190E-Boy

Tell me the good the bad the ugly. No sugar coating and no disparaging remarks. I'm a current owner of a 1996 E300 W210(306K miles on the clock) and have previously owned the grandfather of this car (1991 190E 2.6 W201 which also went over 300K miles) and I need to start looking as I like a little overlap. Would you buy a W204 again? Are there better years than others? What are the common issues with these? How does the AC hold up -both of my MBs sucked for AC! How about head gasket issues? Tranny? Balljoints? etc


Please enlighten me as I do love MBs for their durability but I know there were years when MB sucked. My 1996 has rust! My friends W210 had a spring perch rust off -scary!

All comments welcome. Also what to look for when buying (issues and bonuses)

One last request -both of mine were MBTex and I LOVE it - how do you tell MBTex from Leather in this series in a photo? The old rule of thumb was how many panels were in the seat and whether the door air bag covers were loose and puffy (leather ) or tight like a drum (MB Tex) .

Thanks in advance

Sportstick

Not completely certain if you're buying used or new, but this should give you some sense of comfort for the 2010 models:

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings...y-premium-car/

On its march to the top since launch, my 2009 has been quite good. No significant issues. Dealer replaced battery under warranty for bad cell, and some door seals were replaced due to warpage causing wind noise. I have occasional creaks in the front doors as the weather changes. Fuel economy has been better than expected at 22 city and 30 highway. The car really works very well overall!

I would buy it again, only with the reservation that the manual transmission is not quite as slick as it should be at this point in automotive history. A C Class with a BMW stick would be a great car.

A leftover 2010 should be an outstanding deal about now, or get the most recent model year you can afford through the MB CPO program at a dealer.

Edit: Forgot to answer about A/C.....set it on AUTO when I first got in two years ago. It's been perfect ever since. Just sometimes change the temp setting, but it always seems to know the right answer. In contrast, our 08 E350 always seems to be trying to create a hurricane inside the car, but it gets the temp correct too.

tanktube67

I have 2008 the only problem I have is the noisy rear view mirrors.

tanktube67

ZeroSeVen

I had my C300 for a little over 2 years now... The only problem I had was an insidious onset of intermittent squeaking noise coming from my engine. I brought my car to the dealer and found out it was a loose belt/tensioner pulley but they fixed it under warranty

Im only at 25K so I can't tell you much as far as reliability.

No problem with the AC unit even with weeklong 100+ degrees in the summer.

How I wish I had the 2010 model

190E-Boy

I rack up 40-50K miles a year so my MO has been to buy a car with 70-90K miles (in the past I was never afraid as I knew I would get 300K miles or more). A car that was 7-9 years old with 70-90K miles was an ideal match for me - by the time I'm done with it the average number of miles would be ~20-25K/year.

I was wondering about the 2004-2007 years. Doubt I'll hop into anything newer as the price point doesn't make sense for me.

More info please.

What year if any did they introduce bluetooth connectivity in the C-Class?

ulovemybenzo

yea i would buy it again but with mm package tho i regret not gettin the mm package

C300Kid

You're asking in the wrong place them. Go check out the W203 forum for more info as most of us here in the W204 forum (2008+) are new to Mercedes and dont know much about the previous gen cars.

Good luck man

C300Kid

Me too.

jctevere

If your wondering about the 2004-2007 years, I am afraid you are in the wrong section of the forum. This is w204 meaning model 2008-2010. w203 would be pre 2008. I own 2 w204 (2009 and 2011) and while both are relatively new, we have not had any major problems yet, and in my 2009 everything is perfect, except I did have the door seals (rubber stripping that goes around windows replaced because it was warped). This created a slight wind sound as if a door was cracked open. I barely heard it, but I was nitpicking because it was under warranty. And then I had a service bulleting performed for a smelly A/C on startup, done about 5 months ago, and fine ever since. I really do love these cars, and I like how simple they are to maintain and do things yourself. Which is good because where I live service A runs around $300 and Service B upwards of $500. Brakes are simple, everything is easy to replace and accessible, and the engine is easily serviceable except for the transmission fluid (which I don't feel comfortable doing anyway, and it is only required every 50k miles). The 7G transmission is pretty much bulletproof. The only thing that I could possibly expect to go wrong with the w204 would be belts and minor things, everything else should run strong, providing you don't beat the crap out of it and service it correctly.

