C-Class (W205) First week with my 2015 W205 C300

[Merc1]

@tennmb I think you should look at MBWorld. C-Class is having problems with fit and finish and other issues. Of course there are going to be problems with a new car built in a new location.

M

 

[StanNH]

@tennmb I think you should look at MBWorld. C-Class is having problems with fit and finish and other issues. Of course there are going to be problems with a new car built in a new location.

M

Most of the problems seem to be focused on the electronics interface, the somewhat complex menu system, and various glitches that have cropped up. Most of the actual malfunctions, but not all, have been resolved either by shutting off and restarting the car, or holding the CD eject button down for ten seconds.

Actual fit and finish issues have been few, with the bulk of those complaints being about the slight misalignment of the "RADIO" label on that control button. There have been some comments about the fuel filler door fit, but that seems to be only infrequently reported. There are some relatively large panel gaps, but I've seen this on all W205's regardless of origin. (Based on owner photos.)

For me, it's simply too soon to pass judgement on the Alabama factory's quality control. With just over two months of ownership under my belt, I'm still not 100% familiar with every aspect of this car. Unless I can actually look at a German or SA built car next to mine, which isn't going to happen, I'm not ready to reach any conclusions. All I can say is that my own badly fit fuel door should have been corrected before the car was let out of the Alabama factory ... but that's not an indictment of their QC . It was a minor, albeit sloppy, QC miss. I have yet to find any other obvious QC issues with this car.

 

[StanNH]

Now four months into ownership, and the experience has not been at all what I expected. Although the car continues to drive well, and is as well designed as I originally thought, the service experience has been quite poor. My car has more miles on it going back and forth to my dealer than it does through personal use. My dealer has been great, but all these service trips are beginning to seriously tarnish my ownership experience. Here's my list so far:

1. Recall for steering column inspection .. all was fine.
2. Recall for defective front Continental tires ... both front tires replaced.
3. Poorly fit fuel filler door replaced ... not adjustable.
4. Return trip to repair paint chips caused by replacement of fuel filler door.
5. Alignment off and steering wheel cocked off center ... re-alignment done.
6. Headlights poorly aligned on low beam ... re-alignment done.
7. Campaign for emissions control system ... pending.
8. One outside door LED stopped working ... pending.
9. Sunroof screen sagging and wrinkling ... pending.
10. MB-Tex seats and headrests "bleeding" plasticizer. TSB issued and all seats have to be re-covered, and headrests replaced ... pending.
11. Rear bumper cover does not fit properly, and there is a large "step" where it meets the body panel by the trunk and tail light ... pending.

The car is currently once again at the dealer, having the last issues attended to. In addition to this, twice now the car has given "no key detected" messages and the car had to be started by inserting the fob in the ignition.

I have been in touch with MB-USA and do have a Case Manager assigned to me now. We will be discussing some form of compensation when this is all done. Regarding my state's Lemon Law, it requires either 3 failed attempts to fix a warranty item, or 30 cumulative days out of service. I have not yet reached that threshold, but I am making progress. ;-(

I do have a loaner car, which is a 2015 C300 Luxury, so I'm okay with that. That car, in just the few days I've had it, has already failed recognize the fob on two occasions. Once, I couldn't open the car and had to use the emergency key, and once I had to start the car with the fob in the ignition. The batteries test fine, so there is some sort of software problem with the keyless system.

I do have a very high opinion of this car, and think it is truly exceptional. I can't say the same about the build quality though, and for that I do have to lay the blame on the US plant in Alabama. This is definitely not what I expected from my first, and probably last, Mercedes Benz. I am very, very disappointed.

 

[NarutoRamen]

^^Holy crap man. That's terrible. I didn't know how bad that the C-class is. I don't think the previous cars built in the US had this many issues, or was I just not aware of it?

 

[Rolf]

@StanNH really sorry to hear about all the problems you have had with your C-class, that is a real bad news and I am sure really sad and annoying as well for you. I wonder if drivers of C-classes from other plants world wide are experiencing similar quality issues.
@fortuner I remember you saying that you have bought a C-class in South Africa. Have you had any problems with build quality issues like StanNH has from your car built at the East London plant?

