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Mercedes-Benz C-Class Maintenance and Repair
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Keep us posted, particularly as you pass 50K, 75K & 100K miles.
I am in toronto Canada, and the price of this car is not cheap at all: CAN$22000! if i have to buy extend warrantary to cover those electric problems, i just feel it may be not a good buy...
appreciated any advice you could have!
confused MB buyer :confuse:
I took the car to the dealer and they inspected the brake pads. The service manager said the brake pads are fine, and the dust I saw on the wheel rim is brake pad dust. Squeals on disc brakes when applied is normal especially because we drive carefully and do not brake hard often enough that the brake did not get hot enough to burn off the surface coating (or something like that?). In order to reduce or remove the squeal noise, I can try drive with brake on for a couple of blocks at slow speed to burn off the surface of the brakes. I guess i have to take the service manager's words for it and as long as the brake pad and rotors are OK, I can perhaps roll up the window and I won't hear the brake squeals.I mean, the car is under warranty, so I don't see any reason why the dealer won't jump into replacing stuffs and getting paid for doing it, right? By the way, I noticed there are a lot of gripes of C-class in this forum. but I guess I am lucky because, (knock on wodd), my 2003 C-240 4matic drove beautifully in snow and off, and had no mechanical or electrical problem until the brake squeals recently and one rear brake light bulb burnt out at 39K miles. The dealer replaced the bulb free promptly with a free car wash. I am happy with my MB--so far!!!!
Average life on MB pads is anywhere from 15-20k, rotors are usually shot by 30k. If these are orignal at 39k, you are very lucky.
Thanks,
Dan
AND I was rear ended after about 10min (yes believe it, 10min of rain in AZ is not good for bad drivers) and there were only 2 scratches barely noticeable in the bumper while the other car had the front hood caved in.
The brakes do make occasional screeches only when you brake and then gently pull off of the break, no big deal for me.
As for radio, it works fine EXCEPT for SIRIUS if you get it. SIRIUS is having problems with sending signal to the new cars.
here's my 2 cents from someone who's satisfied and happy with everything thus far. I was comparing the lexus IS 350 (which is sportier but not as smooth of a ride which was what i was looking for)
Oh also, I'm not sure if this is related but earlier tonight when I was getting gas I turned on the radio while the car was off. I have done this before though and not had any problems.
As you've already noticed the parts are expensive. Also Mercedes purposely designed this car to be difficult to work on. (Even the dealers admt that.) In fact it's even difficult to live with. I don't know about the 2002 C230, but my C240 doesn't even have a dipstick. And changing oil is a real chore. Have you noticed that it uses 8.5 quarts of synthetic oil? Also, the filter element costs $20. And you can't just drain the oil through the plug like a sensible car, unless you happen to own a hoist or other means of getting it off the ground while still keeping it level. The dealers get the oil out with a syphon.
This is my first (and quite likely last) Mercedes. My previous cars have been six Nissans and a much-loved Opel Sport Coupe. The Mercedes has spent more time in the shop per mile on the road than any of them. The bells and whistles have a mind of their own and have defeated multiple attempts by multiple dealerships to get them to behave as intended.
The car handles beautifully and is a pleasure to drive so it's a great pity that it's otherwise more trouble than it's worth. Mercedes likes to boast that their vehicles are "designed like no other car in the world." I say "Thank Heaven!"
Other than above and one set of brakes and two sets of tires car has been very reliable and has never left me stranded. Still rides and handles like new. No rattles or squeeks. No electrical gremlins. Car is still quiet and solid. Would I buy another MB? My biggest concern is reputation. I have certainly heard my share of other peoples nightmares with these cars. If I were to get another C I would want to wait it out for completely new MY 08. And then not buy the first month or two.
I have a 2001 C240 (50K)and recently in the past 4 months I noticed the following problem:
- The first time: I got out of my driveway and stepped on the gas, The car some how stalled and I got a check engine light- The dealer checked it and said that the Cylinder # 1 has misfired and they swaped coils( what are coils ?) and reset it.. So the check engine went away but the shuddering continued.
