Hi everyone, so I've owned a 2010 c300 4Matic for the past four years. Purchased it off of Facebook for $7,500 and it has been nothing but problems. I've probably gone through about 4 check engine lights, an SRS light, 4 flat tires (not really the cars fault), then we have the time my front drive shaft snapped, the time my front axel broke, and now I am facing the dreaded EIS lock problem that plagues these cars. At this point, I am done with the car. It has left me stranded 3 times now and I am at the point where I just want to sell it and get rid of it.

Now, I know all w204s probably are not like this, after purchasing the car we realized that it had an accident that was hidden from the carfax and was evident based off of body work. The car was most likely not taken care of and serviced properly or repaired properly, and that is the root of all these problems ontop of some lack of luck with the EIS issue.

Now, even though Ive been facing these issues I am still a sucker for mercedes, and I've been looking at the newer c300s because I love their designs and interiors and they are pretty affordable for me right now. I found a 2016 c300 with 55,000 miles, no accidents, that an older guy purchased and hasn't really driven much, its loaded, AMG package, LED headlights, P2 package, black on black, and looks great. I am just worried about the reliability of the car. Could anyone here speak to their experience with a 2016 c300 especially one bought used? Maybe some things to look out for? common issues that could have been fixed by now that I could ask about? Lmk. Ty.

 

I bought a used (certified pre-owned) 2016 C300 in December 2018. The car was purchased from my local Mercedes dealer with 32,000 miles on it. It had the remainder of the factory 4-year/50,000-mile warranty and I also purchased a CPO warranty for an additional 2 years/unlimited miles after the factory warranty expired.

I sold my C300 in October 2021 with 68,000 miles on it. It was a beautiful car and I loved the look of the exterior and interior. The engine had plenty of pickup and would effortlessly glide along any well-surfaced road or freeway without a hitch. The car was nicely optioned (P2 package, multimedia package, hands free package, panorama sunroof, heated seats, and a few smaller options) and was in near-perfect cosmetic shape when I purchased it. Clean Carfax and everything was serviced/restored prior to me taking delivery. Here are the problems I experienced in my ~3 years of ownership and 36K miles of driving:

1) My C300 had the fuel hose leak problem that is often mentioned in this forum. My car reeked of gasoline every time I started it during the colder months and the smell would take around 15 minutes to dissipate. It surfaced at ~55K miles and Mercedes refused to repair it under their CPO warranty. It was a $450 fix. Since I didn't want my car to smell like gasoline from November - February, I paid for the repair. Mercedes ended up getting sued for this problem, so they eventually refunded me $450. Luckily, due to this lawsuit, the fuel hose leak warranty was extended on all 2016-2017 W205s to 10 years/120,000 miles. The warranty applies to the vehicle regardless of ownership, so if you end up purchasing this car and the fuel hose starts to leak, you'll be covered for some time;

2) Part of my engine mount broke, creating an incessant rattle that was loudly heard from the interior of the car. Mercedes refused to fix this under my CPO warranty. It was ~$500 to fix;

3) The car's exterior plastic component directly in front of the sunroof began to badly peel around 51,000 miles. Mercedes refused to fix this under my CPO warranty. I was quoted ~$1,200 to fix and ended up leaving it. Many people on this forum found third-party shops that can sandblast and reapply the laminate coating for a few hundred bucks; and

4) Various squeaks and rattles from the interior dash, sunroof, and passenger seat headrest. Luckily, these all surfaced prior to 50K miles and were fixed/repaired under warranty;

Known problems I didn't experience with my 2016 W205 but others have:

1) If you have a car with a panorama sunroof, part of the sliding mechanism is prone to cracking, rendering the sunroof unusable (and possibly frozen in an open/partially open position). The fix is quite expensive, around $2-3K at the dealer. These failures are never covered under CPO warranty;

2) Piston cracking. Many report this happening around 70K miles, give or take. The fix is a total engine replacement or total engine rebuild. The cost of this is prohibitive, around $15-20K. These are also never covered under CPO warranty.

With that said, when my C300 was problem-free, I really enjoyed it. Eventually, I was too worried about my panorama sunroof and/or piston failing to keep my C300 for any longer. It felt like I was driving a ticking time bomb. I was also upset that my CPO warranty, which I paid a great deal of money for, didn't cover ANYTHING because the dealer always told me the failed components were "wear and tear" items not covered under the Mercedes CPO warranty.

