mac2001

I visited a nearby MB dealership recently to look at some USED (2004) C230 sedans. They had some in their inventory, and the salesman tells me that starting with the 2005 model, Mercedes charges for maintenance. Isn't that what a warranty is for? I should have asked. Anyways, the point here is that the salesman is making a case for buying the 2004, because the warranty (good for 4 years?) is grandfathered for any pre-2005 models, and combined with the depreciated value of the 2004 model, there were some signifcant savings. Is what this salesman said accurate at all?

I have not yet looked closely at buying the new 2005 - I will wait until I have my answer on the above.

Another question - With the 2005 model has the 4 cylinder (normally aspirated) engine been phased out in the C230/C240? Because on the mbusa.com website there was only the 6 cylinder listed. For reason of convenience, the test drive was in a new 2005 C230 sedan, and the salesman specifically stated that the engine was a 4 banger. Who is confused here?

Thanks

sacguy

A warranty is different than a maintenance agreement. Maintenance agreement covers scheduled maintenance items such as - oil change, tune up. Warranty covers defective electronics, drive train, transmission, etc - things that go wrong with the car - it does not cover wear items. MB still has a 4 year warranty on non-wear items and defects but no longer offers free maintenance such as oil changes. These items are still covered by BMW and Audi in their maintenance plans that are included as part of the purchase at no additional charge. IMO, it was a mistake for MB to drop the free maintenance.

pcviewer

I don't think there was a 4 cyl NA engine for the C-class. I am pretty sure it is like this:

C230 - supercharged 1.8L 4-cyl
C240 - NA 2.4L 6 cyl
C320 - NA 3.2L 6 cyl

The engine liters I provided may be off by some but I think it is about right.

revstriker

As sacguy stated, it's not the warranty that changed with the model year 2005, but rather the maintenance agreement. Prior to 05, MBs in the US had free scheduled maintenance (about once per year, or around 12-15K miles). For 05, it will be up to the owners to pay for this. If you buy a used 04 or prior, it will have the free maintenance for the remainder of the first 4 years. The warranty may also be in effect for the remainder of the 4 years, or until the max mileage is reached.

Although the maintenance prior to 05 was technically "free", you could argue that it was included in the price of the car.

The only offering of a 4 cylinder is the C230 which is a supercharged 1.8l. The C240 has a 2.6l V6.

As far as I know, the only engine being phased out of the C class line up for 2006 is the 3.2l in the C320. The new 06 C350 will be available. I don't think MBUSA has the 06 lineup for the C class on their website yet.

If you're interested in a C230, there should not be many changes from the 05 to the 06. Test driving an 05 should give you a good idea.

Looks like you were the confused one. j/k

Good luck and let us know what you decide to do.

mac2001

Thanks for the responses. This helps me hugely!

Gullwing

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that for 06 there will be
C230, C280 and C350

ctC230K

I thought they were dropping the 1.8 4 and going with a v6 only lineup for the C's in 2005.5?

redvettx2

Got to love DC pulling the plug on the maintance program. It helped MB compete with BMW and Audi who still offer it. DC has not been a big help to MB. Next they will be denying warranty claims like they like to do at Dodge. You can see the pattern forming. Not good.

revstriker

Well, first, DC is MB. So to say that DC has not been good to MB is like saying MB has not been good to MB. Unless you mean that MB buying Chrysler has not been good for MB.

I personally don't think MB needs a maintenance program to compete with BMW and Audi. In fact, I would say that price pays a much larger part in that competition. If MB had kept the maintenance program, most likely they would have had to raise prices to pay for it which would have given away more market-share than just deleting the "free" maintenance program.