2008 Mercedes Benz C300: Back on the Road

at least the owner of the Camry is actually driving their car

Back on the road... until the next problem.

Haha - so do people who have an S-class get a stock toyota avalon then? I know BMW and Lexus give out their own cars. Mercedes has fallen on their asses due to arrogance - we decided to never buy a mercedes after the dealer experience we had with our 1983 merc 300d. Lexus has kept us loyal. I bet the service managers know that the camry is more reliable to keep as a rental car - than other mercedes are LOL

A 40k car with a broken sunroof shade & the editor's comments are "Totally Satisfied? Not exactly."
 
Excuse me?
 
Remember the time when the Saturn Aura's plastic moulding popped off & how all the editors were blasting GM & flaming the poor quality?
 
I'm not saying that we should overlook poor quality. But just because a car has a 3-pointed star on the hood doesn't mean that your criticisms should be muted.
 
Call a spade-a-spade. Talk about MB's poor reliability record. Call them on the carpet.

wobbly, they cannot do that at edmunds.
 
if its not gm/ford/chysler. Then its a one time problem.
 
Plus imho this solution sucks. It reneders the sun roof useless. might as well have a solid roof

i'd much rather be driving that CLS next to the C class

Honestly, just give it a few more weeks- the Edmunds staff is most likely waiting for problem #2 to start the MB-bashing party. I mean, they have got it for an entire year, so they've got plenty of time to start bashing...
 
At least it will be under warranty the whole time. Pity the fool who doesn't buy an extended warranty on MB's

or edumnds drivers like to break the sunroof. the g35 lost pieces too

I find it suspect how when Edmunds editors get their hands on a car (any car for that matter), something happens to break. It makes me wonder if this is actually a common problem or whether you guys are just fidgety and try to continually test out all the items until breaking point.
 
I recently bought a 2008 Mercedes-Benz ML320 CDI, have about 3,200 miles on it now and haven't had a single problem. I'm not excusing Mercedes' past history of reliability, and the fact that it takes a while to get parts such as in your case, but I don't believe that these things just break off with casual use unless you are much too rough with them.

I would suspect that if this particular part is back-ordered from Germany this is not an uncommon problem for the new C.

I was afraid this would happen, a plastic switch breaks and everyone starts on their whole Mercedes quality sucks diatrabe. Meanwhile nearly every car currently in the fleet has had a serious mechanical failure, but good God a trim piece fell off of the Mercedes so the brand automatically sucks. I am not excusing this, and it never would have happened on an older Benz, but as long as the mechanical side of the car stays solid it shows that Mercedes really is making a concerted effort to improve.
 
anilpunjabi, Lexus is a horrible comparison because you have to service your car every 5000 miles like a bargain Toyota, versus the 10000 mile service intervals for Benzes. Lets just say Lexus' haven't maintained their stellar quality without a little help from the dealers. (you can quote Automobile Magazine on that)
 
whew, it feels good to get that out of my system :)

I don't really know why everyone is saying that the editors see this as "no big deal." It seems pretty obvious to me that they are disappointed to have to take their brand new Merc back for a fix.
 
"Totally satisfied? Not really."
 
wobbly_ears: I'm not sure that all of the editors were blasting GM for poor quality. Looking back at the posts, it seems that there was only really one comment made about the matter, and it was something along the lines of "If GM wants to change perceptions about their quality, then they are going to have to be damn-near flawless."

I'm quite amazed as to how the german cars seem to have issues with quality. VW/Audi, BMW, Merc they all seem to suffer from poor quality/reliability issues.
 
A coworker has a late-model C class & it seems every month his car would be in the shop for one thing or another & I have to drop him & pick him up in my Hyundai Azera. If Hyundai could make such a dramatic turnaround in such a small amount of time, why can't the germans?
 
Of course, my coworker wants a MB to maintain the 'image'. Doesn't matter if he has to ask me to give him a ride couple of times a month in my Azera.
 
But he's driving a Benz!!!! <snork>

I would still like to see Edmunds keeps this car after warranty expired. To make it better, without the extended warranty.

Mercedesfan - I'm holding my tongue. ;-) To be quite frank, I'm not sure what kind of switch we're talking about and I'm really more interested in how the whole servicing pans out.
 
I would never be able to afford a Merc anyway.

