2008 Mercedes-Benz C300: Eeeeeeeeeek...

I had a really rich high school friend, everytime his car break down or he crash it, he has it tow away and go buy another new car, he said see, he never have car problems!

I love your high school friend lazyhater!
He is the best man in the world.

That's how I'll raise my kids!

The S Class does the same. They say it's the steering problem of not having enough oil so that it doesn't go smoothly and squeaks really loudly.

It's happens in the new Benzes whenever one doesn't drive it for a long time.

Aww, you broke her!

So MB is outsourcing their steering modules to Buick?

Party foul much?

Let's see if you guys can get this one covered under warranty..

I don't doubt that the C300 is a solidly built car, and certainly solid feeling. But you have to be pretty blind to think that interior wins any quality awards. I can name a number of cars in its class that look MUCH more "premium" inside. Audi A4 for its styling and material choices, BMW for its simplicity and modern elegance, Cadillac CTS for its ease of use and style, hell even the Lexus IS (as boring as it is) for its much better materials and simpler styling and execution. I've never seen a $40k car interior awash in as much hard tupperware as a Corrolla or Focus. And I frankly don't care to again after this car's model run.

This sounds like a fluid problem to me, not mechanical. The power steering may need to be flushed, or it could pass on its own over time. Real mechanical failures can always be felt. Unless you feel a shudder or a noticeable grinding, the squeek is purely lubrication centered.

mustang5507, the new C's interior actually feels extremely upscale. It looks extremely drab I will give you that and it lacks the soft plushess of a Lexus, but it is tight as a drum and everything feels really solid. I have not been in a new A4, but I have always felt the C has a higher quality feel than a 3-Series, IS, or CTS. It is an old-school Mercedes approach where luxury is less a visual thing and more a tactile thing.

I second that, mercedesfan. And I own a Bimmer. I think my 325i is high quality and well-built, but the Mercedes was more solid.

No steering squeak on my 04 C230. Not really any bad noises, occasional rattle from the hard cover over the cargo area if I didn't click it back in right (love the usefulness of the hatchback). I love the solid feeling too, with the 1.8 I'm getting good mileage with the solidity. For the money I spent for my used C I couldn't find anything else that felt as sound, nice yes, but not as solid, and aside from an MX-5 nothing rear wheel drive. Now if I could transplant my old SRT-4's motor into the C230 that would be about perfect.

I do not like that interior design at all. CTS and even the new TL look far better to me. Too many expanses of black plastic and I dont get the metallic trim around the gauges. That's not a good look. MB really needs to get more organic in their interior design philosophy. They are putting this same blocky interior in the GLK.

Prefer the CTS to the new TL, personally. Just seems to have design & functionality nailed.

BTW, my 06 Civic SI's steering column has an intermittent creak when it re-centers from a left hand turn. Had it for about 30k miles.

As long as I trade it in when it's warmed up and warm outside, the new owner will never know. Bwahaha :)

Joe

Mustang5507 - you say that you've "never seen a $40k car interior awash in as much hard tupperware as a Corrolla or Focus". Well as a current owner of a C300 and a previous owner of both a focus and a corolla, you cannot compare interior matierials of the Mercedes to that of the two vehicles you mention. I just upgraded from a focus to a C300. The vehicles are not comparable. You might think that the materials are cheaper than an A4 or a CTS....but they are NOT the same as a Focus or Corolla...not close.

As for the squeaky wheel (there's a metaphor for you), I challenge anyone to go out in a dust-storm of the magnitude described and not have a squeaky wheel or some other related issue. I'm actually surprised that this has becomes the jumping off point to "of course all mercedes have wheel problems". That's like saying a crane just dropped on top of my car and now I'm having trouble with my wheel alignment.....well you know all mercedes have allignment issues when you drive them for a long time. Not sure how one has anything to do with the other.

I have a month old 2009 C300 Sport 4matic with almost 2000 miles. The interior is fine with me, & I owned 3 Hondas previously. Mercedesfan has it right - it has a very solid feeling.

And I'm averaging 24.5 mpg (calculated by me, not the car) in a mix of city & highway driving. Not bad for a car with EPA estimates of 17/25. I take Edmunds mileage updates for all of their long term cars with a grain of salt. They don't personally own the cars, they don't pay for the gas, & they drive them hard. That equals bad MPG. I don't even look at mileage figures of other posters, since there are too many variables. If you truly want to compare cars against one another, you have to use the EPA numbers. They are generated in a laboratory environment, are repeatable, & put everyone on the same playing field.

congrats on ruining a nearly 40k car. Next time, drive out of the dust storm first.

Can't we somehow blame this on Chrysler?

