amarzano

I'm looking at the C class and am wondering how this works out for those of you with kids? I have 2 in booster seats and 1 in an infant carrier - anyone else get 3 kids in the back of the C class?

Just looking at it - it does not appear that the E is that much bigger - but the salesmen told me I was bascially better off in an E and that it would be tough to get the kids in the C..

Thanks!

joshg1001

best thing to do is to bring your booster seats and your infant carrier without to the dealership and actually try it out.

hip room is pretty good in the C but when those kids get older, leg room will be a problem. lol

AMGTTV8

the e has a lot more room in the back - no experience with kids, but in terms of comparing the two my previous car was an 07 e350...

be on the safe side - give yourself room to grow into something instead of growing out of it.

amarzano

My dealer (Autobahn) was actually pretty accomodating and let me bring the car home. I can make it all fit - but it's a tight squeeze. I just really love this car (C63) and am trying to make it work - vs getting into an E350..

I did look up the specs on the cars and there is only about 2" more hip room in the E350.. So - that might not really be the answer either..

chilledbenz

I'll throw a couple things out here. First, if your seriously interested in the C class then by all means bring your child seats into the show room and put them in the back to determine exactly if everything will fit. Secondly, keep in mind that the current E class on the car lots (2009) models aren't selling, to the point where they can't give them away, due to the new model (2010) hitting show rooms later this month. Your salesman was just doing his job trying to push the slowest selling model and get them out of inventory before the new models arrive, at which point they will have to really discount the remaining 2009 E classes to move them. With that said, the C class is smaller in size than a Honda Civic in terms of interior room, besting the Civic only in shoulder room by a narrow margin, so its true the E would be larger and most likely better suited to your needs.

If you don't mind having an older body style than the E class would be a great way to go. I can't even fathom the deals that people have to be getting right now, let alone when the new models start hitting show rooms. Plus the current E class has been out long enough to work out any unforeseen gremlins that might pop up in a new model.

On a side note with very little haggling, you can pick up an ML for nearly the same price as a nicely equipped C300 4matic now. Or a GLK for less money than the C350, or even an R class for a little bit more money. MB has really screwed up the C class pricing.

Carsy

There is sufficient room for 3 young children the the back seat of the C Class but once they are 14 or 15 years old & need a little space, you will have problems.
Last week I had two 6 footers in the back seat with the front seats drawn forward a little. Ok for an hour but not so good for a long trip.

LI MB

I was just reading reviews on edmunds inside line, on their long term test C300,, one of the writers commented on how hard it was to latch a booster seat due to the C having such flat seats.. you may want to read the article.

but like others said, take the booster seats and your kids to the dealer and try for yourself

len56

That's cause it's in pretty high demand

FrankW

rear seats are smaller than new Civic's. people don't buy the C for "interior space".

Krytech

I have two young kids in the back, both of them in car seats. I can't imagine getting three car seats in the back. But for you since two of them are in boosters that frees up a lot of room. Glad to know you got them to fit, that's encouraging if I end up keeping the car longer than expected.

Don't settle for the E350. To this day I really wish I wasn't so impatient when I ordered my car. The C63 wasn't due out for another 6 months at the time, but I ended up waiting for my car for over 3 months... Given the opportunity to do it all over again I would of waited and ordered the C63...

peabers

It's a tight fit in the back. We had one child seat in the middle and two adults on the outboard positions. It depends on the car seats that you have. Due to design of the Radian car seat, it sat on top of all of the seat belt buckles as well. A Britax might be better...

Also, you may want to consider that a larger stroller like a Bugaboo or Phil & Ted's will take up basically all of your trunk.

Krytech

+1

I'm really glad my youngest wants nothing to do with the large stroller anymore. That thing was a beast.