 

Great information. At this point what I am worried about is the cracked piston issue. It’s hard for me to grasp how common this issue truly is but I do see a good amount of posts about it. I don’t see anything about it costing $15-20k from what I’ve seen it costed ~$4.5k to fix (which is still a lot dont get me wrong) everything else sounds pretty basic and like normal problems/prices to face when owing a used mercedes.

Going to keep looking into the piston issue, maybe hope to find a car that already had this repair done. Thinking if it’s a common thing a lot of people would put in the money to get it fixed and then decide they’re done with the car and put it up for sale, maybe? 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

My 2016 C300 was virtually problem free after 75k when I traded it in for my E450

 

C200 2015 AMG line. German built. 2 issues since 2018. Issue 1 roof rack damage due to a stone. Issue 2 fuel tank dirty due to contaminated fuel. In summary i am happy with the car always serviced and well maintained. Now i recommend to further investigate this piston cracking issue in the US built W205s. Who wants to buy a car with known issues. See for which year this was an issue in these cars and stay away for these model years. I heard 2015 to 2017.

 

OP, here is a cheapest repair of the engine I found on another thread posted by someone else, this repair was not done at a dealership so the cost is way cheaper and this was the cheaper repairs I seen by far, but it is still very expensive:https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...18b6a564ac.jpg

I highly suggest against getting a C 300 or E 300 for this reason but your mileage may vary, maybe you will luck out for example, there are people on the forums with perfectly fine C 300 and E 300 (the previous posts are examples of those ones plus and including those with high mileage that were flawless, the fuel quality used during the service life of that engine, engine oil change intervals, if the engine was given enough time warm up before high loads, if the break-in was done properly also contributes to this), and those who don't, it is a lottery at this point.

There is this fatal design flaw in the M274, maybe all are affected or maybe only some are affected. That being said, most of the affected M274 seems to be the ones used in North American vehicles, German made vehicles are unlikely affected. The 2015 model year C 300 in North America had a wrist pin issue that was part of the recall if ignored there was a risk of engine failure, the piston cracking however was a risk in many model years including and but not limited to 2015-2018 C 300 and E 300 and there were no recalls and Mercedes did not acknowledge the issue nor are they repairing it under CPO warranty.

I am not saying all this to scare you but I am hoping you make an informed decision and evaluate the risks before purchasing the vehicle, I really want to help you as the last you want is to purchase a vehicle of your dreams to have to deal with problems. Best of luck OP.

 

Read this site about M274 piston cracking. I would not own an M274 engined vehicle.

 

Hey @Marco Stanco here is some extended warranty information from both of our providers to ease some of the worry about the C300 purchase Fidelity and Freedom Warranty are accepted at all Mercedes-Benz dealers and licensed independents in the country, 100% claims acceptance between both providers for all Highline Autos customers. My contact information is tgibson@highline-autos.com or (855) 924-1333 if you have any questions and would like to see example contracts that explains coverage.

2016 Mercedes Benz C300 w/ 55,000 miles

Freedom Warranty Complete Manufactures Extension:

36 months / up to 125k miles
$0 deductible
-$3,660
$100 deductible
-$3,510

48 months / up to 125k miles
$0 deductible
-$3,770
$100 deductible
-$3,620

60 months / up to 125k miles
$0 deductible
-$3,935
$100 deductible
-$3,785

0% Financing is available

Fidelity Platinum:

36 months / additional 36k miles:
$100 deductible
-$4,824
$250 deductible
-$4,476
$500 deductible
-$3,951

48 months / additional 48k miles:
$100 deductible
-$5,674
$250 deductible
-$5,172
$500 deductible
-$4,412

60 months / additional 60k miles:
$100 deductible
-$6,196
$250 deductible
-$5,487
$500 deductible
-$4,740

Tax and Processing included

 

Regarding piston cracking never being covered under CPO warranty, really? My M-B Service Advisor said that’s covered under the CPO warranty and that they have done a couple of these repairs.

 

I bought a certified pre-owned 2016 C300 in 9/2019 with 28k on it. Extended the Mercedes warranty thru 9/2023. So far the only issue I've had is the Auxiliary Battery (a capacitor) needed to be replaced, covered by the CPO warranty.

I've been extremely happy with my purchase, great car, vault solid, no squeaks or rattles, no noise, vibration or harshness.

Vehicles are expensive and complex these days I wouldn't buy one off the street, without a warranty or from a non-Mercedes dealership

 

Purchase a W205 C400 .. the engines are more powerful and no issue like the C300 small engine. I know, it using more gas.