How reliable are Mercedes Benz C Class's ??

Coming from owning a VW Passat, it runned flawlessly till 85k miles, just normal servicing and new discs/pads at 45k miles.

8k miles on the new MB C205 (new front discs at 3k miles - pitted badly, replaced under warranty).

Now assumed airmatic failure to the front ?


Airmatic Fail

 

German luxury cars are notoriously unreliable, especially as they age. That's why they depreciate like a stone. Your AirMatic failure is pretty strange at 8k miles though. Usually it's caused by a leaking air spring, a worn out compressor or a bad valve block, but I can't imagine any of those this early. You should reasonably expect to do nothing but normal maintenance up to the 50k range.

We have 2012 CC that's required zero warranty repairs.

 

Historically, Mercedes builds more durable engines than the other Germans. But they've added wayyyyyy more tech in the last 20 or so years. That tech can and will fail, and it will cost you.

A stripped C class with the 2.0 turbo that Mercedes is using in every car that starts below 60k should be pretty reliable. The same C with every option will probably be a nightmare by 100k.

 

I recently got a C300. My first merc (coming from bmw). I have been fairly disappointed in the construction and reliability of this car. Less than 6K miles and I have had 6-7 issues that are going to be fixed next week at the dealer. My 2007 335i with 101000 miles has had zero issues since I first bought it.

Not sure how others feel, but merc quality is no where near bmw in the lower engine models. Maybe the amg versions are better. Love the comfort of the c300, though. Much better suspension

 

I love the car, though ain't got time for any issues on the car, especially as only 8k on it.

i need reliable car for work, looks like this car may not have been the correct purchase 👎🏼

 

Maybe not. Although I have 12k on my AirMatic C with zero defects so far. Yours may be an anomaly rather than representative of a pattern. But if there is a pattern (3 unsuccessful repair attempts for the same problem, or a total of 30 total shop days for any combination of issues.) there's a potential Magnuson Moss (Lemon Law) claim.

 

The model as a whole had a LOT of teething issues--as have all recent MB products, which is worrying. I don't know how the new E is doing, but all the other new models had some problems. Additionally, the new C was built in Alabama using different assembly methods (I believe) than the factory had employed previously and with new suppliers. It doesn't seem like those quality issues have been fully resolved.

As far as BMW goes, any two people can play that game all day. My family has had two BMWs, an E39 and an E90. The E39 was the best driving car I've ever gotten to experience, but developed a lot of problems with the cooling system and engine. The E90 was a money pit out of warranty.

 

I wonder what the lemon law in Canada is, if any.

So what does the Lemon law state, replace the car with a new one? Or just that item that needs to be fixed, the airmatic in this case.

 

It's a Federal Act here that's interpreted a little differently in every state. Basically once a car hits either (or both ) of those criteria I posted, the owner can get an attorney and move for the manufacturer to either buy back the car and refund the owner the money, or to replace it with a new one of equal value. The law provides that attorney fees are paid by the manufacturer as well.

 

not sure such a thing exists in the uk.

i expect a new car to be issue free for a long period of time. Let's see what the dealership finds when they look at it tomorrow.

 

good luck with that approach, it's never been my experience no matter the brand.

 

OP, meet your service advisor, Pleez Ben-Dover....

 

Disappointing i would say.
9000km on mine and i have the following problems already:

- brake squeal when -10c or more outside
- rattling noise when car is off after car has been driven
- collision assist sensors going crazy randomly
- driver side LED on handle has stopped functioning
- random rough upshift
- speaker distortion at high volume (burmester)

But even with all that being said, i still absolutely LOVE this car!! Cant imagine owning it out of warranty though.

 

yep, I will bend them over 😘

Not the 1st time you have posted that CFG, think you like it ? 😂😜😂

 

Like all hoary chestnuts, it remains true.

 

I hope the M274 engine that we have in our C Class is as reliable as the old M271. I have an 05 C230 with around 280000 miles and it is still going strong. I can only assume that the M274 will be just as reliable. Mercedes seems to be confident about the reliability and durability of the engine because they use basically the same engine in the E class down to the Metris minivan. From what I understand the Metris minivan even uses the same transmission as our C Class.

 

Other than known recall defects, I think that all cars are only as reliable as they are treated (driven, stored, maintained).

That being said, all manufacturers products will have random and isolated issues; this is the reason for warranties. But there seems to be 2 common issues I've noticed with the w205 early on: Rough transmission shifting characteristics & accelerated brake wear.

 

Simple fix - faulty pin at the airmatic compressor and a new fuse.

hopefully nothing else for a while 😞

 

I say tucking tire is not too terrible of a problem to have. Can you sabotage the rear to look the same? Hahaha JK.... But seriously

 

Glad yours is fixed, from my thread they are replacing the rear airmatic as I don't think they can pinpoint the issues on mine.

