Faults:

Minor valve cover gasket leak & front brake pad replacement at ~110,000 km.

Driver's seat heater element on seat bottom failed and one headlight bulb burned out.

That's it.

General Comments:

I purchased the car from a family friend in March 2011, when he traded up to a 2011 GLK 350. My C240 had 74,000 km on it at the time. In 3 1/2 years, I have put 48,000 km or about 14,000/year on it. I own three cars, so this vehicle doesn't see high mileage. I keep it in a garage most of the time and rarely use it in winter. The exception is during really bad weather, when I depend on the 4-matic system, which works great! I consistently get an average of 9 l/100 km or a bit over 26 MPG (US). On long highway trips, I can count on getting around 8.3 or over 28 MPG.

In terms of comfort, it has a more "sporty" ride than my old '84 300SD, which rode like a dream. However, when I take it on highway trips, it is great. It's the only car I've ever owned that I can drive 12 hours straight and walk away from the car without limping. The climate control works great.

If I were to complain about something, I'd prefer to have a timed intermittent wiper than the rain sensing type, which either doesn't wipe often enough or chatters across the windshield too much. My other beef would be that the heater on the driver's seat bottom died this past winter. It's built into the leather seat bottom and I've read it's costly to fix. I haven't bothered digging any deeper.

I would definitely get another Mercedes. My friend is trying to sell me his GLK (the 2011 from earlier), but I can't afford it! From my perspective, a Mercedes isn't 100% better at any one thing, but is a few to several percent better at many things. I used to go to the dealer for service, but have found a former Mercedes mechanic who provides excellent service at a significantly lower rate.

Faults:

Front low beam light bulb went out. Other than that, nothing.

General Comments:

I love this car. Quite comfy, rides great. MPG is very good. I am getting about 27 on the highway.

The 4MATIC AWD is a must where I live.

I do about 400 miles a week driving, and the 170bhp is just enough pep to get on the highway and pass cars.

The interior is wonderful and is like going from day to night compared to my old 2000 C Class. The car has enough room for 4 people to fit.

The sat nav system is great, along with the heated seats. The handling is wonderful as well. I have had Mercedes since 1980's and will continue to buy more. I currently have 4 other Mercedes, but this is the one I use to commute with.

Faults:

Nothing wrong with the car mechanically.

Few cosmetic things, for example:

- Release truck button on driver's side rattled with the music. Dealer replaced for free.

- Radio stopped working for a little while. Dealer updated the software for free.

But the BIGGEST annoyance is, since I have the Harmon Kardon premium sound system, and it has a 8" sub woofer. It rattles the rear hatch like crazy. Even with the bass turned down. It's just a poor design. The dealer said they did all they could do under warranty to fix it (i.e: adding some foam); it helped a little, but it still rattles. The thing is that they KNOW it's a problem, but according to them, they have not come up with a solution.

General Comments:

Other than problems stated above, it's a great little car. Get AWESOME gas mileage. I average about 20-25mpg in city, and 30-38mpg on the highway. It is FASTER than the 2006 and 2007's because of the higher torque in the 4 banger, and because the 5 speed auto on this car is less sluggish than the 7 speed that Benz is using on their new cars. So this car is faster and gets better gas mileage than the 2006 and 2007.

It's a great looking car, and since I have the Orion Blue, it's is very rare in a sea full of silver, black and white C-classes. I have my ipod hooked up to it, it works great. (except for the bass thing).

Although this car is only listed as 189HP and 191lb.f of torque, it delivers just fine on the freeway and city driving. This car FEELS wonderful at high speeds (above 80+) handles nice, comfortable. Although I've been told by passengers that the rear seats are not exactly comfortable on long rides.