Faults:

ESP warning light came on, and the brake light failure warning light. Turned engine off, left for 60 secs, rebooted and things were cool. Turned out to be the rear wash and wipe hose, which runs up through the tail gate, had come away from the connector and was spraying water over the electrics inside the tail gate, which in turn was causing problems to occur. Had to had to have a new screen fitted (not by Mercedes); since then the rain sensitive wipers have not worked properly... Then last week they started working OK, so I don't know what's going on... Gremlins I suppose.

General Comments:

Pretty quick for a diesel, nice interior, decent stereo, apart from the fact that you can't forward or rewind tracks; most annoying.

Nice big boot, great MPG (I'm getting between 700 and 800 miles to a tank).

Electric windows sometimes move very slowly, but always get there, seats are very comfy, driving position is good. An all round nice car.

Faults:

Tailgate locking mechanism needed realignment at 32,000 miles.

Rear door locking mechanism failed and needed replacement at 37,000 miles.

Offside drive shaft failed suddenly at 45,000 miles and needed replacement, together with the nearside CV joint.

Nearside drive shaft failed suddenly at 46,600 miles, and needed replacement.

General Comments:

For six years the car, bought from new and serviced by M-Benz, served the needs of myself and my wife, both pensioners, reasonably well.

I was shocked that, within three months, both drive shafts, major components of the machine, should catastrophically fail at such a low mileage as 45 and 46,000 miles.

Repair costs totalled over £2,300.

The company refused to accept any responsibility or even express regret. 'The car is out of its warranty, so it's not our problem; tough luck!' was the gist of their response.

Faults:

None.

General Comments:

An excellent drive in the 2L diesel version.

Handling is excellent though at the expense of a slightly firm ride. Fuel economy is good if not quite the figures Mercedes quote; we typically get 43mpg on a mixed run.

Interior comfort excellent and there is no doubt at all from the interior build quality that this is a Mercedes. Everything is solid and has that reassuring positive click of something you know will keep working for years to come. Spacious inside and comfortable for 5 on short trips.

No faults at all since new, and the dealer was even quite nice when parting with quite a sum for this superlative of small cars.