Mercedes c320 Reviews

It sounds like you traveling in an old bus in Mexico made of wood! I invested almost double than it cost me the other brands however the quality has been half of what I got from the other brands. I will never purchase another Mercedes. The only good thing is the Engine. Since that is a major component of the car made me give 2 stars. Otherwise 1 should be what it deserves. No recalls because they must lobby a lot. Do they get away!!

The driver seat is slipping around corners from side to side and back and forward. I had it for a test, but no malfunction was detected. Now the engine light does not switch off after ignition. I had it reset and checked, but it came on again 2 days later. I have several much cheaper cars with about the same Kilometers, but it hardly needs any attention other than the normal services. Must say I am disappointed in MBenz.

I had a Ford and a Nissan Z and the both of them together never caused me these much problems. Mercedes ought to admit they need to refund us. I wish a Law firm will take the case and get our money back. I am in the process of paying someone to take it to the dealership now because I was driving home from work yesterday and the heater, lights, air condition and defrost was turning on and off. I will never buy another Mercedes and I encourage others not to purchase them because American Mercedes Service Centers will not take responsibility for these lemons.

2. One month after I bought the car new, the rear window shade stuck and they wanted $800 to replace the motor. How can a motor burn out in 2 months? Fortunately it was under warranty at the time. But now it sticks and I manually push it back down. Warranty is expired. 3. I am constantly replacing my left and right rear light bulbs. That is abnormal. 4. One year after I had the car the heated seats elements on both sides burned out. Cost too much to fix. Not under warranty. Mercedes will not compromise. Needless to say, I'm not paying the high cost to get it fixed.

5. The air and heating vents stopped working after the warranty expired. Only half of my ventilating system works. When I took it in while the warranty was valid, Mercedes said nothing was wrong. 6. Today I have to replace my gear shift box. The dealer said I must have spilled something in the console. That's not true. It will cost $1200 to get fixed. I just spent $4000 to fix a few other thing 6 months ago. I thinking of buying a Honda or Toyota like I had before I bought a Mercedes Benz. I like Mercedes Benz but the company does not own up to their engineering mistakes. The C-320 should have had multiple recalls because of faulty items by Mercedes Benz. This company is terrible for admitting that they are at fault for some of the things that are wrong with their C-320 models.

Long story short I'm about 45 min from home and decided to call the road side assistance. The lady says it has to be towed. The feeling of watching your new car being towed on a flatbed is AWFUL. I was embarrassed. I then go back to the dealer and return this headache. The dealer says the car is fine it's just a faulty key and they will waive the 400 dollars to fix it. Thank God their policy is 3 days you can return no questions asked. I returned the car. I feel fortunate that I got to return it before more problems came.

I will continue to drive my Honda Civic that has never once had any electrical problem. The Honda even has navigations and what not. I think I was just bored of the Honda but this experience made me realize that I will never buy a Benz again. If I want something fancier it will be an Acura or Lexus. With a name like Honda or Toyota behind it, you know it will be reliable. DO NOT BUY THIS CAR. I am so grateful I did not trade in my dear Honda besides... they are both made to get you from point A to B.

This was an obvious defect. I have owned many cars, that cost much less than this Benz and have never had both front coils corrode and break. When customers buy a Benz with its expensive service and repair concomitants, they don't expect to deal with structural defect problems that even cheaper cars don't have. New buyers of Mercedes Benz cars should beware. Do some homework and read about how they treat their customers from the top of the company (Germany) to the bottom (dealership). Although the cars are purported to be capable of high miles, please know that the company's commitment to the consumer will end much before the car does.

I am upset that Stephen Cannon, Mercedes Benz USA, President and CEO, is leading a company that seems to lack courtesy, makes a statement that they will proceed in one direction and then doesn't meet their verbal agreement. What ever happened to customer service? All of this happened right when I was thinking about buying another Mercedes. Now, I'm scared to drive a car. I haven't driven the car, or had it since 6/14/2012, the date of the accident. It is difficult for me to get in a car right now; it feels so unsafe to me. Now I'm wondering if I can truly ever feel safe in this car again. The other difficulty is everyone says just sell the car when you get it back. But, honestly, could you sell a car to someone knowing that you were in it and it caught on fire right in front of you? And no one will tell you the cause of the fire? Would you feel good about yourself if you knew a mother and a child might be driving a car that could catch on fire again?

That is the situation I am in. I finally got the car towed to Fletcher-Jones in Newport Beach, where I wanted it repaired in the first place. Thankfully they are working on the $6,000 worth of external damage that they've seen and they are digging their way into the internal wiring right now to determine the internal damage. Finally after 8/29 almost 2 months from the date of the fire at CAS, someone is trying to help me. However, that wasn't the way it started and they do not know what caused the fire yet. So, how could Randy at Mercedes Benz, USA (see below) know the cause of the fire by looking at three photos?

