My 300CE took 2 lenghty naps at a dealer last summer.

The first loaner I had for about a week was a blue 2011 C350 Sport. Pretty nice car. Felt cramped compared to the 124 but had plenty of zip and new fangled gagetry.
The second loaner was an '11 E350. Big step up in amenities, back up cam, etc.. Bigger cabin. Nicer car all around, but I didn't care much for the new styling profile I had that one for about two weeks. I thought long and hard about buying an off lease '08, when the '12s came out, but in the end I leased a '12 CTS. (and I used to think my gf's grey Accord was "everycar".)

..and my 124 and CTS both get me there at the same time.... and, fortunately for me, they both turn heads.

Having owned a few...
The w202 especially the sixes are brilliant cars.
The w203 from 2001 until the facelift isn't a very spectacular car. Lots of hard cheap plastic and the interior isn't exactly up to Mercedes build quality in my opinion.
The w203 from '06 until the end is a BRILLIANT car! I may be a bit biased because my c280 Otto saved my life though. The sot facelift cars have smashing modern engines backed by the solid five speed auto. The facelift took care of the quality issues and the interior became a much nicer place to be.

My most recent experience owning a C class has been a very pleasant '10 C300 which my mum bought new and ran up to 30k miles. It was a good performer (same 3.0 6 as my 280) and the 4matic (lifesaving component on Otto the 203) was a very nice feature. Despite all this the interior felt smaller, but I'm rather tall. Her car was from the South Africa plant, and I was curious how it would hols up as all my other mercs are German manufacture. I personally believe that the bottom of the market Benzes are falling prey to Planned Obsolescence. Mercedes from the 1980's and back were cars built to last many human generations with proper care. I do not find this to be the case with the modern incarnations in the lower price bracket of Mercede's product range.

Point in case, search for news on the new C class and you'll find that MB plans to build US models in it's Alabama plant with Nissan engines from a Tennessee plant. Mercedes prevailed into the 80s as leader of the pack because it was a Swabian (local German) company doing business on a global scale. Now, it seems in order to stay alive Mercedes is diversifying to provide cars for lower income individuals who are desperate for the perceived Mercedes style and their heritage of quality. This is why the C class exists, to fill a profitable market demand so that Mercedes may continue to build it's more uncompromising models, such as the E, S, and SL models.

Long story short, with Mercedes being what it is today if you want one of their real cars you have to pay E class money and up.

Since the OP was talking about the tarted up C63 I offer the following; if you're laying out eighty thousand dollars why not think about the '12 E550 cabriolet? With the new twin turbo engine it's bloody fast (4.9 0/62kph 13.3 quarter mile!) When mum went to replace her C class Heidi with something infinitely nicer she went with an E550 cabriolet and it's one of the nicest cars we've ever had! With the E compared to the C63 you get essentially the same performance, a couple **** hairs on the zero to sixty. And if you're buying it for the track there's always going to be someone faster than you, so why not enjoy the ninety six million miles of headroom offered by the cabrio, instead of the marginally better performance of the cheap class?

2014 W205 will be built in Vance, AL.

I wonder what Deutschland über alles would sound like when played by banjos? I'm a firm believer that the only Benz trucks are built in Austria, think Alabama Garbage Can.

If the banjo is echoing a guitar, don't stick around too long.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Why would you say that? I have a Banjo.

__________________
For the Saved, this world is the worst it will ever get.
For the unSaved, this world is the best it will ever get.

Clk's Ebay Stuff BUY SOMETHING NOW!!!

Is that you Cracker McCoy????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPJbYJrTVE&feature=watch_response

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'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

I loved my W202 C43 AMG.



Small car, big engine. Well balanced, fun to drive, and got decent MPGs.

__________________
-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

'Remember the first set of Hyundai (s) imported from S.Korea?
('Made the Venerable Trabat [Up until that time,the World's Worst car]
look good.)

ANYTHING ASSEMBLED in Vance has all it's possible Q.C.frailties compounded
by the lack of Deutchlander expertise.

Key question: Does DB allow ENGINES and Transmissions to be "Made" in
ALABAMA? (Answer is NO.'Cause of the Lack of Reliability.)

