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W204 Buyer’s Guide?

6K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  SKORPiO 
#1 ·
Hi All,

I’m normally in the 107 and 129 section but have spent the last few days reading as much as I can about the 204’s. We currently have a new CLA-250 4Matic (wife’s) and a garage queen SL500 along with a Tribeca that we have owned since new that is killing me on mileage. After selling another Tribeca to purchase the CLA-250, my monthly fuel bill has dropped by $350.00. I’m starting the search for a slightly used C Class 4Matic as we live in snow country when we are not in a drought. Because we live hours from any dealer (between Tahoe & Yosemite) concerns over reliability are more pronounced than normal.

I’m hoping that some of the 204 experts here can give me a little guidance on the better years, items to watch for, etc. I did search the stickies for a buyer’s guide but did not see one.

Any constructive input would be greatly appreciated!
 
#2 ·
I have a CPO 2013 C250 which you can't get in the US market as a 4Matic, but a few friends have purchased CPO C300's and they seem to like them. I had some warranty problems with my fronts strut mounts, but they of course replaced them. Also the only other warranty issue that I had was my fuel door would not open so they replaced the whole assembly and it has had no issues since then. If you are looking to get one I would go for a CPO car. They are going to have a longer warranty and they usually are off lease cars, service loaners, or new trade ins that are in good condition. When I bought my car last year the only thing that stopped me from getting the C300 was the mileage on the cars that were available. Usually C300's do end up having more mileage as a CPO car then others that I have looked at. I asked my independent as well and he hasn't really seen any out of the ordinary issues like you had on the 2005 to 2007 cars with the balance shaft issue with the 272 engine. I would just take the time and do your research on what packages that you want and then visit your closest dealers site and look at the cars they have available for you to see online so you can zero in on which one you want. The 2015 coupes are still available in the 204 body while they last, but I can't remember if the 4Matic was available with the coupe or not. Good luck in your search.
 
#3 ·
James,

Thank you very much for the feedback!

I have been spending my free time surfing and have found several 2013 CPO's with low (under 30K) miles but living so far away I will have to wait until I can get away from the office. We will be taking a vacation (first one in 15 years) shortly and plan on several dealership visits along the way.

Hopefully there will still be some available when I do make the trip...:)

Thanks again!
 
#4 ·
There always are. It seems like my local dealers CPO inventory changes daily due to trades, lease turn ins, etc. I found a CPO 2015 C300 for a buddy on here who had the car shipped to him after he bought it. I even saw a CPO 2011 C300 that was a lease turn it that maybe had 11K on it. I hope you find the right car. Good luck in your search.
 
#5 ·
Hi James,

Thank you again!

Strangely enough, I responded to you earlier (about 3 hours ago) and did see the my response 'posted' but now it is gone. We will be leaving for vacation (first one in 15 years) at the end of the week and the first stop after two hours on the road will be the dealership...:)

Be Well!
 
#6 ·
Glad to be of help. I hope you find a good deal that you are looking for. Prices also depend on the package that you select on the vehicle. My car was nicely equipped and priced at just over 28K. It is a CPO vehicle as I mentioned before and had 26k miles when I purchased it back last summer. There are lots of options available such as audio 20 with becker map pilot, or the full command system with harmon kardon surround. I have the audio 20 and it actually sounds pretty good. The dealer tried to sell me the map pilot for 699.00, but I ended up getting it on ebay for 150 and it works great for what I need it for. The only bad thing about that and the command navigation is there are no hacks that I can find like you used to be able to get for the DVD based systems. The difference is the price to upgrade your maps. Map Pilot runs about 100 a year to update and command nav I believe is still about 250 or so. The attention assist package is nice and it works well when it is actually you setting it off. I have noticed that sometimes it gets set off by shadows or even road construction when you change lanes because the lane change is at an odd angle. I have the multimedia package which is nice as well as it supports your Ipod/Iphone very well with the cables or through your phone via blutooth. I have seen some nice fully loaded cars with parktronic and lane assist as well and all those are good safety features that work well, but it will cost you. There are a lot of good vehicles out there and hopefully you find the one that fits you well.
 
#12 ·
Be aware of grinding noises from the transmission. It may not pop up for another 50,000 miles, but in the 2007-2013 W204 and W211 4matic, the bearings are failing. The ones that carry the transfer case shafts and take the load from the driveshaft are totally coming apart. Mercedes dealer is telling you $12,000 for a new transmission. I only know of one specialty Mercedes shop in the US that is tearing them down and fixing them.

Probably not something to worry about for years, but if you plan on keeping this car for a long time something to think about.
 
#17 ·
If you are worried about the transmission issue, as soon as it's making noise take it to the dealer and trade it in. No need to spend thousands on an extended warranty.

It'll make a sound like a bad wheel bearing. When you increase speed it will get louder.

Again, this is only on 4matics from 2007-2013. Here's what the failure looks like:



 
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