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Mercedes-Benz CLK (2005 and earlier)
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Renntech just added 2003 info - They haven't developed an underpully for the new engine yet. So for the 1.8 in the 2003 an ECU upgrade and sport exhaust gives you an extra 17 HP for a total of 207. I'm sure an underpully is on the way for the new engine -
Enjoy-
http://www.renntechmercedes.com/
I have also ordered an '03 C230 Sport Sedan, white/charcoal, 6 spd, C2, Bose, 6 Disc changer, & Heated Seats. Total MSRP $31,985 and I got it for $31,000. I ordered mine on 1/29/03 and just found out this weekend that the production date is early March. Do you know when yours will be made and what kind of deal did you get? The wait is already killing me!!
Dealer time!
Revka
Hatchbacks & Wagons Host
I haven't. The only problems I've had (11 months in) is a jammed cup holder (my fault) and a "double thump" of the hatch that my wife complains about (1st thump is the cover panel & 2nd thump is the hatch proper - I don't consider it to be a problem).
The only thing on your list that I have that's even close is noise out of the center blue air vent diffuser. Mine makes some whistling, but only when its in a ~66% closed potion. Its silent when fully open, fully closed, and several "more than half open" positions in between. Perhaps the adjustment on yours isn't allowing it to completely close?
Insofar as "Endless creaks, pops, rattles and squeaks", my only observation is that this sounds like chasis flex, which is not uncommon with cars with sunroofs. I'd look to see how many of the problems may track to the sunroof system (FWIW, I didn't get the sunroof on purpose).
Similarly, sometimes reports of a car pulling one way or another can be due to the steering wheel being misaligned when you think its straight. You can tell if this is the problem if you can make the car otherwise track okay with the steering wheel held over (in your case) to the left. If this is the problem, the fix is to pull the wheel & drop it back on onto a different "gear tooth". On most cars, this is normally a fast/easy/cheap repair (<1 hour).
-hh
BTW had my '02 C230 for a year and a half (15+K miles and only trip to the shop is for scheduled maintenance, recall to check emission tag (wrong but haven't been back for change) and to have a driving light replaced after hiting a raccoon one night. Trouble free, and after reading these posts and the ones on the Problems and Solutions board, it seems that q/c has gone to pot after the intro....
I ordered a Pewter Silver, C2, C4, Heated Seats, CD Changer, Bose and Leather...going rate of $33,390. I don't know if it's good or bad deal, but I went with it anyway..... Production starts within 30 days with a anticipated delivery date in May! Holy Cow! May! Ah...but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait!
Also, Does anyone know if Mercedes has a dealer holdback of say 2 or 3% of MSRP like many other car dealers??? This would effect what i come back to him with, and if so could be much lower even.
Revka
Hatchbacks & Wagons Host
May does sound like a long time. I am not supposed to see mine until mid April. But you are right, the day I drive up to that dealership and see MY car all spruced up and ready to go, it will all be worth the wait.
Congrats on your order and keep me posted on it's delivery.
I left my C230 at the dealer for an oil change and some detective work to see what is causing the dash clicking noise in the dash, and I got another C230 loaner. It has the mechanical adjustable seats, + sun roof and I am soooo glad I got the electric adjustable ones. Don't regret not getting the sun roof either. It was raining hard on the way to work this morning and even with the privacy shade closed, it was much louder then on my solid roofed unit.
Has anyone tried running something other then premium gas in their coupe? What are the ramification of running 87 or 89 octane instead. Any thoughts?
J
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/incentives/holdback/index.html
Revka
Host/Hatchbacks & Wagons
Dealer "could not detect" most problems we requested fixed, so we finally threw in the towel. For the money we spent, it was a REAL disappointment.
We traded for a 2003 Lexus GS-300 and we have had no problems with this car. Much nicer, luxurious, quiet, comfortable and quality.
Goodbye Mercedes...... Hello Lexus.
You mentioned in an earlier post that your sunroof has a squeak - in this post you mention you don't know where to go to get service - or the "responsible" person to contact - try the service department! If they can't get to it right away they'll give you a loaner while it's fixed, no problem. You sound totally unreasonable over a little sunroof squeak, try just taking it in and getting fixed - no big deal. If your C230 coupe wasn't perfect when you picked it up - get it fixed and get over it.
And the car I own now is a 2000 Mercedes-Benz M-Class."
Well, that right there explains everything. My condolences.
Also, own a 1995 C280 with 77,000 miles which is also trouble free with the exception of having to replace the engine wiring harness at 70,000 miles for which Mercedes offered a "good-will" warranty repair paying half of the labor and parts.