Since then I have had 3 occassions when, when I slow down at stop sign (typically after I have just started in the last 5 minutes) The car kind of struggles and shudders- shakes - as if the engine is shaking. When I press hard on brake to stop the car completely - The shaking stops and then It is fine...
Any ideas on what could be causing this. It feels like when the car downshifts to 1st, it struggles until it comes to a halt.
Thanks
-A
But if the smoke is actually BLUE, and lingers in the air (steam disappears instantly), then it's oil that is being burned and you have a problem.
If the smoke is BLUE and if it goes away AFTER a few minutes, I would guess you have defective valve stem seals--which is not a big deal to fix. If the smoke is BLUE and persists all day long, that could be a serious internal engine problem for such a new car.
Thanks....
I will buy another one when the time comes.
Peace.
I would like to know how you change the oil in your Nissans. Most Japanese cars have the oil filter buried on the side of engine block usually towards the firewall side and under the exhaust of intake manifolds. So without lifting the car with at least a floor jack, I don't know how you are able to work on it. At least Mercedes puts most of their oil filters on top of the engine where they are easier to access.
My 2006 C-350 is at 18k miles now, and simply going great...there was one minor scare regarding fuel level sensor which had to be replaced.
No other issue to report...it is a solid car, and feels super!
It is obvious that no one can beat the Japanese in reliability, but that was not the only criteria I had when I purchased the C ! Other things matter too!
Under warranty we had the entire heater core replaced (smelled very moldy while first starting up the A/C). Also the OX sensor had to be replaced.
Now we have several things going on:
-the electric seats won't back up when exiting the vehicle anymore. So, my wife who's quite short leaves the seat up against the wheel so I have to press the preset button on the door panel in order to get the seat to back up so I can sit in the car.
-one of the front turn signal bulbs went out. I removed it to look at it, and it looked OK, filament still in tact, no sign of flame out. Just to check, I removed the other working bulb, put it in place of the bad one, and now BOTH lights don't work. And of course one has to look at this warning notice on the dash everytime you use the car. So, I went out and bought two new bulbs, put them in, and they still don't work. Frustrated!
On my last dealership visit, they charged me $45 to change a bad rear turn signal bulb. So I fully expect them to charge me $90 to fix the front bulbs, even though they are now new bulbs (1152A's)
My .02
The dealership had to rewire something just because a bulb burned out??? That's insane!
Seriously people, most of this stuff is NOT HARD to fix at all. If you want a car that will never break and nothing ever go wrong, go buy a bicycle. No matter what car you buy, you will have some sort of issue at one time or another.
Go register on a Mercedes forum. Search for your problem and you might find an easy solution AND you might actually like working on your car. Driving a car is more than just stepping on the gas.
I do not own a pair of coveralls and I am not going out anytime soon to buy some. I actually work 6 days a week at present and know that I will not give up my one day off so that I can work on my car. And yes they did re-wire the blinker (per MB service adviser). I actually did test the wire as far as I could with a voltage indicator and there was no current running through the line. I think that I will end up selling this mechanics fixer-upper and get myself a Camry Hybrid.
I've owned VW's, Nissans, Fords, Hyundai's, Geo's, Mazda's and this one MB C230. The C230 seems to be a money sponge once it hits the out of warranty mark. If doing even the most rudimentary repairs requires an expensive trip to the dealership, I'd offer this word of warning to anyone considering purchasing a benz.
Get ready to pay a premium for maintaining it.
I think I have read enough to know that I will need to sell and purchase something different. Funny thing is that I am a car salesman for Toyota. Toyota is a great vehicle but I just wish that they had TRUE employee pricing like the domestics. Bang for the buck I am going to go with that Hybrid Camry. It's not the most luxurious of the line-up but I think that a good responsible vehicle with everything my wife and I need.
Thank you for the answers and will let you know how my sale goes.