2004 Mercedes-Benz C-Class C320 Sedan from North America - Comments

There has been nothing wrong with the car beyond routine maintenance.

I bought this car with an extended warranty, after hearing about Mercedes reliability problems, during the last 5 years after they joined with Chrysler.

My wife loves this car. She much prefer to drive my Mercedes rather than her 2004 Saab 9-3 Sedan Linear 2.0 T Auto.

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Plus points:

The performance and handling are incredible. Very fast car, with loads of torque - although this a RWD car, the C-Class has good traction on the snow.

The comfort is excellent. Roomy interior, good driving position, comfy seats and well equipped. Smooth ride and back seat is spacious enough for tall people.

Mileage on the highway is honestly 26 miles per gallon, not too bad for a 3.2 V6.

Looks nice in dark green. My wife says it looks like a "Baby S-Class". Real headturner and get lots of compliments.

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Drawbacks:

Questionable build-quality. Although the materials seems to be from higher grade than my previous Volvo.

I think the Interior finish is from lower quality compared to the older Mercedes.

Apart of the "cheapness" of the material - the interior seems to be well put together. At least, there are no signs of rattles or squeaks.

Instrument legibility could be improved. The main dials are hard to read in some conditions unless the headlights are turned on. To make things worse, part of the rev counter is hidden by the steering wheel in both of my preferred seating positions.

Poor visibility - it is difficult to judge how long the tail of the car is when backing up.

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Conclusion:

Almost perfect car and probably one of the best purchase in its class.

-I just wish Mercedes could regain the same luster from the past decades. It's sad to see the legendary German marque, slided so much in quality.

My car has been trouble-free, but before buying it I was aware that Mercedes was at the bottom of the latest 2004 J. D Power survey.

Either way, I am very happy with the purchase and I have no regrets at all. I Love my C320 and I really do hope to still continue loving for the next years to come.

Well it is too bad about MB perceived quality probs. However, its great to hear that the risk you took can be worth the benefits.

I tried to buy my wife a 2004 C240 but she just found the seats too firm. I loved the hi-way stability, but was a bit discouraged by some of the crash and fatality test stats that did not seem to match the top-of-breed name and 8 air bags.

That said, we are going to test MB's B200 here in Canada. Its no C 240,but it is one of the lower priced cars with stability control.

It really is unacceptable that Mercedes-Benz cars have a 'cheap' feel to the interior.

The main reason for the 'prestige' price-range, is because people expect top quality when they pay so much money.

Mercedes will lose their reputation if they don't improve the finish on the late models. No wonder they are losing ground to Lexus!