[Air_Kerala]

UPDATE on C200

The new seats arrived from Germany, but they have a massive crease across them. The service center claims the seats arrived creased because they were not loaded properly.

[Air_Kerala]

Update on the C200

As with every love story, a happy ending, just feels right. Same is the case this time around, with the lead actors being a C200 and MB Coastal Star, Kochi. The previous few posts had highlighted the problems that had cropped up on MY23 C200, which snowballed into issues that needed substantial effort to sort out.

As of today, the C200 is back in my friends hands in pristine condition who is enjoying every moment driving his dream. MB Coastal Star really stepped in and delivered, especially Mr. Shankar M, Branch Head, Customer services, the only constant in this whole episode, who pulled no stops in getting the issues plaguing my friends car sorted.

The initial problem of a recurring noise from the B pillar was solved by an expert, Mr. Praful, from MB India, who was flown in from the Chakan, Pune plant for this specific issue. He diagnosed the problem promptly, and the noise from the B pillar has been put to rest.

Another person involved from the get go was senior technician Amal, at MB Coastal Star, for his technical inputs in fixing the rear seat.

Owning a luxury car is a dream, a dream which invariably is never handed on a platter to most of us. It takes a lot of hard work to get there. Now once you are there, it just kills you when you have problems and the very people who wooed you for the sale just act deaf to your problems and reduce it to emails back forth between the concerned party.

Mercedes Benz is a brand that has massive recall. Amongst the vast majority, the benchmark for a luxury car is Mercedes Benz, the buck literally stops there. Ownership experience has a lot to do with how your experience with the AD is, buying into the brand sets a certain level of expectation in terms of service and hospitality and how the AD steps in when things go south, and Mercedes Benz India walked the talk. Being part of the brand means you will be listened to.

Mr. Shankar and his team at MB Coastal star more than delivered. They went above and beyond to get the issue resolved, from flying in an expert to diagnose a noise to replacing seats which was a logistical error, they have spared no expenses and effort, they value my friends relationship with them and have earned my respect in the process. I have read horror stories on this forum about AD’s just giving up on the customers and their beloved machines.

Amongst this gloom of horror stories, I see a silver lining and would like to shine the spotlight on a real star, MB Coastal Star, their people and the way they deal with their customers. Thank you MB Coastal star.

[Arnav612]

A full circle later, we brought home a W206 C200 on 17th August 2023.

This is one of the Merc fleet cars registered under the company's name last year, sold by Autohangar Advantage in Prabhadevi. This specific car was used by one of the directors at Chakan for around 9 months, and completed 14,000 odd kms in that span.

While this might sound like a downgrade in segment from our 530d, the tech on offer coupled with the peace of mind of owing a 9 month old car as compared to a 9 year old car, we are mighty impressed by the package. I will post a more detailed review as I spend more time with it, but until then, feast your eyes!

[we_pull]

Hi - question for the owners - does the C200 scrape every now and often on city roads - something like Delhi and Gurgaon?

[Arnav612]

Originally Posted by we_pull

Hi - question for the owners - does the C200 scrape every now and often on city roads - something like Delhi and Gurgaon?

Oh yes. Let alone city roads, the smallest speedbumps in my compound are enough. I wonder if it's the GC or the suspension that makes this happen so often. I had a W205 before this and the new one scrapes atleast 10x times more often.

[shifu]

Originally Posted by Arnav612

Oh yes. Let alone city roads, the smallest speedbumps in my compound are enough. I wonder if it's the GC or the suspension that makes this happen so often. I had a W205 before this and the new one scrapes atleast 10x times more often.

I think it is a notch better after changing suspension to "Sports mode"...makes it a bit stiffer.

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by shifu

I think it is a notch better after changing suspension to "Sports mode"...makes it a bit stiffer.

The normal C class (not amg) sold in India does not have adaptive dampers or suspension. Sports mode does not change the suspension.

Originally Posted by we_pull

Hi - question for the owners - does the C200 scrape every now and often on city roads - something like Delhi and Gurgaon?

It does scrape quite a bit compared to the previous gen W205. The ride quality is much better though.

[Safari Persona]

The Active Brake Assist on this car is a real pain. It's far too sensitive and abrupt for Indian road conditions and has already caused me to get rear-ended by a bike and gave me several other scares. And the problem is that you can't seem to permanently disable it because it gets turned back on everytime you restart the car.

Has anybody figured out a permanent solution for this so we don't have to turn it off everytime we get in the car?

[dr.skt]

I am confused between Mercedes C class and Audi Q3 Sportback with 12 lakhs difference in their pricing.
I currently drive an Audi Q7 and looking to downsize for easier city drive anywhere.

The front interior of C class is definitely more appealing than Q3 Sportback however the ease of actual functionality is better on the Q3 Sportback especially when operating certain features while driving.

I have had previous gen Q3 followed by Evoque followed by Q7, therefore Merc C class is the first sedan I'm even considering to shortlist for my next purchase as I haven't owned any Merc yet.

Any helpful comparisons would be appreciated.

Mercedes C class December offer currently is 63 Lacs OTR + TCS in Delhi NCR (free insurance & 3 lakhs discount on Ex showroom). They give further 1.5 lakh discount for some professions and corporate - neither of which i have to avail.

Q3 Sportback December offer currently is 51.5 - 52 Lacs OTR + TCS (this is 9 lakhs discount from onroad price).

So, the question is - whether to choose C class over Q3 Sportback with price difference of 12-13 lakhs be logical or should i choose Audi for 3rd time now?