In reference to the 203 (2004-2007 models) again I would suggest you go to those forums for more accurate information. But my grandmother had a w203, and I didn't think it was on the same level of "quality" as the w204. She didn't have any main issues, but she only leased it for 24 months, so I wouldn't expect any main issues. The car absolutely STUNK in the snow, and its speed was nothing to get excited about. But this should be expected from a rwd car and the smaller engine offering. I never quite found any of the seats to be comfortable at all, but that is just a preference thing.

I did regret getting MMI myself, but I decided to go ahead and retrofit the entire command system into my vehicle with an out the door cost of $1,200 because I am doing all the labor courtesy of a DIY on the forum, and got the parts all used on eBay. This is how easy it is to do work on teh car, that a 20 year old kid can pretty much add anything after the fact besides panoramic roof.

RLE

As an owner (not leased or financed) of a 2008 C300, I can recommend any W204 without reservation. And having owned TWO W201s, there can be no comparison made with the W204 so that subject is closed.

As to your W210 and it's overall rust, this is a well known and documented problem and the breaking front spring perches is also well known. Likely the best feature of your car is the diesel engine.

The advantages of the V-6 engines are no oil leaks and no head gasket failures, unlike most past MB engines. Personal experience here.

Highway gas mileage can approach 30mpg routinely. Not as good as the diesel but better than the W201's.

The AC system simply works. Set the temp and forget it, for the most part. No more compressor clutch failures because there is no clutch. Brake pad life is much longer than the old cars and 40K miles plus for city driven cars is typical.

Crash performance is also better than past MBs which you can see for yourself on Youtube.

Due to the actions of the dealers and MBUSA, the value of used W204s has taken a dive so there are some very good buys to be had.

190E-Boy

Your comment due to the actions of dealers and MBUSA the price has taken a dive....

Or something to that effect .....what do yo mean by that? The actions part?

Also I don't think you can really make an assumption about the head gasket being better in only 2-3 years of driving - my 210 took 169K miles and 10 years of driving for it to start and it was a minor coolant leak at the back of the engine.

I do like the newer C's - the 2010 is very nice indeed! I'll shop around and if I see a W204 in my price range then it's on the short list.

Any comments on MBTex? Do all the new C's have MBtex or is there a mix and match some leather - some MBTex?

thanks for all your comments

RLE

[QUOTE=190E-Boy;4316471]Your comment due to the actions of dealers and MBUSA the price has taken a dive....Or something to that effect .....what do yo mean by that? The actions part?
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I am talking about all the price cutting which has lowered the used values. The dealers have ordered many unequipped cars for stock and in the wrong colors. So there they sit out in the sun, rows of silver, white and a few black cars, month after month. So, off to they go to the auction or else are sold with thousands off the sticker just to get out from under the flooring costs. And just recently on this very forum we heard about fire sale prices on C63s. Both of these discount schemes reinforced by thousands in trunk money from MBUSA. Again, it's easy to see the influence this has on resale values since sales are reported to Edmunds etc.
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Also I don't think you can really make an assumption about the head gasket being better in only 2-3 years of driving - my 210 took 169K miles and 10 years of driving for it to start and it was a minor coolant leak at the back of
the engine.
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I'm not making assumptions but quoting the Service Manager at my dealer. And, MB introduced the V-6 in 1998 in the W202, continuing in the W203 which looks to me like 13 years. And your W210 being a diesel is a different engine than the M104 inline six.
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Any comments on MBTex? Do all the new C's have MBtex or is there a mix and match some leather - some MBTex?
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My last three MBs have had leather and I like it. It's a pricey option and if you have dogs, little kids or haul sheep to market then it's not for you. Some colors of MBTex are barely distinguishable from leather except for the door panels which are very different. You are not likely to find a used car with leather, anyway.

190E-Boy

Thanks - that clarifies slot and good to know about the V6's. If they're going to go awry things should start showing up now on the 98's with decent miles on the clock.
My dog enjoyed mudding up my MBTex- both cars - but it cleans up nicely.

Thanks again.