Don't get me wrong ... I love Mercedes vehicles!!! I just question why the want to tarnish their brand by delivering a brand new vehicle with obvious defects that should have been corrected before delivery. Experiencing the squeaking skyroof I have learned now that the C-Coupe has had this problem since its introduction last July. Mercedes is aware of the problem (its in the sunroof cartridge), and knows how to fix it. Whoever prepped this car had to have heard the squeak since it is continuous when only driving a few miles per hour. So given the Mercedes brand name and their heritage, why do they not make sure the car is "right" upon delivery? I can get this treatment when I buy lesser brands.
Without getting into a protracted debate about the state of the MB franchise in North America, it is fair to say that all dealers are not created equal, and that a good dealership can make all the difference in the ownership experience. Luckily, in those 35 years, all in the SF Bay Area and Sacramento, I've been treated well and generally with competence in the service dept.
One other observation: I NEVER take delivery of ANY new car under ANY circumstance without giving THAT particular car a thorough "acceptance" test drive. If the roof was squeaking so badly, and so early in the game, it should have been apparent before taking delivery. Then you have the more pleasant choice of picking another car, or making sure that a commitment to fix is part of the transaction, or simply walking away. Roof noises from the pano roof have been endemic - I would never buy a Coupe with this feature. Some problems are easy to fix, others have been more persistent - I won't argue that this makes MB or the dealer less culpable, but like COMAND, another trouble-prone option, I wouldn't tempt fate by ordering this feature.
When we picked our '02 C240 sedan from inventory, I noted on our acceptance test that the car had wheel alignment problems, and made sure this was noted before signing anything. But I was also confident [ a confidence that was justified by the outcome ] that this was a problem that could be remedied by the dealership in short order; if the car had had any significant interior noises on our test [squeaks, rattles, mysterious noises of any kind] I would have immediately rejected the car. My experience is that dealer service depts [ALL makes, not just MB] have an extremely hard time fixing these kinds of problems. There are a couple of other symptoms [wheel shakes, electrical gremlins] that are grounds for rejecting a car out of hand and looking for another example - or another make.
Having taken delivery of the car with the squeaky roof, you now have to hope that the dealer can indeed fix it; this board and the one at MB World.org suggest that the chances are about 50-50.
But I reject the notion that what MB is producing and selling now is inferior in any significant respect to what they were selling 20 years ago - my 1976 300D was structurally as solid as a rock, and a miserable car that spent half of its very short life with me in the shop. It's the only one of the 14 that I would have gladly dropped from a very high place....
The dealer called this morning and set up an appointment to fix the squeak in the sunroof. They indicated that this would involve replacement of the sunroof cartridge (basically the entire sunroof, operating mechanism and guide rails). They indicated that they have done this on previous C-Coupes with the panoramic roof which has solved this problem. It appears that Mercedes has solved this problem which has been endemic since its introduction in July, 2002 but my car which was produced in October, 2002 still has the original design which has now been updated to correct this problem. The sunroof cartridge has been ordered and should be delivered by Tuesday @ 3:00 PM. They will check it out first to make sure it is the updated design and will install on Wednesday. They indicate that this will take the entire day. Can't imagine what this warranty repair will cost!!! Eight hours labor plus the cost of an entire sunroof assembly. I have spoken with others in the Mercedes field and they also indicate that this solves the problem. It makes you wonder that if they know that the roof will be bad based upon production date, why they don't go ahead and do the update before delivery. Sure would help the customer satisfaction scores the Mercedes does internally, Consumer Reports ratings and J. D. Powers ratings not to mention all this stuff we talk about on web sites such as this. Hopefully this will fix this problem since I can live with an occasional squeak but not the continuous persistent squeak I now have when driving down the road even at low speeds. Why did I bother to get the upgraded Bose system when all you hear is an irritating rubber/glass squeaking noise?
I too have puzzled over the years about the reluctance to fix known problems that are likely to affect cars in inventory, but no one I know in the business does it unless there is a safety related campaign. Not Honda, not Toyota [nor their lux-nameplates], not BMW, not Porsche, not MB...I've even asked about this curiosity, and been told, in so many words, that it is easier to wait for the customer to complain, and bill it as a warranty item, than to try to get the factory to pay in advance for correcting the known weakness. Translated, I deduce that what this really means is that experience suggests that some number of customers will simply not complain - and no one wants to spend the money on cars that might not generate any complaints.
This doesn't make it right, but it does seem to be a universal practice. I once joked with my local MB salesman that I would gladly take minimum wage [I'm retired] to take every one of their new cars in inventory on a shakedown test to turn up exactly the kinds of things that drive new owners nuts. This kind of thing seems to be a speciality of mine - no one is more tuned to listen for noises, feel vibrations, and generally be aware of anomalies than I am - I've had a lot of practice [50+ cars in 40+ years]. Needless to say, no dealer seems to think this is a cost-effective practice. There are at least a couple of us here who obviously disagree with that assessment.
