Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate (2008 - 2014) C200 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY SE Edition 125 5d Auto Owner Review

Fuel consumption higher than I expected. Angle of the arm rest on the driver's door is awkward, made my shoulder ache until I consciously stopped using it. Otherwise, had to have a total respray, as Fire Opal cars (bright red), all Mercedes models, have issues with the lacquer coming off - if with full service history, Mercedes will pay, without it, you are on your own. Two wheel sensors have failed, and something, forget exactly what, caused a minor water loss, but it wasn't expensive to fix. Door handles are a known weak spot - a rear one failed, and had to be replaced at £150 including spraying. Annoying, but overall not a lot has gone wrong in nearly ten years of ownership. I will probably keep it as the next model on stupidly has neither a spare wheel, nor space to put one if you bought one. A bad trend in the industry. As is each model being bigger than the last. I could get my last Mercedes C estate in the garage (just) but this one is just that bit bigger, and is not feasible. The sat-nav is excellent, but no DAB radio, which may become an issue in the future. Ride is good, and tyre wear very good - 35-40,000 per set. In hindsight with emissions zones issues, I should have bought petrol, especially as my mileage is now low, where it was high. But the cost-to-change doesn't make it feasible really. Diesel probably still makes sense for high-milers. The electric tailgate is a nice feature in some ways, but I can't help but think that it is just another thing to go wrong, potentially, so in that sense I'd rather not have it. Overall, this model of C has been more reliable than its predecessor, and in this specification gives you a last chance to drive behind the "proper" on-the-bonnet three-pointed star.