Mercedes-Benz: The Best Or Nothing

As part of my employment package, I am fortunate enough to have a company car.   And like many who enjoy this benefit, I have used the oppertunity to own/drive a premium branded car – A Mercedes-Benz.

Over the past 9 years I have had 3 Mercedes-Benz C Class models …. which have all had issues …..

My first C class was a C180 Kompressor with a manual gearbox (W203 model).   This lasted 11 months, in which time I had a number of issues with rattles, trim falling off and then the issues that killed it – the head gasket … with a cracked block 😦   Mileage = 9,000    As this car was on a lease contract, my employer and lease company managed to persuade Mercedes to replace the car with another C180 Kompressor (W203) – also allowing me to move to an automatic gearbox.  

This car over the 3 years I had it also experienced a number of issues with the trim, constant bulb replacements and finally a leaking gearbox that seemed to require attention every 6-8 weeks.

Now call me crazy or a sucker for punishment, but when I had the opertunity to change my car 3 years ago, I once again decide to go with Mercedes – and a C Class…. why…  the model had been updated, so I’ve had a C220 CDI (W204).  And as I now prefer to drive automatics, the company car tax was low, and I actually like the design of the W204.

Have I regretted my decision …. absolutely 😦

Over the past 3 years, the car has suffered from trim issues (door handles that break when used, door trim that peels off etc), bulb replacements at regular intervals and then there is the main issue that I only discovered having taken delivery … the dreaded deisel injector issue.

This first surfaced, as major problems seem to for me, when I was in the outside lane of the Motorway and the engine just stopped … luckly I managed to move across 3 lanes of light traffic to the hard shoulder … and having been recovered, waited 2 months for the repair to be completed.  The injector issue seems to be a big problem for Mercedes, many forums have unhappy owners complaining about this.

Can Mercedes fix the issue – well it appears not … since the motorway breakdown almost 2 years ago, the injectors on my C220 have been replaced again and just this week, I’m told by my long suffering dealer (who I have no complaints about) that another set are on order due to a recall.

As the Mercedes TV marketing campaign says “The best or nothing” … well I have to say it’s now nothing !

I am at the end of my lease on the current Mercedes and have decided to move to another brand — watch out for another posting about the choice of new car.