JulianH

Just took my car in to have the brakes done.
Here is what they found, in addition to some regular maintenance stuff (this car is regularly maintained, 2009, with 47k miles):

A/T***Parking*Pawl:*PARKING*PAWL*SEALS*AND*TRANSFER* CASE*SEALS
LEAKING,REMOVE*AND*RESEAL*TRANSFER*CASE,REMOVE*VAL VE*BODY*REPLACE
PARKING*LINKAGE*SEALS
1804.95
Motor*Mount:*ENGINE*VIBRATES*AT*IDLE,ENGINE*MOUNTS *COLLAPSED*CAUSING
VIBRATION
1650.37
Transmission*Mounts:*RECOMMEND*TRANS*MOUNT*AT*SAME *TIME 276.12

Centrifuge:*CENTRIFUGE*LEAKING 226.16

My car only has 50k miles. Seems crazy to me to have all these leaks and issues. That's $4k in repairs right there. I guess I am going to get a second opinion from another shop. Or trade it in and buy a damn Lexus.

Doanster

Even though your warranty has expired due to time (vs mileage), I'd be very surprised if MB doesn't cover much of it. Do you have full service records (hopefully at the dealer)?

JulianH

Yep, full service records, all work done at the same dealership, did all the scheduled maintenance. Is this common? So I should ask if they can cover some of it? Anything in particular I should say? I also bought the car from them and bought my G wagen from them and they do the maintenance on it too.

Edit: The SA is going to see if he can give me a deal. Thanks for the suggestion!

Pete7874

And get ready for the transfer case to fail soon, which will require you to get a whole new transmission. That's another $8K.

JulianH

Oh great, a common problem I presume?

Pete7874

Yup. Quite a few of these transfer cases on 4matics have been failing recently.

Our C300 transfer case was dripping fluid and needed to be resealed just like yours, at 52K miles. A few thousand miles later, it developed the common 'whine' noise. Dealer replaced the transmission at 61K miles.

Doanster

With that history, especially the G-vagen, I'd ask for them to cover it all and see what they come back with vs just asking for a "deal". I'm not advocating "taking advantage" here, but you're only recently out of warranty based on time, not mileage. Previous service appts didn't mention a single thing regarding the issues you're having now? Was the transmission and TC flush done at 39K? If so, that should really help your case...

xzotik1

61k on my 2010 c300 4matic, and I'm having power steering issues. Ive owned a Lexus LS 400 , GS300 , IS 250. All over 100k with no issues. I don't think these are good cars at all, l owe 21k on this car so I cannot trade it anytime soon... It's a heavy deprecator
Hopefully I won't have any 4-7k issues before I could reduce the balance.

JulianH

Well Mercedes is paying for half of my repairs. So I am going to fix the car, but I'm not sure how long I will keep it.
Pretty sure I did a BG transmission flush. I do whatever they recommend.

The thing with a heavy depreciator is once the heavy depreciation has set in, you really need to keep the car for as long as possible because it's not going to depreciate much lower. The difference in a 2009 and 2008 C class is about $1200. If you trade it in and buy a newer car, you are just starting the heavy depreciation cycle over again. Even 3-4 year old cars can depreciate $6k or more a year. It's late in the ownership when you really need to hold onto the car. But of course, if the repairs are going to keep coming, it's best to get rid of it.

In VA, I also pay a car tax and with the car worth so much less, I'm only paying about $400 a year. A 60k car for instance cost over $2k a year in car tax in VA.

I'll probably get rid of the car though because I want something new. If it wasn't for the repairs, I would put aside my desires for a newer car and hold onto it for the financial benefit.

Pete7874

Pretty sure MB does not recommend such a thing.

nyca

I have the same car - 98K miles - nothing like this. I've done the two required transmission services on it at 40K and 80K.

JulianH

I had the transmission service done at 39k or so. My dealer tries to add all this BG crap every time I come in for service so I got confused. Thanks for the clarification.

goducks3620

With a RWD car with a stick shift, we won't be getting the transfer case or auto tranny issues, but I'm watching these types of posts regularly for when our warranty expires next year. Thank you for posting them. Doubt we will sell the car, but we're considering getting the extended warranty.

Pete7874

FYI, someone on the GLK subforum (same drivetrain platform as the W204) said that as of 2013 model year, they've fixed these failing transfer case issues on 4matic, but that information came from a dealer, so I'm a bit skeptical as to the authenticity of it. Time will tell I guess... Wife was looking into a new(er) GLK to replace her C300, but at this point, I think she'll skip it.

Haffster

My 2009 C300 (55k KMs, approx 35k miles) just had the same issue - leaking transfer case. Took it in, they resealed.

My worry is that that CPO warranty is expiring next month and if I do end up needing the transmission replaced subsequently, I won't be under warranty. Any thoughts on whether they might still honor it because the transfer case need resealing?

LogicalApex

If you're concerned... Wouldn't it make more sense to extend the CPO warranty? This can be done at anytime before it expires. Outside of warranty it is simply a YMMV situation...