jpnwdc

And the GLC 300 still isn't near the top. Top rated luxury compact SUV is the BMW X3. Really torn between these two. GLC 300 definitely the looker and slightly more comfortable. X3 more fun to drive an more up-to-date technology. The CR reliability rating is a little worrisome for the GLC.

nsoltz

Many of us have wondered the source of CR's low reliability rating. All I can say is that I have had my 2018 GLC for 18 months and only repair has been replacing squealing brakes which, by the way, are squealing again. I came from BMW 5-series to GLC and don't regret the move.

ted_jane

Years ago CR had an article explaining their auto reliability ratings. One point they made was today's cars are, in general, so reliable that the difference between a top rated new car and an average new car is only a few percentage points. If I remember correctly it was something like 2 or 3 percentage points between top rated and above average, then 2 or 3 percentage points between above average and average.

I should add, I have a 05/2017 GLC with 0 issues (other than recalls, which I don't count :-) )

Rmlasalle

I have a 2018 GLC for 14 months now and have had zero issues!

Chrisk03

No issues with my GLC in the year and 4 mos of ownership, although I only have about 6500 miles. Ok, I have the tire crabbing issue, but probably won't affect the GLC300, unless you get summer tires and ride on them in winter/cold weather. I do, however, agree with you that I thought the X3 was a tad more fun to drive and certainly has more up to date tech. Can't go wrong with either, IMO.

6G Schnell

Please don't stress out this much, life is too short and its just a car.

The good news there is plenty of "The Best..." to choose from, please see at https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/...-for-the-money
or https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/...-for-the-money

mtberman

CR is not a great source for reliability information. Instead of using random owner surveys, CRs primary sources of data are their own members who consistently prefer certain brands. They add their own testing, which is often plainly tainted by subjective views for and against certain brands. TrueDelta, JD Power, and Maritz survey-sourced ratings are a better source

It was known in the industry that beginning around the year 2000 Toyota was cutting corners and decreasing quality of materials and methods. As one might expect, international initial quality and overall reliability ratings for many Toyota products suffered declines. Objective testes like car and driver, autoweek, etc. talked about this regularly. But CR continued to claim Toyotas were stellar performers. They listed more Toyotas cars on the CR "recommended" list than any other brand during the 2000s, despite wide industry acknowledgement that Toyota was sacrificing quality to increase sales and profits.

We have owned multiple cars that were rated marginally or poorly by CR, including a 2002 VW Beetle, 2005 VW Rabbit (Golf), 2010 VW Jetta, 2012 Audi TT, 2013 Ford C Max, and 2016 BMW 2 series. The Beetle had several minor issues, but otherwise all of these cars performed for years without a single incident. No defects, no failures, no repairs. Ironically, I bought my first Toyota in late 2003, and it was by a wide margin the worst quality in any car I've ever owned. It spent 63 days in the shop and after 23 months I traded it for a Subaru.

jpnwdc

So what are your thoughts on your 2018 GLC300?

nsoltz

My thoughts are the same as above. It is a wonderful vehicle and has been trouble free except for squealing brakes. The brakes are squealing again but it is only when in reverse and only when backing up for the first time in the AM after freezing weather. So I'm not going to bother with another replacement. Don't overthink it. If you like the looks of the car and its driving feel, go for it. If you like a Range Rover or Jag-- despite the CR reviews-- just go for it. It's just a car, as someone else pointed out. It is not a forever commitment. And I still strongly advise leasing so you have no exposure to high service costs after warranty (or high cost of maintenance contracts).

mtberman

I experienced a failure in the infotainment system a few months after I bought it. The display was on but the audio system was inoperative. I happened to be near the dealer, so I took directly there. They said it needed a software update, which they did while I waited. It hasn't happened again.

Interestingly, I experienced the infamous brake squealing for the first time a few days ago. I've had it since July 2017. The squealing occured in a parking lot. The conditions were heavy snow with packed snow on the roads, and an outside temp of 5 degrees F. The squealing was really loud. I reversed about 50 feet and then braked, which as some of you may know is an old trick to clean the rotors. That helped, but they squealed again once as I braking at the exit to the parking area. It didn't do it again and not done so since. I figure they go cold while I was in the parking lot and perhaps that was the cause.

jpnwdc

Thanks for your input. CR rates the GLC 300 highly from a road-test perspective. It's just the predicted reliability that dragged it down. I am considering the GLC 300 or the BMW X3. I turn in my Audi Q5 in April.

mtberman

How has your Audi been? We’ve had a 2010 Audi A4 Avant, 2011 Q5, and a 2012 TT. They were all great cars.

jpnwdc

I have had two Audis - an A5 coupe and the Q5. I liked both however the new Q5 is disappointing .

