pdougklein

I got a CPO 2012 C350 and within 3 days the ignition module failed, making all the other computer systems freak out. Once it was replaced, everything returned to normal. But I recall prior to the failure that the ESP (traction control) and little coffee cup thingy didn't seem to ever change. I drive aggressively, so am used to traction control in other cars yelling at me. This one has never done anything. I can turn it off, but can't seem to get it to work when traction is compromised. Same thing with the coffee cup thingy - no matter how much I might veer, nothing. I've driven other C350s that have driven me crazy with that feature, so I know how it SHOULD work.

Finally, this morning I turned on the rear defogger, and again, nothing. I'm used to those things working really quickly, and to be fair, I didn't have it on more than about 4 minutes, but didn't notice any difference on the back window. Is it just slow?

Soooo...anyone know where I should start looking to test these systems, or if these are typical complaints? Thanks!

michail71

The coffee cup just tells you the system is on that lets you know you're tired. I don't know if it just uses a timer or detects sleepy driving. From what I've read it can tell by how you are driving.

The rear defogger is quick.

The car has better traction and handling than typical. Perhaps the tires have good grip too. So it may just be the car can handle what you're throwing at it. Next time it just starts to rain, see if you can floor it from a stop. That is the only time I've seen the traction control go off.

pdougklein

Thanks Michail. I suspected all of those - I don't really care if the coffee cup thingy works or not, frankly, but don't like that it might be broken. The defogger I'll just keep an eye on. I had the same thought on the traction control, and will try harder to break it loose. I'm just paranoid after getting a CPO car and having it malfunction in a couple days which took two weeks to fix.

michail71

I couldn't get the wheels to stick to the road on my old car, lol. So this one surprises me. Although I do have a little less horse power than you do.

I punched it on a rain slick road an got an ever so brief correction from the traction control system.

How did you get the coffee cup to go off before? I had a 6 hour drive and about 4 hours in it started going off on me.

You you should be well protected if anything is wrong with a CPO.

Dynotrick

what michail said is all correct. I've never had the attention alert go off - but i take very few long trips and lots of breaks. if you have good tires it's hard to get the traction control to kick in. only time it ever has for me is when it's wet / icy out - not often down in Texas.