Thank you for the summary. Honestly I don’t know what to suggest, I’d say to try a different dealer but you’ll probably end up getting the same run around. My previous W205 was a 2015 and was bought back under lemon law for a vibration issue. I kept bringing it in, and they replaced everything but the front axles. I kept telling them it has the be the front axles, it’s coming from the front not the rear. But they were too smart to take advice, and were never able to fix it. In fact MB San Diego BLACKLISTED me from ever trying to claim warranty work for a vibration on that car ever again. That is why I feel like this diff noise will get no where. Luckily for me the car had been in and out of the dealer for that vibration for 5 or 6 weeks so I claimed lemon law and had the last laugh as I chose MB San Diego to be the dealer to handle the buy back.

 

I should be jealous you have the lemon law, here in Canada we have nothing like that and the only program that sort of related except not really, called the Canadian Motor vehicle Arbitration plan or something along those lines that is voluntarily and not to your surprise, MB opted out.

I am glad to hear that the buyout went out smooth last time, I really hope you too get this rear differential noise solved.

 

Yeah and some states have it easier than others when it comes to the lemon law. Good luck to you too, I think we’re both gonna need it!

 

I really don't know if my dealership will be able to be convinced that it is not normal, given that mothership tells them so, and that they replaced two in mine already plus they said they have another C 43 with the same sound... it will be a tough battle.

 

I might need to visit the dealership in person next week and see if I can meet up with the service manager or perhaps the shop foreman as well. Will you keep you posted, hopefully you have success as well. Please keep me posted as well, same goes with you forum member osmanbenz, good luck to you as well.

 

How much warranty do you have left? I’m guessing you have a pre facelift car based on your profile name so my guess is unless you have an extended warranty, you are nearing the end. Honestly if they keep making it this hard, I’d just stop worrying about it. You’ve had them work on it multiple times and have already had two replaced. All that is noted in the system so if something were to happen out of warranty then at least you have your base partially covered. If they try to make you pay for any repair related to it outside of the warranty then at least you know all this is stored in their system and that you kept pushing them telling them it is not resolved. You have a fighting chance for it to be covered by MB, and if not you have some decent grounds for a lawsuit.

My car is leased and despite the accident history, I’m thinking of potentially buying it out. My buyout is so damn cheap compared to what they’re going for right now with similar miles, history and the all important AMG-line that seems to command 2-4k more on the used market. In California, it’ll be harder to find a car without an accident on its Carfax than one with one as our drivers are very poor and are streets are very congested. I have never been at fault for an accident and I credit that to having learned to drive on a big sprinter van and in France, both of which require a much higher level of attention and actually learning where your wheels are, but I can’t even wrap my head around how many times I’ve been hit or side swiped, all while at a standstill in traffic or at a light, or even parked (twice in 6 months…) hell once while I was pumping gas! Maybe I’m just unlucky. But because of this, it doesn’t scare me. Half the used comparable examples have an accident history and it doesn’t seem to affect the price or the demand by much, at least right now. I signed the lease at 38 or 39k when the car was specced to almost 50k (pretty good deal if you ask me). KBB tells me the median price for my car now would be 34k and my buyout is in the mid 20s. I’d like to upgrade to a w206 when my lease is up, but interest rates are through the roof and demand is still high. My local dealers are STILL charging over on basic C300s, NO THANK YOU! My dealer even offered to buy me out of my lease last time I was there because he knew even with the accident, there is a killing to be made on my car. Then he offered to get me in a new C300 for more than double my current monthly lease payments. My lease ends Jan 1st, so if the car market doesn’t stabilize by then, there a good chance she stays in the family. I wouldn’t be bothering with this diff stuff if I only planned on dumping at lease end.

 

Hopefully it’s good news, good luck!

 

Sorry to hear about all those fender benders you experienced, like I said previously and will say again, glad you came out unscathed. Thanks for your advice, I will look into it and hopefully my dealership is willing to work with me instead. It is a good thing you know to drive defensively, I mean an accident has a much higher chance of being avoided if we are paying attention and also practicing defensive driving I mean our cars will help us as well but those are just aids anyways, I believe the majority of accidents on the road is precisely due to human error.

