I’d rather get 15mpg and not pay dealer prices, and probably still come out ahead.

 

I bought my 2009 MB C300 Sport in 2011 as a certified preowned through MB. It had about 17K miles on it. I still drive the car daily and we are in year 2020. The car now has 158,000 miles and going strong. I do NOT service the car through the dealer although I did the first 2 years I had it and the previous owner who leased did dealer service during lease period. Now, I simply google and do a little research on any issues or maintenance, buy the parts I need and have it installed by a mechanic. I also always keep on top of the oil changes $100-$135. I have done the math and it is simply way more cost effective to maintain and keep this car than to buy an updated one. I haven't made a car loan payment in over 5 years. Last year, I only had to do basic oil change. I don't recall any other service. However, this year, I have and I do not mind because I still win financially when all said and done compared with buying a car and making four to five hundred dollar payments plus maintenance. So far this year, I changed the battery (MB OEM $150 I got via my body shop I went to, they gave me wholesale price) free install by a friend, I changed the A/C blower motor $135, free install took 25 minutes, and now I am doing the rear shocks which are Billstein B6 installed with new mounts. I bought the parts from FCP Euro for their lifetime replacement guarantee for $114 each (2) and shock mounts $25 each (2). Mechanic charged me $80 to install. I just bought 4 new Pirelli tires manufactured in 2020 installed at BJ's Warehouse with lifetime balance and rotation (side to side bc staggered wheels) for $489. And alignment at a specialty shop for $99. I am about to replace two pulleys and the serpentine belt. The pulleys were about $25 each and the belt $25. Lifetime replacement via FCP Euro. This is a job I can do myself and just for the record, I am a girly female, lol. Now, during the years, I did experience some unexpected things and this is how I handled it. I had to replace the differential (extremely rare, ok). The part at the dealer is eye watering $4,000. My mechanic picked up one at junk yard instead and with part and labor installed about $600. That was 4-5 years ago. I also had to replace the ESL which is the electronic steering lock. Most mechanics cannot do this service and will refer to the dealer who will charge triple to quadruple. The same MB tech who replaced my differential repaired the ESL and I paid somewhere between $600-$800, I have to check my records but something around there. That was in 2017. I have at some point replaced the mass airflow sensor (cheap, easy install). It sounds like a lot of stuff but it really isn't. Every car whether new or not will have maintenance costs outside of oil changes such as tires, brakes (I have done and will do again in 2021), batteries, etc. Let's see...I have replaced spark plugs at some point a few years ago, transmission serviced, etc. I did at some point replace the engine coolant thermostat. Bought the kit at FCP ($111) and had the mechanic do the work. Of course, changed some lightbulbs. Oh, it is worth mentioning that my car was hit by a cop. This particular police department was self-insured which meant that even though their adjuster said "total loss", they let me keep the car and still paid me out the full retail value for it about $11k and no change in title, meaning the title remained clean. This was in February 2018. They estimated the damages at $8500+. Well, I shopped around, found a body shop to fix it for $6K cash IF they agreed to do some other body work and freebies. They repaired the car and I have been driving it since with a CLEAR TITLE and zero mechanical issues. I got to pocket the remaining money from the payout. My beautiful baby Benz has never broken down on me and has taken many beatings. I drive in the worst roads in Miami's pothole ridden city and I like to drive fast and brake hard. I hope to keep the car as long as possible to squeeze out every ounce of life since I paid a lot for the purchase of the car. The car is fun, fast, and enjoyable to drive zipping around the city with excellent handling, excellent gas mileage and I've used medium grade mostly not premium for over 7 years. Anyone who says these cars are a money pit probably doesn't know much about cars or are intimidated about the care of them. These cars are solid but they have computers in them. Most "electrical issues" can be resolved by simply restarting the car (you know, like rebooting your home computer or phone). This has been my experience. Oh and in 2020, my sunroof drains were clogged and my interior FLOODED just above the carpet after 2 horrendous rainy days. Insurance paid to have it cleaned, not replaced, and I luckily did not experience electrical damage. Like I said, my car has taken many beatings and still keeps on kicking. It drives so good and still looks pretty except for the peeling buttons on the dash and the MB-Tex interior driver seat has ripped which happens to most of these cars which this interiors. But overall, very satisfied with the performance of this car. Anyway, after getting royally screwed by one mechanic, ONE time, I told myself never again. Now I take a few minutes to research first and thank goodness for the amazing people on YouTube and threads like this to help me along the way. As far as the math.. say you make $400 payments on a newer benz...in 3 years that's $14,400 in just payments. Then you have tires, maintenance etc. Easily a total of $17,000 in the 3 years in money out of your pocket. Now say you spend $2,000 a year on repairs/maintenance on an older, paid off Benz, like mine. That's $6,000 total in those same 3 years. Uh DUHHH... that is a difference of $11k in just 3 years!! I'd rather do other things with that $11k. But that is just me. Some rather just drive the newest car. Personal decision but don't say it is cheaper to buy new than it is to repair a good car IN MOST CASES, obviously. Once I am ready, I will buy Mercedes again. No question. Did anyone actually read all this?