My 2003, Mercedes C320 caught on fire after having a new Oxygen Sensor replaced in the car at Complete Automotive Systems (CAS) in Los Angeles, CA. That repair was done somewhere around 8/29. I was told they needed the car for about 4 days in order to conduct the Smog Check after having a new O2 sensor placed in the car. Prior to having the O2, repaired, I had the front fender and the left light repaired at Beverly CoachCraft, which is a repair shop in Los Angeles that specializes in Mercedes Benz auto repair. Beverly Coach Craft was referred to my by Beverly Hills Mercedes Benz because they didn't have an auto-body repair service.

I can't tell you how scary it was to get in a car that had just been repaired, turn the ignition key and have smoke coming out of the vents. However, John, the Independent MB specialist at Complete Automotive Systems (CAS) told me there was a horrible burning smell in the car. I asked him repeatedly why the smell was there and what caused it and he never explained the cause. I also questioned him over and over about the safely of driving a car with a burning smell like that, and he promised me that the car was completely safe, it was just going to have this bad smell. I was so worried, I called a friend and asked him to talk to the specialist at CAS and discuss what he had just said to me. My friend said, it sounded fine but you probably would need to sell your car if it's having problems like this. I was extremely concerned because it just didn't sound right to me.

John, the service technician, also said that while they were working on the O2 sensor, a part called the Stepper Motor broke. I asked him if we should have the car towed to Beverly Hills Mercedes Benz, this was all really getting scarier, and he said no, the car would be fine without the Stepper Motor, that there were 9 other Stepper Motors still on the car and that it would be incredibly expensive to replace that one piece. He also stated that to replace the part would cost a huge amount because of the difficulty of getting to the part. By the way, that was told to me after I paid the $409.00 dollar bill. His exact words were, he had something to tell me, but "after I paid the bill”. How smart. Any guy would have refused to pay the bill after hearing all of this negative information about their car. By the way, that particular guy has never answered the phone after that incident. They have been saying that he is not there. When I finally had the car towed from CAS, I was told he had been on a month long vacation. I can't help wondering if they told him not to speak to me about what happened on that day. Everyone else says that didn't know anything about the car.

John from CAS, assured me over and over that the car was safe despite the burning smell. I was very leery despite his promises. I've never heard of driving a car with a burning smell, but he gave me his promise that I would be fine. I was also very concerned that a part was broken. But then, I was also concerned that the car needed to be driven up to a potential 500 miles after replacing the Oxygen Sensor, and before they could run the smog check (so it would pass). Boy what a huge money making racket that was. I hadn't touched the car in almost 2 months now.

I then went to the car, looked at the prior damage to see how the prior shop’s repairs went. Remember, I hadn't seen the car yet, and I put the ignition in the car. Immediately, the burning smell was pretty bad and I started to feel leery. I called my friend again to tell him that the smell was really bad and that smoke was coming out of the vent. At that point my sister got out of her car and ran up to my car, opened the door, pulled me out and said (The car's on fire, get out of the car). At that point, I could see that the smoke had turned into flames and I was trying to pull out several items that were quite expensive and valuable to me but I couldn't get them. I saw the flames coming out of the dash. At that point, I didn't know what to do. The guys from at CAS were surrounding the fire saying they didn't know what to do, and one young guy finally ran out with a fire extinguisher. I have a hard time with an illness, and was just stunned when all of that happened, so I told them I was leaving the car and going home with my sister.

Over the next few days, I was told not to touch the car, so I didn't. Of course, I wasn't going to try and drive it again. When I called CAS, they asked me to call Mercedes Benz, USA to come out and determine what the cause of the fire was. They weren't going to touch the car; they wanted an unbiased inspection, which seemed appropriate to me. But the car just sat at the shop. I called Randy **, Case Manager at Mercedes Benz, USA, New Jersey. His response in the beginning was very supportive, I thought they were coming out to investigate the fire. He then said that they would move the car from CAS to Beverly Hills Mercedes Benz or Fletcher Jones in Newport Beach. I called CAS and told them that a tow truck would be there to pick up the car, but days passed and no one showed up and Randy didn't return my calls.

When he was finally reached, he said Mercedes wasn't going to get involved. Over the phone, his reasons were - I bought the car used, it now had 80,000 miles on it, so they won't get involved with a used Mercedes. They didn't know how the car was repaired prior to my buying the car and they didn't know my history of repairs because I didn't have it serviced by the dealer. However, I had all my services performed by Independent Mercedes-Benz auto-service and repair facilities, and I keep all my records, they never asked. But, no, I didn't have a service history prior to buying the car. However, the car lets me know every time I need a service, and if I haven't done the service, it lets me know. Wouldn't they have a service schedule inside the car? It's pretty sophisticated technology. I believe it can probably be tracked at the home office, but I'm not sure.