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

Oh nostalgia . . .

I suppose that C-Class built in South Africa isn't up to "German standards?" Apparently, there is no problem with the SA built W204.

As for engines . . . Mercedes and Renault-Nissan will be building a new four cylinder gasoline engine for the W205 in TN.

Reliability is international.

The SA plant actually builds very nice cars. Whether or not they will hold up against decades of use and remain serviceable remains to be seen.

I think the Alabama plant is a bit like the E class plant in China that builds E's in China for the Chinese market ONLY. The 2014 C, nailed together by Americans is going to be sold ONLY in the states. Frankly the fact they are building Nissan engines in Tennessee for a Mercedes Benz is a bit disgusting.

For instance; a common game we play is Merc Spotting. First one to point at and verbally say "Mercedes" gets one point. Alabama garbage cans are -1 point, and special MB's (anything sixties or older, or any modern rare stuff) are worth 2 points.

Personal opinions are just that. But when you can back up your senseless blather with something known as FACTS, get back to me. Strange that every single issue I had with the 3 ML's I owned had nothing to do with being built in Alabama but rather the shiatty drive train issues, electrical parts and technology supplied and built in Germany. But, put all these cross platform issues in a shell welded together and painted by robots in Alabama, it becomes a trash can. Forgive me for making the observation that I KNOW you're talking out of your hind end with your prejudiced thinking. Fact train starts now. Go!

Even though replys # 22 and 23 have made my case.

"Your Honor,is it not True that any excrement DB allows to be "Assembled" overseas
AND not be Imported back into the Fatherland (and the E.U.) is failing the "German Standards"
[In Quality Control] requirement?"

[I.E. "If we (Mercedes) can get away with Labeling "Cat Poo" on wheels "Mercedes" AND the Locals don't "Call Us" on it...
WE WILL !!!" (Reference: S.A.,P.R.C.,Alabama) BUT WE sure as Hell ain't gonna Buy or Operate that Junk!]

Wait, Excuse Me! Internal Combustion engines produced in Tuscaloosa by Renault/Nissan under contract to DB?
AND "They" (Mercedes) expect to sell these Chassis ONLY in North America?
(This leaves the realm of Humor and approaches the same sort of Insult that Adolph perpetrated on the French
,forcing them to sign papers of Surrender in the same Railway Car the Germans had to "Sign In" [Capitulate]at the end of WW1.)

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

More incredible is the fact that there are actually people out there who would pay for such a thing.

Regarding the quality of foreign (non German) produced Benz's. I can comment on the ones produced in the South African plant up till I left the country in 2000, As the first three cars in my sig were South African. Of course there is no such thing as a Mercedes, or any other kind of car for that matter "made in South Africa" at least at that time. They were all SKD, ie semi knocked down cars where the components almost all of which were made in Germany were shipped to SA where they were assembled in the factory. The quality control was for the most part up to the German standard until apartheid induced labor relations issues and the infestation of the plant with ANC allied communist trade unions started causing trouble including actual acts of sabotage.

I well recall seeing a brand new 560SE in the dealer in Durban with a foot long cut from what appeared to be a razor blade in the rear seat leather.

All three of the SA assembled Mercedes I had, the 108 280S, the 116 280S and the 123 200 were essentially indistinguishable in any way from the German assembled 123 240D I owned here in Phoenix. In fact I distinctly recall that the 108's tire pressure info on the trunk sticker was still in German as were many other stickers in the car.

As to the OP's question. I really cannot comment, as I've never ridden in a newer Mercedes than a 140 S500, But I would have doubted that Mercedes would make a conscious distinction between it's model ranges in terms of quality. That is until I heard of them using Nissan or Renault engines or what have you in the new C, at which point I cannot see any reason to a, pretend the car is a Mercedes any longer or b, pay the obscene price for it.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Harumph harumph! Nissan? Das GAHBAGE!

DeltaWing First Track Test - R&T Exclusive Video - YouTube
Nissan DeltaWing launch - 13th March 2012 - Innovation that Excites - YouTube
When Worlds Collide: Nissan GT-R Vs Bentley Continental Supe - YouTube

__________________
TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth