Thinking about buying this Benz C300. **UPDATE Bought one** WITH PICS

[OutHouse]

my 2004 camry is getting long in tooth. bought it brand new in 04 and has almost 300K miles on it. smal things are starting to go wrong with it, couple of wheel bearings last year and last week the one of the O2 sensors went out that i still need to take in and get fixed. clear coat is starting to peel so my car looks like a sunburn. Starting to shift hard a lot more than it used to.

anyway i found this C300 listed. its a 2013 lease trade-in with 29K miles. Its at the dealer as a certified pre owned and has some nice incentives.

The CPO Event is back for Feb. The C300's get 0.99% up to 36 mo's, or 2.99% to 72. You get a 1st mo's payment credit up to $425 dollars. Best of all you 2 yrs / 2 services of complimentary pre-paid maintenance at no cost. And as always you have the 5 yr unlimited mileage CPO warranty.

I called my state farm agent and insurance would be just 10 bucks more a month if i offed my camry and i carry full coverage on the camry.

the thing that gets me is that i paid 22K for my Camry XLE way back in 2004 and i can get this Benz for almost the same price and only being 2 years old with a Certified Pre Owned warranty. Im having a real hard time saying no to this.


i have a test drive scheduled tomorrow afternoon to take a look at it.
What do you guys think? good deal on this?


*** UPDATE**

The autobroker i buy through found me a sweet 2012 C300 Luxury. One owner, 24K miles on it. weathertech floor mats, all windows including the windshield and sunroof are tinted. the thing is cherry inside and out. The only odd thing about it, it has a Affalterbach badge on the hood.

PICS

 

[NutBucket]

Well for starters it has pleather

But really, that's pretty normal depreciation for European cars. I'd say if you buy it your first task is to find a good indy shop to use once the warranties are exhausted. If you're expecting to it to run to 300k without some work like your Camry you're probably going to be very disappointed. But, take care of it and you should be happy.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Looks like a good deal and a nice car. Should be fun to drive and likely will be reliable for the near future


You already likely know the "negatives"
1.) It will cost a lot more to maintain
2.) Likely will have more problems
3.) Resale if you want to sell it is not good

So, I'd have mixed feelings

 

[Midwayman]

I have a 2012 C350. Had it for a couple years now and its mostly been good. Only unusual problem I've had is a seized caliper. The 2013 is a pretty good year for the c300. Its the year it got the new m276 engine. Its the same one in the c350, and with a flash you can get the vast majority of that power. Early c300 had issues with the transfer case on the 4matic system, but the 2013 has the newer 7g+ transmission (new in 2012) That should resolve the issue. I haven't heard too many complaint about it so far. Just make sure you get the tranny serviced religiously (That was the main issue on the older ones) Overall the C class and the w204 had been one of MBs most reliable cars, and what studies I managed to find show it well above average. (Problems reported for this particular model tend to be near the japanese makes average)

Biggest issue is that services cost a lot on these. If you can do some basic work yourself you will save a ton of money. Can't really comment on the price as I haven't been following the market.

If you can find one with keyless go, its really nice. This one has becker map pilot, which is the weird add on to the non-navi units. The real navi units are better. I also know its super easy to add a rear view cam to the navi, not sure if its possible with the becker setup. Id go drive it and see what you think. Make sure you put the tranny in sport mode on your test drive. Eco can be a little laggy. If you like it you can start hunting down one with exactly the options you want.

 

[OutHouse]

Thanks Midway.

 

[Midwayman]

Well for starters it has pleather

Yah, its almost impossible to find a C300 with real leather in the US. It was like a $3k option. Its called MBtex. Its what they put in the MBs designed for taxi use in the EU.

 

[NutBucket]

That's sad. I know BWM does the same thing (likely Audi too). Maybe I'm just odd but I'd rather have cloth than pleather. Then again, the "leather" in my Subaru is probably closer to pleather than leather

 

[tcG]

New cars suck, get a clean one of these for $5k:

Much cheaper and also better.

 

[OutHouse]

^^ pretty sure that car does not have satellite radio or bluetooth. no thanks id keep my camry before i bought that old car.

 

[Insomniator]

Does your camry have headlight wipers though? Didn't think so.