My Totally Satisfied comment was in reference to the service dept survey I will probably get in the mail - I was by NO MEANS dismissing this as a fluke or making an excuse for MB.
 
This experience is shameful at best. I thought that was clear.

Disappointing, yes.. but that car is gorgeous. IMO, Mercedes makes the most beautifully sculpted vehicles on the road.

Mercedes Benz's are nice, but overall, they don't impress me that much.
Sure, owning an S-Class would be awesome, but if it's not reliable, there's no point.

i agree with mlowery85 and carfreak, germans do make some beautiful cars, but whats the point when the service tech gets to spend more time with it than you? Just wait for GM, their finally bringing out style and high quality/reliability. I cant wait to see how awesome their going to be in a decade (and hopefully I'll be working for them)

i just saw a brand-new C350 in a Trader Joe's parking lot the other day and thought to myself...man, that's a great looking ride. Then, as I left the store, I came out to see that the left rear brakelight was malfunctioning and was not turning off with the rest of the lights on the car. Half of it was already burnt out as well. Keep in mind that this is a car with the dealer ad plates still on it! Now, yes, this is only one example - but it brought me back down to earth and reminded me how completely Mercedes has abandoned it's "overengineered" and "no cost is too great" philosophy to their cars. Very sad - this is not your father's Benz anymore...

sddoc07, it's funny that you should mention that! my dad had the exact same thing happen to his not-even-a-month-old C350 about two weeks ago. It's a gorgeous car, but if i were him i would've went for the new CTS instead. Now THERE'S a gorgeous car! Of course, i can't afford one right now, so I'm happy with my mazda. but someday...

sddoc07, if the car was parked that was possibly the European parking light that was on. It lights on one side or the other and usually uses only half of the taillight. People sometimes accidentally activate them.

Mercedes cars are quirky - but their owners love them anyway. Visit any forum online for Mercedes and you will see a few people who are fed up. But most of them will love their cars in spite of the flaws. I have driven Japanese cars for years, and they are fantastic cars. But they do not have that magic, nor do they invoke the special feelings, of that three-pointed star. I'm in the market for a C-class myself and I'll take my chances.

Sorry, mlowery85. It's not quirky. It's BROKEN. Part of the "German mystique" is "superior engineering." But if it were properly engineered, it wouldn't have broken so readily.
 
At this rate, some MB apologist is bound to chime in soon telling us that the piece in question was not being properly used, because the operator was "obviously unfamiliar with the correct procedure." Give me a break.

For those who are questioning that the piece was not being properly used, here's my suggestion:
 
Take the Japanese counterparts such as the G35, TL or IS250/350, operate the piece the same way that you would in the C300 then see if those will break in the same way.
 
I think this could be a great test for Edmunds to conduct given that they have both the C300 and G35 in their fleet.

Anyone who deals with industrial equipment knows that Germans make the best machinery. They're precise, reliable & very, very, very well engineered. Nothing comes close! (Their cars on the other hand....)
 
And yes, Germans also know how to make their cars look very beautiful. It is not limited to just one brand; MB, BMW, AUdi....
 
I don't know how the sunroof on this particular model works, but the one I saw in a friend's MB is operated by a knob. Pull in either direction to open & close. Now, no matter how tough the material it may be, it may easily be broken as it is nothing but a stup. In my Azera, the sunroof is operated by a switch. Press one button to open & close, another to tilt. Nothing to break there as nobody pushes the buttton too hard. A stub on the other hand is easy to break as someone might pull a little too hard if they don't know how to operate them. Could this be the reason why this button was broken? Maybe Brian pulled the knob a little too hard perhaps?

the thing is, it was only two car generations ago when Mercedes were known for nearly bankrupting themselves by over-engineering their cars. C'mon - you can still see a lot of those 1980s-era diesels plugging away b/c they built them TOUGH. That ended with the last generation of Benz cars and while it may have improved with the current generation, there is a obviously much work that needs to be done. I might also add that Mercedes needs to take a hard look at whether going for broke on making the most complex and technologically "wow" car necessarily means that it will be a better/more usable one.

wobbly_ears, the Lexus IS250/350's sunroof is also operate by a knob pulls in both directions so I don't think that excuse works. I would love to provide my IS350 for the test to see if it'll break after the same amount of usage that Edmunds editors had on the C300.
 
Also, I will tend to agree that Germans make the best "performance" machines (largely due to Porsche and BMW because I really don't see what advantage that FWD Audis or any mainstream MB have over Acura, Infiniti and Lexus). However, to say that the German cars are reliable (relatively speaking) is a bit of a stretch in my opinion.
 
As for beauty, it really is in the eyes of the beholders because I think Lexus and Acura both make more beautiful cars than BMW and Audi. The latest sedans from MB is on par with Lexus sedans as the most beautiful mainstream luxury cars IMO.

"Meanwhile nearly every car currently in the fleet has had a serious mechanical failure, but good God a trim piece fell off of the Mercedes so the brand automatically sucks."
 
Care to name all these mechanical failures? Last time I checked on the Fit has had a mechanical problem recently. Most of the vehicles in the fleet have had relatively minor problems. The Aura has probably had the most issues and they are largely related to plastic trim and noise from the steering pump. Dont think any pieces have come off or anything has stopped working.
 
You cant say one problem means anything for the MB brand, but you do have to admit that a problem this early isnt good. I find it ironic because MB has been heavily advertising how much time and engineering was put into C class.

Our C300's problem was minor, I agree but the way the dealer mishandled the problem is the real issue.

See, what a lot of people aren't getting is that you don't necessarilly buy into a car so much as you buy into the brand and service expected therein. Otherwise, there would be no reason to buy a luxury branded car in the first place. In today's world, the entire business case of luxury car manufacturers depends on perceived value ("snob appeal", if you will) by consumers, and alot of this perceived value has to do with how a customer is treated during the purchase and post-purchase.
 
If I can get all the same features in a much less expensive car AND receive the same quality of service, logic dictates that one shouldn't spend the extra money on branding.
 
One could also argue that upholding this perceived value for a particular luxury brand's entry level lineup (e.g., C-Class) is ESPECIALLY important for bringing new blood into the fold.
 
The problem, as Brian stated, is not merely justa broken sunroof knob. Instead it's the perceived value of the service the customer received with his or her purchase.

I have got a simple solution to these servicing woes: don't buy the sunroof. Or anything else that can break. No one held a gun to your head and made you spend extra. Get the most basic version (which is roughly equivalent to the highest spec available in EU anyway) and you will enjoy it much more. The more useless gizmos you buy, the more problems you will get yourself into.
 
Another suggestion is to avoid going to the dealer. Despite the common wisdom, these cars are a pleasure to work on. You have two arms, and two legs, and a head on you shoulders just like mechanics at the dealership, don't you? If that does not appeal to you, at least find a good independent Mercedes specialist and follow everything he says.

@ wk
 
Do you walk everywhere and make everything you use? Do you blame yourself and others for faults with what they buy? No one is forcing Edmunds to buy this C300, but they bought it because they wanted to see if things have changed in the Benz universe.
 
In response to your anti-dealer tirade: it's easiest to take the MB to an MB dealership (shock) because it's under warranty- any outside shop has to get approval from corporate before doing repairs, not to mention the fact that they almost never have loaners.
 
Simply saying 'it's your fault for buying it' to a long-term test designed to make sure we won't be saying the same thing for our own purchases is beyond baffling to me.

Oh yeah and I love the "don't buy sunroof" comment. Maybe when I buy a car I shouldn't buy one with doors, because those break too...

I have to partly agree with "wk". In Europe most Benzes sold lack most, if not all, of the electronic gadgets that US bound cars have (hence so many Mercedes taxis and rescue vehicles). Mechanically MBs are still the best cars in the world, but electronic problems continue to plague the brand. I do feel that edmunds should get a fully loaded model to look out for ridiculous problems like this though. Something like this never should have happened and the dealer certainly should not have been so inept.
 
Still, like I said before as long as problems are becoming limited to this the brand is improving. If you recall the last generation C-Class had some serious mechanical problems right from the get go.
 
Also, not that this actually applies here but I have a 2007 S550 that I bought a year and half ago, it now has 22,340 miles on it and I haven't yet had a problem of any kind (the same cannot be said for my 2004 SL600). Mercedes did tarnish its reputation, but it is really trying to get back to its glory days. Cut the brand some slack, it took GM three decades.

The way I see it, once you buy the car for the LTT, if the service you get at any dealership is consistently bad, then let the cat out of the bag with the service manager that you are an editor whose blogging powers extend to the entire globe and that if the dealership does not improve, their name will be put on the blog, AND the dealership rating page.
It's incredibly easy nowadays to shut anyone up by using the internet's significance as leverage. I know one famous sports player noticed a cop being an ass about some parked car and simply walked to him and told him that he'd better be fair or he can "thank" him for his duty on his blog for the entire world to see.
 
