nachorunner918

My wife and I are trading in our Jeep Wrangler (crap gas mileage, never take it off-road, etc.) and want to get a comfortable, and fun to drive vehicle that we can take on road trips. After much deliberation and research we've ended up on Mercedes and specifically found a CPO 2014 C300 4Matic with less than 10k miles, Sport Pkg, Premium 1 Pkg, BAS, Attention Assist, Adaptive Brake, yatta, yatta, yatta...OH, we've opted for AWD because, we live where it does snow (like today) and the infrastructure within out city doesn't have the means to plow very effectively and my wife and I need to be able to get to our job, no matter the road conditions. Also, due to my job, we will be moving in about 3 years and we don't know where to ... but we like snow so we would be looking for a snowy climate/region.

SO, the reason we've found this specific vehicle so attractive is it's the color (int/ext) that we always buy our cars in, low miles, good price, crazy good deal on our Jeep trade AND...MB is making your first payment on CPO, plus including the next two maintenance visits. This vehicle has about 9800 miles on it, the dealership did the 10k service, so that means we don't have an A/B visit for 20k miles or 2 years.

What do I need to know about this model??? I've done my research on the interwebs and it seems like a common theme for C300 is the transmission issue - but that doesn't seem to be a focus on 2014s, mainly earlier years ... maybe because they're still too new?? You tell me!

What else do I need to keep in mind? I'm good with staying on top of scheduled maintenance (especially when it's paid for), but is there anything else I should know?

Thanks for helping this long-winded newbie!

EDIT: I had to put a "Drives" when I started my account with mbworld, so I just put my POTENTIAL car in hopes we pick it up today!

MB Marko

sounds amazing you'll be very happy with the car. the transmission would be your only concern as long as you get the service done you should have no issues. you won't find many people with the transmission problem because its a 2014 I've really only seen the problem with 2011-2008 BUT tats mainly because 2012+ there aren't many high milage ones out there that have had an issue yet fingers crossed lol.

my only advice is get a fully loaded car upgrades are so expensive so if you want navi get it because to add it, it will cost 3500+$ the audio 20 is not good after you hear the HK just make sure you have everything you want upfront.

only thing is stay on top of the maintenance. you will enjoy that car for a very long time good luck

nachorunner918

Thanks!

I figured the low mileage thing with the 2014s might be the reason for so few/no transmission issues. However, my logic is it's under warranty and if something happens, I would HOPE my dealership would help me resolve the issue.

The navigation system is a take it or leave it, sort of thing with me. I'd really only use it on trips, since if I'm going somewhere in town I either know where to go or use my phone. BUT the high quality tunes are a must have...ever since we bought a 4Runner with the upgraded JBL audio, a "standard" system just doesn't cut it.

michail71

Somewhere a few years back the transmission was changed from the 7g tronic to the 7g tronic plus. Although from what I've gathered the problem is more the transfer case.

Around here I see people recommending to get the service done at more frequent intervals and make sure they drain the transfer case too. That's what I think anyway. I haven't paid too much attention since since I have a RWD.

MB Marko

i believe if you get the upgraded audio system you get the navi also its a dual package if I'm not mistaken its worth it. I'm now in the situation where I REALLY need to get new speakers the audio 20 aren't cutting it anymore and its 250$ each speaker if i want something pretty good. you will have warranty for a long time so they would cover it but just read in to the services know what needs to be done as dealers have a tendency to rip a lot of people off especially with the transmission service you have lots of time for that but just know they need to drain the torque converter too lol they tend to skip that part and that can cause the tranny issue

MB Marko

and the 4 matic is unbelievable i honestly never slip in the snow its like the car is glued to the road hahaha. this is my first AWD and i don't think ill ever get a car with out it again as long as this one lasts hopefully i have no issues. and i agree with michail71 get the service done a little early i do the same at least 5000km early for the tranny but for oil changes i i always go 1000-2000 km early as i drive a lot.

