I purchased a Mercedes Benz C Class C180 - 1998 (2000) (W202 body) in mid 2003 with 46000km (33000 miles) on the clock. Having previously had a Volvo 740, I wanted a solidly built 4 cylinder with rear wheel drive layout. The C180 handles much better than the 740. Acceleration off the mark is not brilliant, but once going the C180 cruises beautifully on the open road.
Fuel consumption around the city is not as good as I had expected from an 1800cc engine (compared to the Volvo 2300cc), however when run on 98 octane unleaded petrol major improvements were made. I can easily get 9 litres / 100 km (About 30mpg) using cruise control at steady highway speeds.
The body assembly is tight with well fitting panels - there is an air of solidity similar to the big bodied Volvos. Interior trim is excellent, and has not degraded in the hot Australian sun (Unlike many European manufactured cars, Volvo included)
The active service monitor is good, giving about 15000km (about 9000km) between services. Service costs are expensive, however since only one service should usually be required a year this is not too bad.
The 5 speed automatic is incredibly smooth, with sequential changes almost imperceptable in regular city driving.
Just hope that the W203 model that superceded this car is as good when time comes to change vehicles next!

I bought my 1998 C180 (the uplift model with four air bags) privately in 2001. it had 19000 miles on the clock and was in pristine condition. Unfortunately, it came with only one ignition key, so be warned, these cost about £70 and have to be ordered from Germany.

The car looks the part in spite of its compact nature. Certainly it seems to have more Mercedes presence than its replacement model with its BMWesque pretensions. However, despite the marque's reputation for solid engineering the car has not been without its serious problems.

At 29,000 miles as I set off from work I encountered a stomach churning crunching noise under the seat. It sound like a dozen bricks were being churned in an oil tin. The car would not go (not that you would want it to making a noise like that) and I had to call out Mercedes excellent "mobilo" service to get me home and lend me a replacement car while it went in for inspection. It turned out that the car's prop shaft had failed and it needed a replacement. As the car had been bought privately and was two months past its three year warranty that would be £600 thank you very much. Appeals to Mercedes that this was not what one would expect of a quality car which had a full Mercedes service history, and that they should at least contribute something towards the cost of repair fell on deaf ears.

The repairs done, we settled down to a period of satisfied ownership. The car is not fast but this is not an issue for me. It is refined, very quiet and extremely comfortable. It does have a few gizmos, such as air conditioning (absolute requirement when the car is black as in this case) and electric windows etc but has no more gadgets than drivers have come to expect from quite modest family cars such as Vauxhall's Astra.

Another minor problem arose shortly before the car's MOT test was due. Both headlights failed within 50 miles of each other. I bought the replacement lamps at a car factor shop and set about replacing them, done it lots of times without any problems. For some reason though, Mercedes have elected to use a system which is extremely fiddly. I managed without problem on the near side head lamp but the off side was made difficult by the air filter housing. I was doing this outside the shop where I had bought the lamps and the small spring clip, well, sprang away and could not be found. I went to Mercedes and explained and asked for a replacement spring clip. "Sorry sir, there is no part no listed, you will have to buy a new headlamp fitting, that will be £150 please". £150 for a glorified paper clip!

I eventually took the problem to a local garage who made a clip and fitted the lamp for a minimal charge.

The car has now completed 57,000 miles and there is a strange rumbling sound coming from the gearbox on starting up from cold ..time to get rid methinks.

On first entering the Mercedes Benz C Class C180 , which Ive purchased, I was surprised that there was no column adjustment, that aside, power is smooth if not a little sluggish and braking is progressive and safe. The ride has a feeling of real presence on the road and gives a feeling of mile guzzling, my wife did not want to leave it the other evening and took the long way home. The power band appears to be around 4000 revs and when you select the w mode on the autobox it really is reluctant to let the top gear go. Cruise control on my elegance model is useful if not a little disturbing on country hilly roads and the rear headrest down switch seems a little pointless.
All-in-all this is a mercedes and deserves the badge the build quality and finishes are good and I would regard it as a desirable car if like me the ubiquitous BMW's is not a life style for you.

well i think that the Mercedes Benz C class c180 is square and boxy-just like a volvo.

Very comfortable and feels very safe.

Better looking than the new Mercedes C Class models.

The C180 feels a touch underpowered. I would recommend the C200 or C240 if you are thinking of buying one. Get Automatic on this car as Manual is not a Benz strong point.