 

Thank you, likewise to you too please do keep me posted.

 

I 100% agree. We actually have a long running joke in my family that C class stands for “Cursed Class” as I've never been in any other make or model that attracts as many bad drivers and accidents as my C classes have. I’ve always been able to avoid them while moving, but unfortunately there’s not much you can do at a red light or in traffic when someone comes up behind you and you have nowhere to go.

 

Time to upgrade to an E I guess :/

E stands for expensive... just kidding but in reality E is too big for me.

 

Hahaha, my last E which was a 2014 W212 was actually sideswiped in traffic three weeks before my lease was up by someone in a panel van that was so high he was practically on another planet LOL

 

Oh no : ( guess you need an S then.

 

I guess so. Maybe when I’m older Until then I’ll keep enjoying my stiff riding, but fun to drive sport sedans! I do like that W223 though

 

Got an idea.... Get the CLS instead then. It is technically not a C-Class and it is based on the E-Class platform but not an E-Class or maybe the SL? What about GT 43?

 

The CLS is dated, and guess what, my dealers still want at least 5k over sticker smh. I made a joke to the sales rep last time I was there about it and he did not find it very funny, in fact he pretty much walked away. The CLS is also not practical for my needs as the roof line is too low for rear seat passengers. The GT is out of my price range and also kind of dated. I don’t want to spend 100k to not even have full screen carplay and 5 year old MBUX. I’d LOVE a new SL but I can’t have two in my garage, and I will never part with mine, it holds too special of a place in my heart. I also need something decently practical and the new SL is also out of my price range. If the market stabilizes within the year I’m going to look at getting into the new C43. If not I’ll probably buy my car out and get the C43 a year or two down the line when the market goes back to normal, I mean it has to go back to normal sooner or later, right? At that point the refresh W206 will be right around the corner.

 

I see, there is also the CLE coming out... but then it has both the letter C and E...

 

LOL yeah… and only two doors unfortunately. No matter how much they try to kill me, I just love C classes. They are the best well rounded cars for my needs imo. They’re like that one crazy ex girlfriend you can’t get over. She keeps trying to hurt you but you just keep coming back

 

I see. Anyways let's hopefully get our cars fixed soon...

 

So as expected since they kept saying it is normal, I sent a message to my SA no reply, called no reply... guess I need to visit in person this week or next. Hopefully your experience is better.

 

Well I hit a snag.

My SA replied "Just because the noise is not heard doesn't mean it is not there. There are so many variables that make each vehicle different even if it is the same year and same model. All mechanical components have an allowable tolerance. The noise you are hearing is within the allowable tolerance. Some vehicle might have this noise louder, some might be softer. But it is within the allowable tolerance, we can't improve it any further."

His exact words, at wit's end, will visit in person next week or so.

 

At least you’re covering your bases. It sounds like they are admitting that there is a noise, so if something were to happen at least you can prove that you tried time and time again to get it solved. When you go in person I would make it clear that if anything were to happen and they try to point the finger at you or make you pay out of pocket that you’ll see them in court.

My dealers have no space for at least a month, typical.

 

Actually, my bad, I wasn't clear, I said my friend's vehicle didn't have any sound as I couldn't hear it post repair and therefore my SA's gave me that response, he however did not confirm nor deny that there is this sound on my vehicle which makes it frustrating.

 

Oh I see. I don’t know where you should go from here​​​​​. I’d either put the service advisor or foreman in the backseat and drive around until they acknowledge the sound. Apart from the diff, have they replaced anything else?

 

nope, but they feel like they did me a huge favour (I mean I guess... other than the fact that MB Germany pays for the replacement when I have been buying from this dealership for a decade, although I am sure many more customers purchased for way longer) for replacing the rear diff two times when both the replacements are broken and concluded the sound is the same...