i want to keep this car for a long time so i do baby it

C300fan2

Agreed, Im in Saskatoon Canada and its winter here most of the year ha... -25c today... I have a 2010 and love it. Unfortunately we have the audio 20, but my wife is the primary driver so she doesn't mind. So far the car has been awesome and I do all my own maintenance.

nachorunner918

Awesome info! This will be my daily driver and it's a fairly short trip and somewhat stop/go - so I'll be sure to get the services done early!

nachorunner918

That's our plan too, keep this things as long as we can and really baby it! I would rather be PROactive in my maintenance then REactive...hoping that prevents costly repairs!

nachorunner918

Wow! I'm sure our winters won't be ANYTHING like you get - we're about 1,600 miles south of you, in Oklahoma. Some schools here let out early YESTERDAY afternoon because it was going to snow...today - if that's any idea of how people act when it snows here.

michail71

I guess I was off on the transfer case though. As newmbmarko stated it's the torque converter that needs to be drained with the transmission service.

nachorunner918

UPDATE: The C300 didn't have all the features it said it did online. The dealership apologized and said they would talk with corporate MB, as I found the car through Mercedes and not the dealerships website. It was missing Navi, backup cam, blindspot monitors, etc., and the interior wasn't in the greatest shape. All-in-all, I enjoyed the car, it was beautiful, but I didn't LOVE it.

I will say...I was shocked at the MPGs! I took it on a 25mile drive of city and highway and avg about 18mpg. Everyone calls me grandpa when I drive, so I'm definitely not heavy on the accelerator and even kept it int ECO, except for about 2 miles of SPORT on the highway. What MPGs do you guys and gals get in yours?

michail71

I had a thread here were I was suspecting the MPG readings were using British gallons. My actual MPG measured the old fashioned way came out to 36 MPG and the trip summary showed around 30. Although I have a C250, so it will get better MPG.

I'm not sure anyone here buys that there is a bug in the system but I'm going to measure a few more tanks.

Driving style has a bigger impact than the mode does. E mode uses 2nd gear, S starts off in 1st gear. Throttle response and shift points will be a little more aggressive. But S mode doesn't do much on the highway but might get you a downshift quicker.

It's near impossible to find a late model C-Class with anything beyond premium sound, navigation and backup camera and memory seats. Mostly what's on the market are off lease vehicles. Anyone getting other packages likely financed for long term.

Also, the interior wasn't in good shape on a 2014? These interiors usually hold up.

Carsy

What about looking into an E Class diesel. Excellent consumption figures. .

Alfadude

Nacho, I have a 2012 C300 4matic and up here in Wisconsin I am getting about 18.5 with probably 75/25 city/highway driving. I drive in sport mode all the time as it is just too frustrating to deal with the E mode and its shifting, although I do leave it in E when it snows. So, with your 25 miles and probably a stop or two factored in there is about what I would expect. I bought my car in September when it was warm and usually got around 21.5 or so. Not the most fuel efficient engine, but I am not disappointed.

As I recall michail's mileage was totally highway driving on a long trip and like he said, it was the C250, so day to day you will never get close to that with a C300.

I was probably searching around 6-8 months for mine and there are a ton of them out there. What I found by reading a ton of Car Faxes is that most are leased. So, there is a constant churn. So, if you know exactly what you want and aren't in any hurry, just keep searching and you'll find just what you want at the price you want to pay eventually.

And as someone else said, they are great in the snow. My last car was AWD and although very good in the snow it was nowhere near as good as the C300 is. On a recent snow storm we had here they closed our office down early one day because the conditions were so bad and the car was a tank. I could accelerate from a traffic light almost as well as without any snow. Between the AWD and stability control is was extremely secure. It was actually almost fun. Still have to be smart about stopping though.

Good luck in your search.

Dynotrick

Since that one didn't work out and you're in Oklahoma try keeping an eye on the inventory at this place. It's where I got my car and the prices are usually very good. There is a nearby indie shop I can recommend also if you travel down and want the car checked by a 3rd party.

http://www.texascarsdirect.com/