 

[Vincent1894]

I have my c class for 1 month now and i have driven 5000km. The only issue on my car is a ticking seatbelt on the driversside.
my car is built in Bremen.

 

[Vincent1894]

I have my c class for 1 month now and i have driven 5000km. The only issue on my car is a ticking seatbelt on the driversside.
my car is built in Bremen.

Oops,i mean 1,5 month and 8000km, times flies.....

 

[Tarek]

^ 8K km in 45 days? man you drive a lot..

 

[Rolf]

You must be driving approx 200km a day or more, alot of mileage you racking up on your car. I am currently doing about 4500km a month on my car and also driven 32000km in 7months of owning it, maybe by end of next year if I am still here I will have to get another car.

 

[Vincent1894]

^ 8K km in 45 days? man you drive a lot..

yeah i know it is 100km a day for work and the last weeks a lot trips to family 150km away
normally is drive around 50.000 km a year

 

[StanNH]

Here's a picture of what my seats looked like the other day. The problem with the MB-Tex material is unique to the US supplier, and shows up when temperatures drop below freezing.

Many of the poor panel fit issues are also unique to US builds. The tire recall was only on the Continental 18" front tires. I'm not sure about some of the other problem areas, but I suspect software errors are common to all cars regardless of the factory. On MBWorld, there's a running poll on how any owners have had issues with their new W205 cars. That number seems to be holding around 48%, an extraordinarily high number for any vehicle, let alone one coming from Mercedes.

My car is still at the dealer and probably will be there a few more days as they deal with the latest batch of repairs, including replacing the seat covers and headrests. I am a very patient person, but that patience is wearing quite thin about now. I have a lot of respect for this car, and do think MB got it right as far as design and engineering. That little 2.0 turbo four is fantastic, handing is quite good, and the car is comfortable and quiet. The Burmester sound system is impressive, and the electronics are state of the art. The only thing lacking is build quality and reliability ... and that is a very serious shortcoming, certainly on the US built cars.

 

[mini_cooper4]

Here's a picture of what my seats looked like the other day. The problem with the MB-Tex material is unique to the US supplier, and shows up when temperatures drop below freezing.

Many of the poor panel fit issues are also unique to US builds. The tire recall was only on the Continental 18" front tires. I'm not sure about some of the other problem areas, but I suspect software errors are common to all cars regardless of the factory. On MBWorld, there's a running poll on how any owners have had issues with their new W205 cars. That number seems to be holding around 48%, an extraordinarily high number for any vehicle, let alone one coming from Mercedes.

My car is still at the dealer and probably will be there a few more days as they deal with the latest batch of repairs, including replacing the seat covers and headrests. I am a very patient person, but that patience is wearing quite thin about now. I have a lot of respect for this car, and do think MB got it right as far as design and engineering. That little 2.0 turbo four is fantastic, handing is quite good, and the car is comfortable and quiet. The Burmester sound system is impressive, and the electronics are state of the art. The only thing lacking is build quality and reliability ... and that is a very serious shortcoming, certainly on the US built cars.

Oh God... that's truly awful. The US built W205 seems to be a complete POS. That's even worse than BMW's rust issue which was thankfully solved in the end.
Hopefully SA and Germany built cars have less issues...

 

[StanNH]

Oh God... that's truly awful. The US built W205 seems to be a complete POS. That's even worse than BMW's rust issue which was thankfully solved in the end.
Hopefully SA and Germany built cars have less issues...

Maybe not a complete POS, in that the mechanicals and most of the electronics are fine. But my feeling is that the plant was just not ready to start production ... and many of the build issues were neither recognized nor resolved quickly enough. The problem with MB-Tex was acknowledged with a TSB issued on 19 December, but production with the defective material continued until 5 January. The poor fit of the rear bumper cover was an issue from day one, but only corrected on the most recent production. I've gotten no argument from the dealer about recognizing and repairing the defects on my car, and MB-USA's customer service has been very responsive and helpful. If it weren't for that, I'd already have been out shopping for a replacement ... and it would not be another Mercedes product.