Time to make the dealership be at our mercy, and not us being at theirs.

I agree partly with fellow Impreza owner, vvk, here.
 
It really depends on how much having a sunroof is on your "gotta-have-it" list. Having worked at a BMW dealership service department, we went through sunroof cassettes like water and were regularly repairing them per a Service Information Bulletin (SIB) when BMW recommended repairing the existing cassette instead of replacing it.
 
For me, I have no desire to have a sunroof. Like vvk said, it's another thing that can break. I also don't like how having one adds weight to the vehicle and slightly decreases the structural rigidity of the vehicle. Function > form is how I roll, yo! :o)

Just for the record, C300 comes with a very nice glass sunroof/moonroof standard. Edmunds spent an extra $1000 on a "panorama" sunroof, which is the part that failed.

"Cut the brand some slack, it took GM three decades."
 
wow, that is a super cop out excuse. First of all the idea that everything GM made was problematic for the past 30 years is dubious. Secondly, last time I checked the average transaction price on a GM vehicle is FAR lower than the figure over at MB. MB is a purveyor of expensive (very expensive) luxury vehicles and it is not unreasonable to hold them to a higher standard than Chevy or Hyundai. The part I find so difficult to take is that MB would have you believe they are better at engineering than anyone else. reliability is part of engineering so I don't see how you can advertise that you are the best if you still havent gotten a handle on reliability nearly 20 years after Lexus appeared.
 
As for luxury features, that is what separetes luxury cars from lesser cars. A MB equipped like a Euro model wouldnt be that impressive in America. The gizmos and unecessary luxury touches are what make a Benz a Benz in America.
 
BTW, my Aunt bought a S430 several years back and had numerous issues with the car. I'm sure the engine was fine, but problems are problems.

My wife has a 99 Camry with a sunroof - no problems yet.

I would take issue with the dealer giving you a Camry LE loaner car. That's not right - luxury brands should give you loaner cars at least comparable to your car, if not better. You should have been given another Mercedes C-class for a loaner, not a stinkin 4-banger Camry. You're paying for the luxury experience, and part of that is getting a decent loaner car and good service.
 
Whenever I brought my Infiniti G35 Coupe for warranty repair (which was often, unfortunately), I ALWAYS got a G35 sedan loaner car, no matter what dealership I used.
 
I like the loaner car service of my '02 Corvette Z06 better: it's never been to a dealer for warranty repair, so I've never had to drive any loaner car. Probably a good thing though, as if I did need a loaner, they probably would give me a Chevy Aveo.

I would guess that not giving out MB cars as loaners are widely practiced by MB dealerships. Several years ago, my friend and I took his mom's C230 to maintanence in Atlanta's RBM MB and we got a Ford as a loaner.
 
This has never happened to me with Lexus, the 2 dealers that I went to (in both Florida and California) I've always got ES350 as loaner cars.

I used to get Camry as loaner at my BMW dealer until I complained. The service writer kind of winked at me a said: "oh, you want a *BMW* loaner..." :-) I have always gotten a BMW loaner since then.
 
BTW, service at my BMW dealer has been outstanding. They really listen to what I am saying and try to make me happy.

Just for the record, my 2006 Lexus IS with 12,000 miles has had numerous issues with it's sunroof too that apparently baffles the dealership. They also cannot diagnose the engine stumbling or the flock of birds that chirp that throughout the interior. For every modern late-model Mercedes you see with problems, I've also seen the opposite. It seems as though Mercedes owners tend to put the most miles on them of all the brands I know out here in Southern California. I know three 03 S430's and S500's with over 160,000 miles and still going strong with no apparent issues. My neighbor has an 02 C240 with 120K miles and she's only ever had a broken rear sunshade go wrong. And yes, my friend who bought a brand new Aura XE has had the car randomly shed trim parts among other quality issues like body panels that are missing paint. It's all in the luck of the draw I guess.

"This has never happened to me with Lexus, the 2 dealers that I went to (in both Florida and California) I've always got ES350 as loaner cars."
 
So, you too got a Camry as a loaner ;)

Hey, at least those are glorified V6 Camries with panoramic sunroof.