Then, I received a note from Randy **, even the note didn't have his last name. Here's an except from the letter: "After review of the forwarded photographs, it was determined there was no defect in workmanship or materials that could have caused or contributed to the fire." How would they know that? Then the next line was, "We suggest that the claim of repairs for any damage be directed to your insurance company.” How would they know anything about the defect in workmanship or materials without looking at the car? How could they determine this from 3 pictures that showed the dashboard, vent and fuse box covered with the fire extinguishers foam or powder pressurized with nitrogen? No one who has looked at the vehicle, and has stood in front of it, has been able to determine the cause of the fire yet. They are still trying to make their ways through the dash, fuse box and wiring harness to determine what the damages are internally? If he had a cause for this fire from looking at the dash with all of the fire extinguishers foam or powder all over it, I wish he would tell me the cause. His experts must be amazing, well not just amazing but they must be psychics, because the photos don't show what the cause of the damage is. It's been in the shop for over a week and a half now, and the group of experts at the best Mercedes Benz dealership that I know of hasn't been able to determine the cause.

I wasn't writing to Mercedes-Benz to pay for repairs; I have insurance. I want to know what caused the fire. I was a lucky woman that day and I'm very thankful for the blessing. But what if I had jumped on the fwy, which was only 3 minutes away? What if the fire was waiting to start 5 more minutes and I had trusted the advice of the service technician? What if there had been children and innocent victims in the cars around me, not just me? And even more specifically, what if this is a problem when the car gets 80,000 miles? And if Mercedes Benz cares right now, they can potentially save other lives. Instead, they are worried about the "Claim of repairs" - what about the cost of human lives?

The biggest "what if" right now is no one knows why the fire started. And when they finish the current repairs, I get the car back. I'm scared to turn the ignition on that car for fear that it will have another fire, because if you haven't fixed the root cause, it's likely that the same thing will happen again. I am single, I'm dealing with an illness and I can't go out there and buy another car right now; it's not in my best interest. So, essentially I will be stuck with a fire hazard to drive, and Mercedes takes the position that if I am concerned about the operational readiness of my 2003 C320, “Have it checked at an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer after the repairs are completed." What? After my dealer completes the repairs, Randy! Wow, was that not the most horrible replies I've ever heard from any company. Why didn't he just say, “If you can't afford a new Mercedes, too bad, we really could care less about you!”

Here's what I would like to know, if there is anyone at Mercedes who cares:

6) During the first repair at Beverly CoachCraft, the Service technician said they were fighting to get the most important parts to be replaced by Mercedes authorized parts that were safe. I asked them to hold off fixing the car until they could get authorization from my insurance company to use the appropriate parts and only parts that met the specific standards. Did that ever happen? It took almost 2 months to start the repairs because I wanted the car parts to be safe. At the end of the negotiations, I was told, "Let's not fight for the small stuff; let's just make sure the major components are safe and compliant." Then, without my even driving the car, I hear a Stepper motor broke off the car.

I am wondering what contributed, in anything to this fire. I'm the one who has to get in the car and drive when this is fixed, and I don't feel safe right now. I wanted Mercedes Benz to investigate so I would know what caused the fire. If they are so confident that they know their workmanship and/or materials didn't cause this fire, please, tell me what did. Go back to your group of experts and have them write the cause and send it to me. But they can't, can they? The pictures don't give any clues except the fire was right in from of me.

P.S. Fletcher **, is now working on the car, and trying to fix the damages for me. I really appreciate how they've taken this under their wings. They have been as nice to me with the 2003, C320 as they were when I had the SL55 AMG a few years ago or when I was driving the Bentley. The fact is, you never really know who you're dealing with, do you?

I am so fed up with the car I just want to get rid of it, but with all the problems I have, I can't even sell it. I currently have issues with the battery getting drained. I think it's the motor under the seat that is draining it. It seems to be a common problem, yet the dealer will not admit that it is a manufacture fault, even though so many people have the same issue.

In addition, the odometer is not showing the mileage. The dealer said that I have to replace the instrument cluster, but it was already replaced once. I have never heard of such a thing, not even with cheap cars. The cost to repair this is $1,800. Are you ** kidding me? I can buy another car for that much money and it will probably have less problems than this piece of crap car. Whoever designed this car did a really bad job and it is very sad that Mercedes will not take responsibility for the crappy instruments they use.

