Reasons to Buy a W204 Mercedes C-Class
 

Reasons to Buy a W204 Mercedes C-Class
By Pouria

Is the 2008-2014 Mercedes C-Class the car for you?

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Our 2012 C250 sedan was a bit of a lemon. Failed cam chain tensioner destroyed the engine at 80k miles. Rear lamp assembly shorted out and welded itself to the bulbs*. Steering column interlock failed requiring the car to be dragged out of the garage. Constant intermittent CEL regarding coil problems. Rust issues with rear suspension and brake lines. Toward the end, the radio stopped working. Had to donate it to charity to get rid of it. Nice looking car, though.

OTOH, we have a 1999 SLK still going strong and a 2019 C300 that, so far, has been good to us.

*This one was interesting as there was a recall for the issue, but it only applied to C300 models. As if the C250 would not have the same problem?

I have a 2011 C300 with 116k miles.
C300 - I had the same taillight issue, fixed under warranty/recall.
Most comfortable seats I have ever had in a vehicle, it is a great commuter or highway cruiser. You can't help but love the car.

2011 C300 repair report. Bought the car in 2015 with 53k miles on it.
Its all little things that need to be fixed. The stereo knob on the center console can break, its $300 to replace. The Motor for the sunroof - the gear can break freezing the sunroof open.
It eats rear tires if you have a lead foot (I do). I have gone through 3 sets of rear tires and only one set of front tires since they were replaced in 2017.
Brakes are meaty, but its a heavy car, so the brakes need to be replaced every 30k-35k miles.
There is a small oil reservoir seal on the back of the engine next to the dipstick which leaked and needed to be replaced.
Coolant hose housing needed to be replaced, it was slightly leaking.
I had transmission fluid filter replaced and fluid changed (NOT FLUSHED), this was optional, but I believe I added a lot of life to the car by doing it.

That's all within 63K miles put on it since purchased used in 2015.

GET THE V6, the C250 turbo 4 is more finicky and has more problems. It is a newer engine design.
My grandmother has a 2012 C250 with only 25K miles on it. She is getting rid of it as she has a GLC300, and offered to sell it to me. I choose my C300 with literally 90K more miles on it.

The 3.0L V6 is a solid design, incredibly easy to work on. If you can find a C350 with the bigger V6, do that.

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