanced Agility option is not yet avaible in your contry. Ask the dealer.

^ The advanced agility that he is referring to is not included on US models this MY. There is only one button in the US cars.

The C/S button is for Comfort and Sport and it refers to the transmission setting. The Comfort setting starts the car in 2nd gear and allows for longer, smoother shifting. The Sport setting starts the car in 1st gear and runs through the gears more quickly. I use both often and can feel the difference between the two.

The suspension for each car is set up based on the model so the Lux is higher and more forgiving while the Sport is lower and tighter.

+1

Advanced Agility is a delayed offering for North America. As I understand, that is the feature that will allow for the driver to control the suspension damping via a button on the center console.

As MBTEX indicated, the C/S control on the transmission selector is for transmission setting and throttle mapping.

Yes, C/S does not change suspension setting. The sales is wrong.

Your salesman was feeding you a line. The C/S button only effects the transmission. Now, on the S class, the C/S button effects both the tranny and suspension. Ive been told that the Luxury is a little bit softer, but I personally cannot tell a difference in the new C-class. However, in the older models I could tell a ride difference. Good luck to your mom on her new C-class, she'll love it.

does anybody else wish that the sport version was like just a tiny bit lower than what it is.. only 15mm lower is not that much. i wish it was like at least a full 1" (~25mm).

with that said.. wut is this car equipped with hydraulics now? c/s raises and lowers the suspension? lmao..

Many SUVs have dynamic ride height, but it's mostly to address stability issues at highway speeds.

I am happy with the ride height on my C350W4M. Any lower and I know I will be bottoming out on speed bumps and driveways.

The salesmen like to explain the C/S button with sport setting and comfort setting. The customer automatically thinks it's the ride of the car that is manipulated and yet it's the transmission only. There is no noticeable difference in the ride of the car in C or S, just the shift point is different. very confusing.

Jorg

C/S button
 

<<Ha ha ha I just reread his post and realized the salesman told him the c/s button raised and lowered the suspension lmao... I totally missed that the first time and just focused on him saying it was the same suspension in both cars. Well least they still bought one >>

And of course we all know (better know by this time since the subject has been discussed for months) that the C/S button changes transmission modes and THAT'S ALL. The Sport Models with adjustable suspension have a separate button for that function. Where available.

ok, it's all cleared up now, thanks to everbody for their input :) after all this talk about agility i was beginning to believe the sales guy was right afterall :rolf:

But your sales guy is agile. Couldn't you tell? :naughty:

Agile all the way to the Bank with your money... that's for sure. :naughty:

Sales guys know less than we do about our cars. When I picked mine up in August the sales guy was trying to set the memory seats for me as everybody knows the C350 comes with this as standard equipment. When the sales manager, after looking over the car for a while, couldn't find it said, well I guess it was not order for this car.

i guess while we're on the subject, when i first walked in i noticed they had a CLK 63 AMG Black Series in the showroom. without walking up to verify i asked a sales guy if it was a black series, he said "no, it's an AMG" and i said, "yea, but it's an AMG Black Series right?" and he said "no, Black Series is for trucks" so i went to the monroney and sure enough "BLACK SERIES" and i went to the back of the car and sure enough "BLACK SERIES"....the sales guy had nothing to say after this except, "oh yea, it is" sad...just sad

That can be very true in most cases...that's why I like dealing with people who know what they're talking about...plus it makes the car buying experience more pleasurable.

I usually decide if I want to deal with a specific salesperson within about 5 minutes of meeting her/him. Consumers are getting smarter, but it seems the salespeople are not keeping up.

I'd be embarrassed if my clients knew more about my work than I do... but I might be an exception here. :confused:

Any updates on the car...hope all is going well.

whoops, we got the car and i took some pics. the day of delivery but it was a little dark out. it's gotten dirty since then so i've been hoping to wait for a wash before posting pictures. anyhow, we couldn't make it to the dealership so they deliverd the car and all of the paperwork to my mom's office. i met them there and looked over everything. the dealership threw in a pretty nice keychain as well as all season floor mats for free. the paperwork was all ready to go, just sign and go, a very good experience. the salesperson showed us a bunch of stuff in the car and she took our trade and was on her way.

my mom loves her car, she admits, it is A LOT smaller than her old s-class but she's very impressed with it, especially the Bluetooth integration. she's also quite impressed with the navigation screen and the multiple audio selection options, though she's still trying to get the hang of using the COMAND knob.

i promise to post pics. of her new car, from the day of delivery, tonight in this thread, and more to come once weather permits.

oh, she also opted for the 'clear bra' which they are installing this weekend.

edit: here's a few pics. taken with a crappy camera, pics. from the better camera are soon to follow...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...9/DCP_1907.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...9/DCP_1904.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...9/DCP_1903.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...9/DCP_1902.jpg

and here's a blurry pic. of the monroney:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...9/DCP_1906.jpg