Then after another year or so about 35,000 miles the rear windows did not roll up. Warranty was over so I pulled it apart and fixed it myself. Otherwise dealer would cost me $800 plus.

I did all the schedule maintenance at my regular auto shop. At about 55,000 miles I had the same clicking problem and I told my mechanic that it had happened and when they checked it out it was the motor so I had it disabled. Just to open the dash, it cost me about $300. I also had to replace mass air flow sensor, ESP sensor, and found my motor was leaking oil from the rear main seal.

This Mercedes is junk and will never buy or let any of my family or friends buy one! Any car at 60,000 miles that leak oil from rear main, window malfunction, mass air flow sensor malfunction, ESP sensor, A/C unit problem (twice) and other electrical problems, should be off the road. Compare this to other brands, I am sorry to say Mercedes, I will never buy again.

Now there is a restraint system and tele-aid light displayed and alarm system is going off every time I open the doors. I took it to RBM Mercedes in Roswell, GA. Diagnosis check was $130 an hour. They had to check the CAN, which took them 2 hours to tell me they still have not diagnosed the problem. They needed another hour to check 2 more things, the steering control and radio. This is ridiculous. I will never ever buy another MB ever in my life and will tell others not to. If they do, read the reviews thoroughly before purchasing an MB.

The ambulance attendant said I was lucky I didn't hit my face on the windshield and was surprised the bag didn't deploy. They placed a neck brace at the hospital, and I followed up with my doctor a few days later. At this point, I have to wear the brace for a month before they will decide what test I need, since there is a lot of swelling in my neck. (My neck is killing me.)

Why didn't my airbags deploy? The other party's vehicle deployed all their airbags. Would the airbags have prevented me from hitting my head and getting whiplashed?

I have owned many European cars before and have always had good customer experience for any issues. I am very disappointed with MBUSA's lack of action despite extracting a premium price for their so-called "high quality" automobiles.

The dealer quoted me over $800 to replace the radio. I contacted MB corporate customer service who simply referred me to the local dealer. Therefore receiving absolutely no satisfaction from anyone, I attempted to research and order an appropriate substitute radio from Best Buy. After purchasing all the necessary parts and talking with the Geek Squad I arranged to have the replacement radio installed. They were unable to due to some interference with the car's "system".

Therefore I wasted over a month's time, money and effort trying to fix a simple, warped piece of plastic. It is still unrepaired because I refuse to spend over $800 to replace a radio that works. I'm very frustrated at the lack of customer service from MB. I will also be looking to purchase a new vehicle in less than a year. As a result of their lack of customer service I am included to look at alternate manufacturers. Can anyone be of assistance to me? Thank you very much.

3) Teli aid is faulty.This car has been a total disappointment and embarrassment. This is your warning, buy a different car. Don't go Mercedes, or at least don't go with the C320. When I bought this car, I was so happy. But when I started having problems, I decided to look online just to see if anyone else was having the same problems and I see a bunch of people with the same problems. This car should of been recalled a long time ago. The C class is the shame of Mercedes.

thank you

p.s. love the web site

This is a safety issue plain and simple and I cannot understand why it would be ignored. Our family owns/owned multiple Mercedes Benz models over the years; CLK's, E's SLK's and we still believe them to be safe, well engineered cars. Unfortunately, Mercedes Benz reliability is now well below the mark throughout the entire line. Toyota/Lexus and Honda/Acura clearly surpassed them long ago. I have been told to ask for the factory representative at my local dealership and argue the issue.

They may agree to a 50/50 compromise. However, would you want to take a 50/50 chance with your life or the lives of your loved ones?

Within the first year I had it the alternator was changed, the front passenger's seat module was changed, the battery was changed, the problem always came back. I have warnings in the car that come and go, light bulbs that keep burning and the factory alarm that keeps ending with a dead battery. I have jump-started my vehicle at least 20 to 40 times since I got it 2 years and 3 months ago.

One evening I went to drive the car and all electronic functions seized: windows, a/c (we live in south Florida), radio, sunroof, display board. The mechanics determined this was due to a drain from a seat motor. They fixed it and then two days later the battery died and then it was the other seat motor. Then the display panel started showing problems that didn't exist, such as: washer fluid low (right after a full service). The problems never went a way, no matter how many days in the shop. I'd never dare open the sunroof - it can't close. Six months later the car ignition doesn't recognize the key. Problem I'm told: "instrument cluster is draining the battery".

the repair bill for this is about half the current value of the car. I am now shopping a Lexus. I'm done with this foolishness! I am forced to get another car because I can't afford to take the chance of keeping on repairing what seems to be a never ending problem.I am only two years into the car, I am upside down in the loan. This is not fair.