"mustang5507, the new C's interior actually feels extremely upscale. It looks extremely drab I will give you that and it lacks the soft plushess of a Lexus, but it is tight as a drum and everything feels really solid. I have not been in a new A4, but I have always felt the C has a higher quality feel than a 3-Series, IS, or CTS. It is an old-school Mercedes approach where luxury is less a visual thing and more a tactile thing."

I couldn't agree more. I don't care for the appearance too much, but I had a 2008 C300 for a weekend a few months ago and felt the interior was beautifully finished and very solid.

It seems that a lot of people criticizing the interior are doing so from the pictures and not actual experience in the car. The materials quality is head-and-shoulders above a Focus'.

I thought the idea of having a long term road test was to let your readers see how a vehicle performs over the long term if used under conditions typical for most of your readers. Driving into a dust storm doesn't fit the bill in my opinion.

I've also noted that writers post really minor matters. Things I don't care about. Now if your transmission fails, or the car leaks oil, or the compressor dies I would want to know. What you are doing is ruining the long-term test for me.

How are we ruining it, healing? No one sought out this dust storm--it just happened and our man got caught out. Stuff happens out there that no one can control. As for the "minor matters", some people want to know about annoying stuff, quirks and personality traits before they bring a car home and find out the hard way. Big problems like transmission failures and oil leaks don't come up much in the first 20k miles, but if they do, we blog the heck out of them. We've had meetings about 100k mile ownership tests, but the logistics and costs are staggering.

She can't help if there is a dust storm.

actualsize - nobody is saying that he sought out the dust storm....merely that the dust storm has changed the parameters of the long term road test from that point forward.

If he accidentially drove the car into a lake, then pulled it out and dried it off....the experience in that car from that point forward wouldn't reflect in any way what one could expect from an "average" experience in the C300 (which is what the long term road test is supposed to do).

I can imagine posts after such an event:

(Edmunds): I drove down to a football game today and noticed a fishy smell coming from the carpet of our long term C300.

(benzhater1000)The C300 carpet smell doesn't compare well to the A4 or CTS carpet smell.

(benzfan2000) You wouldn't know good smelling carpet if it bit you in the....

I think you need to start over with a new car that hasn't been compromised by a raging dust storm if this long-term road test is to be helpful to anyone reading the updates.

I am actually interested to see how the C300 fairs from this point forward. Past electrical quality woes or not, Benzes are among the best built cars in the world and are renowned for their ability to soldier on despite mechanical issues. It will be interesting to see how this lastest baby-Benz carries that torch (or if it doesn't).

Also, a dust storm should not cause failures. With the tight tolerances for panel gaps and mechanical fitments these days the dust should have compromised very little of the car. As I said before, most likely fluids will be the only failing after this incident.

"It seems that a lot of people criticizing the interior are doing so from the pictures and not actual experience in the car."

Bingo. People are armchair critics, and don't spend enough time in the cars they criticize. Compare the feel and finish of a C-Class to an IS, there is no competition. The IS isn't even finished in many places, and the rear seating is useless.

Has anyone who actually owns a C300 (i.e. using their own hard-earned cash)complained about the interior finish materials? I have seen this talked about in many forums with a significant number of negative posts about plastics, tupperware, and the like. However, I don't recall ever hearing a complaint from an actual owner of the vehicle.

I own one and find that I like the materials...the feel of them, the look of them, etc.

In my opinion (as an actual owner that is), the deal is this....the interior is not designed to be flashy or "rich looking". It is understated elegance with a sporty feel. The interior is "complicated" without looking complicated. You don't have to look for things in this car....they're right where you need them to be. I don't have to lean forward to release the emergency brake...I don't have to reach out and turn the radio on. I have been driving it for six months now and keep discovering little things....like using the command to switch from radio to navigation...I simply press a button on my steering wheel (that just happens to be positioned right under where my thumb rests as I drive) and say "Navigation" and my nav screen is displayed.

You won't really "get" this car unless you drive it all the time.....not just a weekend to the truck fest or a camping trip. I'd like to have these long-term road tests written by people who drive the car every day for six months including commuting to work.

Just one man's opinion. I also acknowledge that you would be hard-pressed to find someone rave about a car that they decided not to buy (it proves they were right in choosing another car) and you'd also be hard-pressed to find someone knock a car that they chose to purchase (it proves they were right in choosing the car in the first place).

I dont think anyting inside the c class is cheap. I dont like the design and it looks dated compared to CTS. That doesnt mean there is anything wrong with the C class at all. If there werent other choices I would get the C but with the CTS available I wouldn't. There are no bad cars in this segment but if you are a fan of interior design flair the C isnt going to be at the top of your list. I like the new A4 interior better as well.