Hello,
i am new to this forum and looking to hopefully soon be a new Benz driver. I am currently looking at the C300. I love the looks and have test driven a couple. I'm hoping to gain some knowledge as to what is good or bad about these cars. Any tips as to anything a novice should know before purchasing. It will have to be a used vehicle as I have not won't the lotto recently so anything that I should know not only about the car but also maintenance, care, pitfalls, etc would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you all in advance.

 

 

+1

 

My 2016 still rattles & shakes, has a strange left front wheel vibration, and the Burmester sound system sucks. But hey, 2016 and up rite

 

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RITE!

 

Get one with the 9 speed transmission as the 7 speed transmission is GARBAGE!

 

no 2015 Model, if you have more budget, try to get a C43

 

Thank you for the advice! I'm still trying to find the right one haha.... Hopefully soon. I am now only looking at 16's and higher. I doubt I'll be able to grab a C43 as much as I'd love to, perhaps next one.
is the 7/9 speed a critical issue??

 

There are tons of complaints on this forum about the 7G: rough shifting/unpredictable shifting/jerking and other issues.
I own two cars, one with 7G and one with 9G. The difference is day and night. Don't get 7G, period!

 

Is there an option on 2016? Or does it start in 2018? Not sure the new ones are in a price range I can handle at the moment

 

Sorry, it's only available in the late 2017 (called 2018) and newer models.

 

Countless people have purchased first model year vehicles and had great experiences; my C300 is no exception. It's interesting that some folks in this thread state you should avoid 2015s, as they are inherently full of problems... yet in the same breath advise you to go with the first year c class adoption of the 9G transmission? Mmk Our '17 GLC 4matic with the 9G and '15 C300 4matic with the 7G are both great vehicles that shift smoothly. My advice: find the exact vehicle you want in terms of color and options, research the car fully (for wrist pin info), obtain service records and the services dealership completed to CPO, and negotiate the best deal you can. If a '15 checks all of those boxes as the right car, make it happen and enjoy driving it!

 

Talking from experience, the first generation of the 9G transmission is waaay better than the 5th generation 7G.

 

I wouldn't go as far as to say that the 7g is "garbage" but the 9g really wakes this car up. I've driven quite a few C300s with both the 7g and the 9g. The 9g is quick, the 7g feels a bit sluggish to me.
A 2017 C300 with the sport package is a nice looking sporty ride.

If you can find a good deal on a CPO 2017 that's equipped how you like then go for it.

 

Make sure to get the LED headlight package

 

+1. also, if you bought standard halogen, we can help you upgrade to dual LEDs, even better than the LED package. LOL!

 

I appreciate all the advice! I'm still looking for the right one. So far my thought are 2016+, LED, Burmester, panoramic roof and the black ashwood dash. Extras are a bonus. Pricing for these cars seem to be all over the place. Is it worth an extra $5k for certified? Seems to be average additional cost from non CPO. I would think if the car has 20-35k miles it wouldn't need much anyway.
thanks in advance

 

I would not risk owning these cars outside of warranty period. while they claim their certification process to be extremely rigorous (questionable how much they really inspect / fix the car), the real reason is for that extra year of warranty. They also won't certify every car they have; some cars have more issues than others, and these "certified" vehicles are usually kept in decent conditions and have been properly maintained. You really don't know what you're getting from a random used car lot. They can be cars that were rentals, or part of fleet, and may have been an uber or something. You just really never know. But then again, I guess the certified vehicles could be that too, but being a fleet vehicle or an uber basically voids your warranty, so they couldn't sell those as certified.

 

My thoughts were that a 2016 with 30k mi would still be under factory warranty.....no? And if I understand correctly, you're saying once warranty is out I shouldn't own it? I was thinking get one with a year or two of warranty to make sure any problems weren't completely on me and then keep the car for some time. I was also looking at BMWs but like the c300 more and from what I've gathered, BMWs are in the shop alot. I'm just looking for a daily driver that I enjoy. Doesn't need to be the fastest car or most expensive etc.