Bought my 1998 C180 W202 1.8 petrol auto last month from a non Mercedes dealer..1 owner from new. 67000 miles on the clock with loads of history and every MOT. This car is smooth as the day it was made. great autobox ,great brakes,quiet on the move.I don't need a racehorse I want comfort and reliability and this car has it all. Average mpg is 37 which is great for a car this size.Paintwork is original and no rust even on the wheel arches, a credit to its former owner.Is there anything I dislike about the car? ...yes...getting out of it when I get home.I look forward to many comfortable drives out in this well put together Car..Well done mercedes you did a good job with this one.

Bought this estate from main dealer, demo model at 12 months old 30000 on clock. When the car was 2yrs and 50 weeks old there appeared a "tinkling" noise from gear box on start up. Took it to main agent, result was new gear box ordered from Germany cost of which was £3640 !! Luckily for me I was just inside the three year period by two weeks !!
I have found that a good independent garage is far better than main agents who are simply a waste of space, they DO NOT service cars properly, they give you a huge check list with everything ticked but do not depend on this, you do so at your peril !! After last service by main agent took car to my independant and in my presence checked over everything main agents had "supposedly" done, all were ticked off by the way, you would not credit what had not been done by them. However car is excellent, an estate model,urban mpg is always about 32mpg. Best ever long distance mpg was 53mpg !!That was at a steady 55mph, boring but wanted to see just what it would do. Usual long distance mpg, driven at motorway speeds is always around 46mpg. One thing with automatic Mercs, gearbox fluid to be changeg every two years, regardless of milage, have friends in Germany who as a matter of course expect to get 500,000klm out of their C class PETROL engined vehicles! Mine they tell me, is nicely run in now at 102,000 miles !!

bought my c180 1998 esprit (facelift model) 3 months ago and within a day i knew it was leagues apart from anything id driven before.very smooth ride/flawless auto gear change/powerful brakes/power steering a bit light so not much feedback through the wheels.despite protests of the 1.8 being a bit slow kicking down from 2nd gear (auto) more than makes up for any time lost in 1st and will keep on pulling.once you reach your desired speed it glides along with ease.wind and road noise are none existent this car loves motorways and this is where it feels more at home yes they do have electrical gremlins but as far as im concerned thats a small price to pay for the ultimate driving experience. a five star car.

This car is slow. It handles like it's in a cartoon. I have had to replace many control units and all brakes, but on a car with 116K, you have to expect some outlay. I have also had to strip and grease the wiper mechanism, cause if it fails you are looking at the fat end of £800 to replace. That said........

This is the quietest, most un involved drive I have ever had! Seems to be costing me about £600/ £800 a year in servicing and replacement parts, but I don't think that is excessive for a car of this quality.

The car is whisper quiet, the auto gear change is as smooth as whipped cream and there really is no drama. I frequently have to drive it from South England to Stranraer, taking around 7 hours. When you get there you realise that the drive was no more stressful than a nice hot bath.

If you want a drivers car, buy a BMW or a sporty VW. If however you believe that driving is a filthy, stressful experience and want as uninvolved and as unstressful a drive as possible, this has got to be a main contender. Only criticisms are that the engine is not quick and noisy when high up the revs and the car has the handling charecteristics of a rowing boat. That said, sit in the inside lane, don't race anyone and feel superior about your lot in life.

No matter how hard I hammer this car on the motorway, it still refuses to return less than 28Mpg. If you drive between 55 and 70, you can expect closer to 35Mpg!

I bought my 95 Mercedes c180 (esprit man) for 10,000 with 170,000km on the clock. One year and new clutch and drag link later (replaced original 12 13yrs old!!) and she runs like i had driven her off a showroom floor. Heavy but the engine doesn't have a problem. I recently comprraed it to the BMW equivelent (318i) and found for the same average price the c180 has more power and better steering, not to mention the lower maintanece. A very good draver for all driving standard and styles.

1998 model bought this car in Sept 2001 with 105k on clock. Converted it to dual fuel (lpg). I have had it serviced when it has asked. Has had pads and discs once and a set of tyres oh and the sony dvd started playing up (jumping) so I fitted a new one. I don't think I've spent more than £1000 on maintenance and repairs in 6 and a half years and 55 thousand miles. What a car! By the way it costs about £12 a week for fuel.

Being my third Merc the others being 190's I'm very smitten with my third one.I bought it for £4000 6 months ago with 66000 on the clock and the last owner took good care of it. I have now done around 10000 miles of relatively trouble free motoring so far. I only have to replace the front brakes as one of the calipers had stuck on. But I have had no trouble since. The drive is amazing and it feels like I'm gliding along the roads, even the bumps seem to be soaked up quite well. Being only a 1800 it is not too quick but that doesn't concern me when know that I'm cruising the motorways in one of Stuttgarts finest. Although, being my first auto car, it can be a bit slow on the uptake when trying to over take on a country road. But that aside at the moment I would not trade it in for the world.

This car has been generally driven by my wife and has done only about 10,000 k per annum. It still looks and feels like new inside and drives very nicely. Biggest trip was to Melbourne Cup (2000k) with 2 couples and car crammed full of suitcases and hat boxes and it went like a dream. This is a great touring car with excellent handing and the best brakes of any car I have ever driven. A bit underpowered with the 4 cylinder 1800cc around town but fine if you use the auto gear box in manual to get the revs up a bit. Still looks and feels like a Merc after 9 years, albeit not top of the range.

I received my new look Mercedes Benz C Class 180 Avantgarde SE kitted with Sports Pack earlier this year. After 9 months and 10K miles, a few points to note for potential MB buyers.

Issues that I have experienced include:
1. Broken pasenger seat
2. Air conditioning smelling of wee
3. Steering to the left
4. Maintenance costs greater than anticipated
5. After Care Service - see below.

In order to get 1-3 rectified, I had to phone MB no less than three times.

Traded in my practically bulletproof 150k miles 190E for 86k Mercedes Benz C Class 180. The 190's lines are gorgeous but dated, and the C has a more confident (taller), contemporary presence.

First weekend away the bonnet started to lift on the motorway, due to (apparently not uncommon) release mechanism fault. Trying to drive the catch home, I exerted pressure on the bonnet surface, and now have a tidy dent from the heel of my hand next to the star badge (thanks, Merc.). Double skinned bonnet, so very difficult to repair.
Other problems: horn mechanism under the airbag unscrewed itself somehow, and sounded intermittently - fixed by supercilious dealer at great expense (of course); lights-on alarm buzzer doesn't work, which has caused many flat batteries - dealer says it needs a computer diagnosis - my brain diagnosed that jump leads were much cheaper; wiper motor clutch had to be replaced (190 unit lasted nearly twice the mileage); horn died (the actual noisy bit) - a first for me in 22 years of driving all sorts of cars; the in-car air circulation (exhaust blocker) knocks itself off after about five minutes, which means breathing fumes several times during each morning's commute; and of course the bulbs - most have been replaced, some often, in the year and a bit that I've had the car. Now the right indicator lamp is flickering wildly, indicating a fault somewhere in the offside winker circuit.
Mercedes Benz woke up one day and thought 'I want to be Gucci!'. Well, Gucci looks fab on the catwalk, and uses the best of materials, but the buttons fall off and the stitching goes in no time. Metaphor for Merc - you decide.
By the way, don't try racing anyone away from the lights!