Reliable? Since I bought my 15 c300 in Sept, here is the list of things encountered. Yes it's all under warranty, but in total the car will be at the dealer for over a month. About 5 weeks min. Plus the outstanding fixes...

Piano roof inoperable. Replace entire roof.

led lights on outside door and interior panel. 5mths on back order. Just got them replaced.

Interior rattle. Internal piece on comand system is loose. Getting replaced.

Error message relating to charging battery. Updated SAM module. Not fixed.

Rear airmatic fails intermittently. Can't pin point issue, so replacing entire rear system.

Not sure I would call that reliable. I do have factory and the car does include extended warranty. More of a hassle each time these gremlins appear.

I've had Acura and Infiniti and never been to the dealer this many times. And I had those out of warranty too.

 

Yeah, looked lovely, should be a weekend Option on the Airmatic 😂

Though, it didn't like speed bumps

 

That's not an unreliable model as a whole. That is a lemon. You can probably even "Lemon Law" it. I would. Especially if you plan on or would like to keep the car after the lease/warranty is up.

 

I think that overall, MB cars and SUVs are pretty damn reliable when compared to their competition or other manufacturers. When I say reliable, I mean that MB vehicles are consistently good and able to be trusted overall.

Do things sometimes go wrong in MB vehicles? Of course. Are there times that an MB vehicle will have multiple malfunctions and what seem to me manufacturer defects? Absolutely. These are machines, after all. No auto brand at any level has an absolutely perfect track record in terms of mass-producing vehicles with ZERO issues or problems. It's just not possible at this point in time. (Maybe someday, though!)

Speaking from my own personal experiences, out of the two MB vehicles I've owned/leased (2014 E350 Coupe and 2016 C450), the only "issues" I can report are squeaky wheels on my E-Coupe (which lasted for no more than a month before disappearing) and a flat tire. Comparing this to the problems and lack of performance/efficiency I had in other previous vehicles, I consider myself to be lucky and impressed with MB. My parents have owned/leased MB vehicles for roughly 30 years, and I can probably count on one hand the amount of times they experienced any notable mechanical or warranty issues that actually required service, outside of damage-related items. Most of my friends who drive or have driven MB cars are in the same boat, although I definitely know people who've experienced bugs or issues here or there along the line.

Point being, most of the people claiming MB to be unreliable are speaking from their own (certainly unfortunate) personal experiences (and I can't blame them for feeling that way), the experiences of people close them, or even the experiences they read about within this forum from other members. And to be honest, MBWorld's members are not exactly the best sample group to use as a gauge for MB's overall reliability for the general public, or for all of the people around the world who drive or have driven MB vehicles.

As someone mentioned above, outside of a few nagging widespread issues that pop up within a model line from time to time, most of the problems or issues reported here and elsewhere seem to be random and isolated for the most part. It's easy and natural to get upset/annoyed when unexpected issues pop up in your own vehicle, and it's even easier to conflate your own vehicle's issues with the quality of the MB brand as a whole.

But as much as it sucks to say (and I know I'll get probably flack for saying this), I do feel it's important to keep in mind that while your car might have a bunch of issues that make you feel as if it's the worst piece of crap that any person could be driving, there are probably hundreds (if not thousands) of people out there who are driving a near-identical vehicle to your own...and have experienced virtually no problems at all, and have no complaints.

Is that bad luck for the people who DO experiences bugs and issues? Absolutely, but the same can be said of virtually any product that exists in this world -- even the best and most highly-reputable ones.

 

So far so good for this 2015 C300 with 21K mi owner. Since I do my own scheduled A & B, this C has yet been back to the dealer. The only issue is that 3 out of 4 handle lights are out which needs to be replaced before the end of this year.

 

I don't want to make excuse for the common problems these things have (door lights, speaker rattles, squeaks, etc...) as they are definitely common problems and shouldn't be.

However, when the OP says something like " need reliable car for work, looks like this car may not have been the correct purchase ����" this is where I may disagree. The OP had an unfortunate problem leaving the car truly not properly drivable. But there are very few problems that haven been reported that represent a true "breakdown" or safety issue that make the car unreliable for driving every day. You can drive it just fine without one (or all 4) of the door leds, and get it fixed at your convenience, at no cost, under warranty. Judging from posts on this forum compared to others (not always statistically significant) it seems the W205 has much less major issues (defining major to be those requiring an immediate trip to the dealer and/or rendering it undrivable) than many other new cars. It may have more minor issues though.

Some people don't want to deal with the minor issues, and I can understand that. For me, while I would hope to not have any, I'm less bothered by those than anything that is going to strand me on the side of the road.