 

These cars are definitely underrated, they are relative low maintenance especially compared to the next generation of Mercedes, the 2012-14 1.8t engine require more maintenance with their timing chain/cam adjuster issues which are nothing compared to what Ive read on the w205 4 cylinders that can have cracked pistons as soon as 20k miles and essentially require a new engine. I scrolled through tons of these pages in this exact thread before buying my first w204 and I have bought 6 so far since I read this thread in april this year. You can go pages and pages in this thread without finding a crazy repair mentioned except for the 4matics which can have transmission/transfercase issues. So besides those repairs, my initial look at this thread I mostly read about pulleys, water pumps, alternators, coils and just really basic maintenance that had to be done. I do not really have a high mileage w204 that I drive, the three that drive have 28k 84k and 107k miles, but the three parts cars I have all have high mileage with 192k 197k and 155k and the only engine that technically died is the one that had water go into it, bent a rod and put a hole in the block. I would recommend the 08-11 rwd c class to anyone. The only thing I think could be better is the footwell intrusion shown in crash tests. These cars are really easy to work on compared to anything else I have touched and are the best bang for you buck!

 

Cool story. I'm curious to know why you bought 6? 3 to drive and 3 for parts. Are you a mechanic or you sell cars for a living or what?

 

I have a 2012 c2504matic . has the v6 engine, bought certified about 6 yrs ago. currently has 171000 KM on it.
new tires twice
brakes front and back- once
coolant
trans service
headlight bulb
serpentine belt and tensioner
regular oil changes before they are due. switched to doing them myself now that I have a garage. using Mobil 1 now.

2010 ML63, bought summer of 2019 with 150000km
had diffs, trans and transfer case fluids done, new tranny pan
rear brakes today

Hoping they both it 300000km

 

Mileage 198500
Bought in February 2016 CPO with 25K

Engine light on now with little power until it reaches 2200 rpm replaced map sensor and intake control valve and now the new code says replace accelerator sensor
replaced engine mounts transmission mounts
tires rear 2 to 1 larger rear tires so no rotation
regular oil changes mobil one synthetic and filter every 5k
air filters
cabin filters
brake fluid exchange
transmission fluid exchange/filter
battery replaced
front brakes replaced including rotors
need Rear brakes now
new front windshield
spark plugs routinely replaced 25k interval
one ignition coil
New head replaced at 28k
air bag recall finally done
needs headliner repair
A/C condenser replaced
turbo air intake replaced with aluminum one
serpentine belt replaced
Drives great tight as ever fun to drive
I do most of the work myself accept the head replacement and A/C was under CPO warranty thankfully
I now have 198,500 miles!
resr brake pads
transmission conductor plate
just did heater hoses, rear coolant pipe pcv x smaller low pressure side plus some other small hoses located behind motor.
intake was off to do this work cleaned carbon deposits off valves, not too bad for mileage
front control arms needed as well.
running strong!

