2004 Mercedes-Benz C-Class C320 Sports Sedan review from North America
"Great car, but the quality's compromised these days"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
Car has 34,500 miles on it - it's only 5 years old.
We just found out that we have to replace the transmission. Our mechanic said we had to take it to the dealer, so we did and they informed us that the radiator leaked internally, into the transmission, causing it to fail. When we told our mechanic, he called a transmission person he knows, who only works on Mercedes. The guy said that he's seen it before, that it's a defect with the radiator, and that it should never be able to get into the transmission. He also said that Mercedes knows about the problem, but doesn't put it out there to the rest of us.
We don't want to pay for this! We've taken good care of this car, and it's our third one, but feel that the quality has really been built out of them. They want us to pay for half and the bill is $7,400. It's too much to pay when the mileage is so low. It shouldn't have happened.
Last year the catalytic converter died and had to be replaced. It fell within the warranty period, and certainly the mileage, so Mercedes took care of it. They would not, however, replace the left one, only the right one. Our mechanic suggested that we request the replacement of both, but Mercedes said they only replace what's broken.
General comments?
We've loved this little car. It handles beautifully, it's peppy, and solid and has an amazing turning radius.
It's a smaller Mercedes, and a sports version, which we got because of its added handling ability, but to have the transmission go out because the radiator leaked into it, at 34,000 miles is ridiculous. To pay $44,000 for a car that needs this kind of work, with such low mileage is stupid.
We bought the car thinking we were investing in a vehicle that would last 150,000 - 200,000 miles, like so many of them do. We're finding that they're just not made the way they used to be.
I'd take all those old knobs back and get of this computerized crap in a heartbeat. Whatever happened to a dip stick? I wished we'd bought a Toyota for half the price - we'd still be driving it.
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| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Model year | 2004 |
| Year of manufacture | 2003 |
| First year of ownership | 2003 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2008 |
| Engine and transmission | Automatic |
| Performance marks | |
| Reliability marks | |
| Comfort marks | |
| Dealer Service marks | |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 6 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 0 miles |
| Most recent distance | 34500 miles |
| Previous car | Mercedes-Benz SL |
| Date of Entry | 2nd September, 2008 |