Looking at the 2021 C300 four wheel drive. Until now I have been using COMMAND for navigation but salesman suggested going with Car Play. For me, it is very important that the navigation start up as rapidly as possible.

 

For the C-Class model, I would also suggest that you save money by eliminating the Multimedia Package and stick with Apple CarPlay. The COMAND Nav in the C300 is not as great or as advanced as the current MBUX Nav in other MB models.

Apple CarPlay is great. Maps are always updated and you have multiple Nav choices -- Apple Maps, Google Maps, and Waze (my preference). Fast and easy to use and you can use Siri to enter your destination. "Take me to Dunkin Donuts", etc.

For a fresh engine start, if you plug your phone in right away, it will take maybe 30 secs or so for Apple CarPlay to connect/activate. Otherwise, if the car has already been turned on for a few minutes, it activates almost instantaneously when you plug your phone in.

 

First off, if you are looking at 2021 models then you are in the wrong subforum. This subforum is for the next gen C Class coming in 2022. The 2021 is still the W205. As to your question, in the USA, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard, so you always have the option of using it regardless. I have the full Multimedia package in my '19 C63, partly because it adds other stuff besides navigation and it gives additional choice. The built-in nav is very good and the maps are regularly updated over the air and the online POI searches, online traffic etc. work great. The built-in nav takes advantage of all the screens in the car. You can have the big map on the center screen and if you opt for the digital instrument cluster you can have a small detail map there along with turn-by-turn instructions, and if you have the HUD it displays additional instructions there. It's in many ways superior because of that and the lane guidance is actually much better, directing you to express lanes and HOV lanes where possible depending on the number passengers in the car (you do have to tell it though how many you have in the car). Apple CarPlay is limited to the single center screen. I do use both of them. For longer trips or when I don't already have my phone plugged in, I just use voice commands to start navigation. If I plan a route/destination on my phone, then I tend to just plug in the phone and use Google Maps. I also have the Roads app from Porsche, which lists fun roads to drive along with navigation and waypoints to them and it also supports CarPlay. So having both options is great.