 

250 000km/155 000mi (in South Africa, 3-32 degrees celcius/37-89 degrees fahreinheit)

I only service it when the service notification appears.

Banjo bolt replacement (white smoke)
Coolant feed line replacement (coolant leak)
Rear coolant pipe (coolant leak)
Tappet cover gasket (oil leak into spark plug wells, misfire cylinder 2)
Ignition coil (misfire cylinder 2)
Transmission mount (rattle at ignition and acceleration)
Intake & exhaust cam adjusters (very loud rattle on ignition only)
Timing chain & tensioner (very loud rattle on ignition only)
Rear left tail light harness and internals (burnt wiring harness)
One battery change
Only front shocks replaced

I might have to do a rear main seal replacement for an oil leak between engine and transmission but it has stopped since the transmission mount replacement.
Climate control fan has become very moody too.

The most expensive job was the cam and timing chain job for about $700 (ZAR 13 000). From reading your posts I should probably budget for engine mounts.

 

She still runs great steering lock went out but besides that no major issues just preventative maintenance

 

It was a a lot of reading for sure haha but thanks for the information I guess you got lucky keeping the car and extra cash to fix it. I just bought a 2014 c300 sport 4matic with 60k miles and so far all I have to do is basic maintenance, and replace front control arm and there's engine oil leak from what appears to be upper front timing case cover and pcv hose so they recommend resealing and using new gasket for cam gear sensors and pcv hose and also oil pan also appears to have recently started leaking. So from there I will start my journey with owning this car.

 

2010 C300 4matic Sport that now has around 156,000 miles. Had it 3yrs now and put on around 40,000 miles. Carfax showed routinely serviced at Mercedes dealers so i felt it was a good buy.




I work on it myself, if i didnt it would get expensive. I try to follow what the maintenance book says to do. Ive done quite a few things while owning it, most just due to wear n tear and normal maintenance.

One of the 1st things i did was to install an HID headlight kit. Car has the halogen projector headlights which I thought should be good, but nope. Maybe its my aging eyes but I couldnt see anything driving at night I felt it was dangerous. HID kit is amazing, such a difference.

- Brakes and rotors all around. Brake fluid flush.
- Front sway bar links due to old ones clunking around.
- Purge valve due to check engine light. Replaced with $12 used one.
- Replaced both front struts with used lower mileage set due to broken spring while car parked at night.
- Replaced both rear springs with lower mielage used set due to old ones rusted.
- Replaced both rear dust shields due to rusting, parking brake springs would no longer hold.
- Crankshaft breather cover and oil drip pan due to oil getting to throttle body.
- Replaced an exhaust clamp due to bolt completely rusted away.
- Replaced drive belt and tensioner due to tensioner pulley bouncing up and down.
- Replaced the battery, old one was 7yrs old and wouldnt hold a charge.
- Replaced 3 TPMS.

Ive always worked on my cars and feel the C300 is pretty easy to work on. Already have a decent tool collection but found I needed a nice torx socket set for this car. Also got a Dewalt 1/2 impact wrench which helps out tremendously for suspension work. The only time i took this car somewhere to be worked on was to have the front drivers TPMS replaced due to dead battery, the next week i went to remove the wheel to replace the sway bars and could not get the lug nuts off, ended up using a 4' piece of pipe over a breaker bar to get 3 of them loose. After that mess i learned how to replace them myself using a floor jack in the basement.

I try to use Mercedes parts or OEM parts. To save money I have had good luck buying used Mercedes parts off ebay from California salvage yards, tons of used C300 parts and they look in great condition, rust free unlike my New England car looks. Think I paid $125 shipped for the set of Mercedes front struts, $35 for the rear springs. I also saved time by replacing the entire strut opposed to messing with swapping just the broken spring. I am seeing rust under the car but nothing serious like rotted sub frame issues, though the transmission pan is rusted and bought a new one to replace when i do the fluid and filter. On top of it being a new England car I live right on the water, park my car 10 feet from the ocean so im always washing the thing.