digitallust_aus

So our beloved C class has just won "World Car of the Year"

That should help us all keep these grins painted on our faces for a lot longer

http://www.autoblog.com/2015/04/02/2...r-of-the-year/

jolt8631

Good job it's not based on reliability stats then.....

jolt8631

Seriously, that is TERRIFIC news.

digitallust_aus

Hahaha, I thought it was the CLA that I read that it was extremely unreliable... time will tell

CO2010

Good news. But it's only April Lol

S18LOK

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-new...rcedes-c-class

Glyn M Ruck

Well deserved & will shut up some of the naysayers!

Glyn M Ruck

The worlds Motoring Journo's have spoken

BenzC400

I wonder if the award will cause more demand and thus less discounts from dealers. Maybe even higher resale values.

StanNH

The vast majority of those of us who own a W205 bought our cars because we felt it offered more than the competition, particularly BMW and Audi. I think it does, and in many ways makes other compact sedans look and feel dated.

The 2015 W205 has been routinely praised for its styling, comfort, seating, and performance ... so it's no surprise that it took top honors in its class at the NY Auto Show. It is a well deserved award, because it is a brilliantly designed and engineered vehicle.

The problems experienced by too many are a reflection of certain inadequate assembly protocols which, hopefully, are being ... or will be ... corrected as production moves along. It's unfortunate that Mercedes hasn't been more proactive and communicative about these issues, but that doesn't change the fact that they have come up with a truly award winning design in the W205.

This must be like living with a gorgeous supermodel who burps and farts all the time.

Glyn M Ruck

CO2010

Well said Stan! I think the forum magnifies the problems with the W205 by 1000. If you think about it, we’re just a small group of guys venting on a forum about screeching brakes, misaligned tail lights, rattling speakers etc. But we are just a small percentage of the amount of W205’s that are on the road which probably have no issues at all.

Glyn M Ruck

Absolutely & I've highlighted this on every forum I've moderated. Boards/forums like MBWorld concentrate issues. Some people only ever post because they have an issue.

dtc100

Big thumbs up! even though the new C is not my type of cars.

For those concerned about less sales incentives, not to worry. Last month BMW sold over 14,000 copies of the 3 sereis, to C's under 7,000. MB needs to sell a lot more new Cs to keep up

dtc100

To be fair, none of such awards ever consider reliability issues. On the other hand, this is why we have warranty and why having the most satisfying dealer service department matters.

Any car that stands out will have growing pains. One can always buy a Camry and never have to think about it, seriously, if you wish not ever to have any thoughts about it

MASSC450

The C300 is still missing a couple of options if you ask me...

Heated Steering Wheel (like a BMW and my Grand Cherokee)

Remote Start (like my Grand Cherokee)

Heated Rear Seats (like a BMW, and my Grand Cherokee)

4G (like a Chevy)

digitallust_aus

We can't even get ventilated seats in Australia :-(

mikbar2

My Ford pick up has a heated steering wheel and rear seats. Come on MB!! lol

Glyn M Ruck

+1^ Agreed. I'm not an early adopter when it comes to cars. There are always issues with early production. I get burned enough in my Audiophile/Home Theatre hobby by being an early adopter.

EDIT: And even Toyota, as their cars have become more complex, have had their fair share of trouble. Last year they were midfield in reliability. But I want to drive a car with character not a competent appliance with no soul.

Croc

In Australia, c class is selling in greater numbers than 3 and A4 combined.

floridadriver

Congrats to the 2015 C Class! Very cool!

Perfect and consistently well built it's not. Overall, though, a great car that finally gives all the engineering and fine touches of the larger luxury car in a smaller package and leaves it's current direct competitors feeling a bit tired. Lots of soul as Glyn references. And yea, some burps like Stan points out. Hopefully MB is giving MBUSA and Vance some GasX as we speak

rieger

On every forum you have someone saying this. The fact is though that if a lot of people on the forum have the problem than a lot of people not on the forums have the same problem but they just don't post them. How do I know this. Well look at the TSB's and recalls and you will see that much of the TSB and recall are the same problems that people are complaining about on the forum and also people not on the forum. If it was only a few people complaining on the forum and no one else as you pertain than MB wouldn't waste the time to do a TSB or recall. This isn't MB, either it is also BMW and Audi.
The fact is that the forums is pretty representative of problems that others are having thus TSB and recalls are issued.

jolt8631

But I think the point is that if only 5% of the total ownership take part in the forum, but almost everyone on the forum is complaining about various issues, it would be a dangerous assumption that the ENTIRE population has all of these issues.

Whilst that could be the case (hence TSBs), it could also be the case that most of the folks that experience issues are drawn towards the forum and hence you "could" end up with a disproportionate view.

Fact is, the only fact based view will be the proportion of car owners that contact their dealers - even then, some owner's tolerance levels are higher than others.

floridadriver

Forums are an elective rather than random scientific sample...though many come here in search of a solution for a problem in addition to enthusiasts. While at the dealer earlier in this week there was a customer with a week old C300 who had 32 warranty items on his work order list. He made most folks here look not very picky. Either way, he seemed to be excited about his car.

StanNH

I think you're correct. While the problems being reported on forums are real, they do not represent anything even close to an accurate accounting of the frequency of those problems. So, you can have 2/3 of respondents here saying they have excessive wind noise when, in fact, only 10 or 20% of cars may be brought in for that same issue. A dealer saying, "I've never seen that problem before," may actually be true simply because they haven't.

The other factor you mention is an owner's tolerance level. When I brought my own car in for the MB-Tex "bleeding" issue, the service manager told me they had just gotten in another W205 for routine service. The seats were literally covered in leeching plasticizer ... oily and white. That's not why the car was in the shop ... it was in for routine service only. The dealer had to point out the seat issue and offer to do the TSB repair. I was astounded by this, but the service manager assured me this was quite normal and many drivers were totally oblivious to serious defects in their cars.

So, sure, the problems being discussed here and on other forums are real, but they may not be as common as we think. The two exceptions to that would be the rear bumper fit, which is almost always bad; and the MB-Tex fiasco, which affected a huge number of US built cars in colder climates.