 

[Insomniator]

Yah, its almost impossible to find a C300 with real leather in the US. It was like a $3k option. Its called MBtex. Its what they put in the MBs designed for taxi use in the EU.

Is MBtex the same leather like stuff they used in the old benzs? My mechanic would joke about how you could have a 25 year old benz with 400k miles and the seats still look fresh from the factory.

 

[NutBucket]

I thought old MBs just used real leather? Leather used by MB is worlds better than any American car.

 

[DeviousTrap]

Is MBtex the same leather like stuff they used in the old benzs? My mechanic would joke about how you could have a 25 year old benz with 400k miles and the seats still look fresh from the factory.

Yes, MBtex will actually wear much better than real leather. It's really not much of a con.

 

[OutHouse]

Does your camry have headlight wipers though? Didn't think so.

nope im slumming it.

 

[leper84]

They are really great to drive, even a C class will be lightyears ahead of your current car.

Just don't plan on keeping it as long. Once the warranty runs out, be prepared to pay 2-3 times parts+labor what you would for your camry. If you understand that after 5 years its gonna be expensive (depending on annual mileage maintenance will be after 2), it would be an amazing upgrade.

 

[RichieZ]

considering how much you are driving (24K mi/yr) I would not be buying a german car

 

[OutHouse]

i just read about a feature that im not sure im too crazy about.

front and rear tires are different sizes. 225/45's front and 245/40's rear

so no 4 tire rotation just swap left to right, right to left.

 

[OutHouse]

They are really great to drive, even a C class will be lightyears ahead of your current car.

Just don't plan on keeping it as long. Once the warranty runs out, be prepared to pay 2-3 times parts+labor what you would for your camry. If you understand that after 5 years its gonna be expensive (depending on annual mileage maintenance will be after 2), it would be an amazing upgrade.

ive been comparing pricing of common parts that may need replacing on numerous websites and the parts are not that much more expensive. of course these are not OEM. im not paying 1500 for a OEM alternator.

 

[OutHouse]

considering how much you are driving (24K mi/yr) I would not be buying a german car

can you elaborate why?

 

[Stopsignhank]

We just bought a 2016 C300. It is actually a different generation from yours, but I have to tell you that we love it. I too have heard all the talk about german cars, but in all honesty I think cars now a days are a step up in quality anyway. Well we will find out because we plan to keep the car for a long time.

As someone on a Mercedes forum said, BMWs are a luxury sports car, a Mercedes is a sporty luxury car. The ride of our car is really very smooth, but it handles really well.

 

[OutHouse]

We just bought a 2016 C300. It is actually a different generation from yours, but I have to tell you that we love it. I too have heard all the talk about german cars, but in all honesty I think cars now a days are a step up in quality anyway. Well we will find out because we plan to keep the car for a long time.

As someone on a Mercedes forum said, BMWs are a luxury sports car, a Mercedes is a sporty luxury car. The ride of our car is really very smooth, but it handles really well.

congrats on your new benz and thanks for the reply. just curious, are your tires offset?

 

[NutBucket]

i just read about a feature that im not sure im too crazy about.

front and rear tires are different sizes. 225/45's front and 245/40's rear

so no 4 tire rotation just swap left to right, right to left.

You can switch to non-staggered if desired. No big deal. And you can't do any rotation if you get directional tires.

 

[XavierMace]

i just read about a feature that im not sure im too crazy about.

front and rear tires are different sizes. 225/45's front and 245/40's rear

so no 4 tire rotation just swap left to right, right to left.

Pretty much any sporty-ish car is going to come with a staggered setup.

 

[leper84]

ive been comparing pricing of common parts that may need replacing on numerous websites and the parts are not that much more expensive. of course these are not OEM. im not paying 1500 for a OEM alternator.

BMW/Mbenz/Audi aren't the types of cars you want to put a duralast alternator on. Its not a name or a class thing, its that cheap parts on these cars will cause more problems than they solve.

It will be your car and you can do what you want once the warranty runs out, but I would encourage you to use OEM quality parts.

 

[ScottFern]

$599 Dealer & Handling Fee? Just be honest and call it Padded Profit Fee.