Manufacturers fix things that are wrong (generally), but if it ain't broke don't fix it. Obviously this is not a problem with all coupes w/sunroofs, I haven't recieved a recall notice. Only recall I have is an incorrect emmission label in the engine bay, and when I get the time I'll get it fixed (again, it ain't broke).
Notwithstanding their rhetoric, Claridges is rarely the low-price leader in the SF area. Keep in mind that CD itself is making about $150-200 on the transaction, which means CD's price from the dealer is actually closer to $4k off.
Given the incentives that are still on the coupe, I wouldn't be surprised if this is in the ballpark.
Anyway, they let me have a brand new 2003 ML350 to drive which is wonderful. A few changes from my 2000 ML320 but not enough to consider trading. In deference to my 2003 C230K, my 2000 ML320 has been flawless after 33,000 miles. I find it very interesting how many posts complain about the quality of the ML, but mine has been perfect with the exception of several burned out light bulbs. The loaner they gave me also has no problems.
Stay tuned, they said the car would be ready tomorrow evening. Hopefully the squeaks will be quieted and I will be happy again.
M
I believe that anyone can get a lemon are a car with some problem in any auto. The service men in Europe are bay far better then her in the States. Much Much more training and less job hopping. I'm looking to replace my MB and the only other choice is AUDI and VOLVO. I checked out the Japanese car, I like Lexus but I like to fell my cars handling. I don't want a Car with 4 ft of suspension to cover up its lack of handling.
Will keep you posted.
after almost 3weeks of shopping and making a decision betwen c class and bmw325i I made my decision for the c class 230 sport sedan with cd changer bosse system and options c2 and c4,total was $31.000 my question is did anyone bought the car and how is the driving (I test driven the car twice and I liked handling and engine )but I like to here from a owner also how much they pay for it, im waiting cause the car has to be build and hopefully should be in my hands end of march or first week of April dealer was good no pressure at all and I configure the car the way I wanted ,but now reading all the messages in this bord im getting scared maybe bmw was better choice also message#1356 from jrct9454 was very helpful what I should do before I drive the car of the lot.
Also, what color combo did you get? Mine was white/charcoal.
So far, no squeaks, just pure quiet. Now I can really enjoy driving this car ... it is going to be a fun one!
M
I can't explain the discrepancy. Whatever the rating, we don't need any extra power (a C35 might be fun tho). After the break-in, I was was pretty well impressed after the first spin in the mountains: the performance of the C320 up hills at such an easy rpm was amazing, and the downhill engine braking by tipping the shifter added to the feeling of power under complete control.
Fyi, dealers I have used include those in Ray Catena in Edison, New Jersey; Holloway Motors in Manchester, NH; and RBM in Altanta, GA. I'm about to use Holloway Motors again, as I have moved back to the southern New Hampshire area.
Have a safe and fun Spring and Summer enjoying your car!
- Paul
black/charcoal
6-speed
c2, c4
Heated Seats
Bose
CD Changer
MSRP $32,733
My Price $31,500
Build date of mid march.
J.
we purchased a 2002 C320 and it had so many problems that we were left quite confused. we were told by sales that this car was the best and the quality was incomparable.
but our experience was otherwise. problems included electronic sensors, memory features, brakes, transmission and noise.
the car was in the shop numerous times, and most problems came back unfixed. service dept that the problems were not detected at this time.
maybe the problem is in the definition of the word "quality". i guess anyone can use that word these days as a marketing device. but we expected a little more from mercedes benz.
we got rid of our C320 and are now driving a Lexus GS300. superb car, no problems. live and learn.
I was interested to hear of the poor Acura MDX's service history: the previous owner even took the car back to have the door handles chromed again because it wasn't good enough. There list of return visits form myriad service items seemed endless and reading the description of the problems made you feel a little sorry for Honda, although I'm sure the owner was steamed. But, the new owner loves it--same car.
I think Lexus in general must have fewer initial service nigglies than all other cars, which is why they consistently score so high on the customer satisfaction scales. I think anyone who buys one is making a sensible decision. Don't look back.
Our C320 has been problem-free and it is the best care we've ever owned. But, if there ever are problems, I'm pretty sure our dealer will take care of them. Meanwhile, we get MB loaners whenever we take our cars in for FSS services. Trading in the "C" for the day for an "E" is not a problem. After about a year, I'll be looking forward to the next service so I can try out the newest E-Class offering.
Our dealer will wash our cars for free, even without a service and thrown in a free detail once per year. We're pretty satisfied our MB experiences but the dealer experience probably is part of the package.