For now, I'll reserve judgement until I get my car back yet again. If the repairs, especially the seat covers, turn out fine ... and the constant stream of annoying problems finally stops ... I'll be happy to keep this otherwise exceptional vehicle. If not, it'll be the end of a short and very frustrating ownership experience.

 

[mini_cooper4]

Maybe not a complete POS, in that the mechanicals and most of the electronics are fine. But my feeling is that the plant was just not ready to start production ... and many of the build issues were neither recognized nor resolved quickly enough. The problem with MB-Tex was acknowledged with a TSB issued on 19 December, but production with the defective material continued until 5 January. The poor fit of the rear bumper cover was an issue from day one, but only corrected on the most recent production. I've gotten no argument from the dealer about recognizing and repairing the defects on my car, and MB-USA's customer service has been very responsive and helpful. If it weren't for that, I'd already have been out shopping for a replacement ... and it would not be another Mercedes product.

For now, I'll reserve judgement until I get my car back yet again. If the repairs, especially the seat covers, turn out fine ... and the constant stream of annoying problems finally stops ... I'll be happy to keep this otherwise exceptional vehicle. If not, it'll be the end of a short and very frustrating ownership experience.

Fingers crossed! Hopefully it turns out well for you, mate

 

[Tarek]

Crap that pic of your car seat is just unbelievable!

 

[alexschoen]

I'm shocked to hear this long list of issues from someone that seems to have lots of goodwill towards the brand. This is a very embarrassing record of quality and raises fears of MB returning to the dark ages of the early 2000's when they put form over function (W/S211, W/S203, R230) with beautiful shapes but reliability that brought the brand down. I'm not surprised about the W205 seats, they are from a well-known supplier that seemed even prior to launch incapable of producing quality, far from being able to supply for a launch across four global plants within a year.

I keep my fingers crossed that they can help you through the issues quickly and hope that other customers don't suffer same amount of challenge

 

[ZicZachZo]

How disappointing that MBUSI did not take the time to iron our these kinks at the Alabama plant. What's more troubling is that the Alabama plant has been in operation for decades so I'm struggling to understand how such things could go so very wrong? The SUVs seem to have relatively few problems. Or is it that I'm just out of the loop?

 

[StanNH]

How disappointing that MBUSI did not take the time to iron our these kinks at the Alabama plant. What's more troubling is that the Alabama plant has been in operation for decades so I'm struggling to understand how such things could go so very wrong? The SUVs seem to have relatively few problems. Or is it that I'm just out of the loop?

This is the first sedan produced in Alabama; all other production having been SUV's. I watched the MB promotional video, celebrating the launch of the W205 in the US plant. The spokesman exclaimed about all the new manufacturing techniques that were being introduced for this new model ... new bonding processes, new aluminum panels, new paint, etc. He also went on about the extensive training programs that were instituted to bring the workers up to speed. All this, plus the components are 60% American sourced, was a recipe for disaster. New manufacturing techniques that had not been used here previously, workers who were not familiar with those techniques except for the training sessions, and new suppliers ... is it a surprise that something went wrong?

Given all this, I would have expected that MB quality control would have been all over that plant ... literally watching over a good number of the cars leaving the line. The fuel filler door fit and rear panel fit are problems on many of these cars, yet nobody ever noticed it? The owners obviously see these errors, so how could not a single person at the production level ever notice or report this? That's just poor quality oversight. What a shame.

So, for now, I wait. I'll follow up here after I get the car back in a few days ... it had better be perfect.

 

[NarutoRamen]

How disappointing that MBUSI did not take the time to iron our these kinks at the Alabama plant. What's more troubling is that the Alabama plant has been in operation for decades so I'm struggling to understand how such things could go so very wrong? The SUVs seem to have relatively few problems. Or is it that I'm just out of the loop?

Exactly what I said earlier. But I think, at least for the seat issue, it was the supplier who didn't cure it properly or something. Not like MB makes those seats inside the plant. At least not that I'm aware of.

 

[alexschoen]

Exactly what I said earlier. But I think, at least for the seat issue, it was the supplier who didn't cure it properly or something. Not like MB makes those seats inside the plant. At least not that I'm aware of.

Johnson Controls is the global supplier for W205 seats