VancityGLC

I had a 2016 Audi S3 financed, it was a nice car but there were lots of problems with it! The rear shocks, paddle shifters, and then the transmission. I had a loaner for 1.5 months until they could figure out the problem with the transmission after sending the sample of the transmission oil to Germany to test it. They ended up replacing the whole transmission which cost them $20,000 and few months after I sold the car because I lost faith in Audi.

mtberman

Sorry to get off topic but... Ditto, I liked my 2012 Q5. In fact, I went to the local auto show for a close-up look at the 2018 Q5 to more or less confirm it would be my next car. My main concern was that the "new" Quattro system is actually older VW tech. My other concerns were a $5000 price increase since 2012, and uncertainty about the Mexico production facility.

Regardless, I felt confident the value would be there. Sadly, it was not. I was disappointed overall with the lack of design and innovation. It did not help that the unit at the car show was literally falling apart. I spoke to dealers and even though this would have been our third Audi they all declined any discount, which ended it for me.

I wonder how Consumer Reports rates the Q5.

mike7ee

My 2018 has been completely flawless.
I thought I'd at least experience the cold temp brake squealing because of where I live, but it got as bad as -21 below and not a peep from the brakes.

62bassman

NYC 2018 owner , 8200 miles and no brake noise. Almost no tire wear and no rattles or other problems I’ve seen in posts. We have bad potholes around here and poor road conditions which is why I went to the GLC from Eclass. Great car so far.

fabbrisd1

When you test drove the GLC - you need to be shown how to take advantage of the GLC's huge advantage in mid-range torque at 1200RPM/up - and take advantage of the Agility Select profiles/and-paddle-shifters for the MB 9G tranny.

That combo of wide-deep-torque and its efficient application with the best MB tranny yet - requires the MB Salesman to adequately demo-thru (1) Agility Select - in both Sport and Sport Plus and explain to you that "ECO" mode really means to maximum driving experience & safety at auto-bahn-80mph+ speed with that ECO driving profile that's designed with steering ratio for those speeds ranges so not-to-over-react/oversteer - if your salesman said "ECO" is designed to maximize fuel economy you had a salesguy that doesn't know sh*t about a GLC. That same MB salesguy did not show you the "3-sec left-pull" and "3-sec right-pull" of the paddles for such smooth jump-to/back-to-auto shifting to add to your driving enjoyment for real (which has been in ALL MB tranny's since 1998 to show you how brain dead that salesman was).

With the GLC you have that all on tap if you want it - and you have a quieter, smoother, more luxurious feel as well.. kindof a plus-plus.

If CarPlay is your thing - Mercedes chooses cable CarPlay since cable will also charge those iPhones (the majority in use) that don't have wireless charging - so you can be assured for 100% of the iPhones out there - that for as long or short of a drive you take your iPhone will have same-or-more battery when you get out of your MB and when you got in - AND using the cable also allows Mercedes to offer Android Auto when BMW has none..I am not trying to downplay wireless CarPlay as a convenience (oh, that will cost you $80 a yr for yr 2 and BMW reserves the right to increase CarPlay use price for yr 3 and above) - I am just trying to say Mercedes has reasons to do what they do - and it's Apple - not MB - that prevents MB from providing cable-CarPlay AND wireless as a option - because Apple is a d*ck about this and wants to drive Android out - at the expense of those customers.

Yeh - I am fan - but I am a MB guy for 30+yrs - I can say this - I let a customer test drive a GLC over the same route they test drove a X3 from the BMW store next door - and the end of the drive we pull into a parking lot and take the GLC and turn-to-lock to make 360 parking lot turnsto show ease/feel of the GLC turning radius (which is downright amazing) - then back-the-GLC up in a parking space with either std/Rearview or use/Surround-parking assist (awesome camera's either way) - and to be frank after this 25min ride - frankly the X3 kindof always drops off the map.

BMW still offers "free" 30K maintenance (priced into the MSRP) - when leasing the GLC the 3yr/30000 mile MB Prepaid Maintenance is like MSRP $1020 - and in the MB lease that can be residualized in most states to like out-of-pocket cost $600-$625 as a non-interest item added into the MB lease - either way I assure you that MB prepaid is less than what BMW folds up/adds to their MSRP..

You have 4-days left in March - which is end of MB Q1 - any sensible MB dealer will take care of that last Audi payment for you - and give you a GREAT end-of-quarter screaming deal as well - why wait ?

Keep the beat !

negril1167

Can anyone advise me on what this production date means 04/1D/2019, is MB saying the veh. is schedule for production within the first ten days of April ?

mtberman

What they're saying is correct. 04/1D means this: 04 = April, 1D = 1st decade, or as an English speaker would say, the 1st ten days of the month, between the 1st and the 10th of the month. 2D means the second decade, or the second ten days between the 11th and the 20th, 3D is the third decade, and so on.

In short, that particular car is scheduled to be produced between April 1 and April 10.