E 220 CDI / BlueTEC

Disappointing

Having driven lots of estates I took the left-field option of the Class Mercedes - at 59K miles it was a good price and with the mighty Mercedes reputation I thought all would be great. However, first the

Pro's

Big, spacious and good fuel consumption

Handles very well and with lots of motorway driving - very easy and stress free

Cons

The sticking on the drivers leather seat had partially come away - I knew this when I bought it and thought it would be repaired by the dealer - trouble is I live in the South West - dealer was in North West

The gear box is awful and spongy and can take real effort to engage

The rear boot is electronically operated - on the rare occasion its left open there are no audible signs that it is still open

Why Mercedes have partial electric seating is beyond me - so using a pull to move the seat forward - I very quickly realised the seat was actually broken and was given a quote by the Mercedes dealer of £1K to fix - it must have been broken when I bought it - at 59K thats reprehensible. The lever to control the forward/backward motion is almost on the floor - very poor quality.

The front lights at floor level use clips to secure them in place - they very quickly break off and fairly quickly they start to just out from the body of the car - very poor deign.

The manual version of the car still has that awful fourth parking break - on day 1 of use I was caught in a 7.5 hour traffic jam - it was a nightmare to control in dense traffic!

After 100K miles I needed a new flywheel and clutch - I managed to knock the Mercedes dealer down to £1.4 K - again for the mileage it was not a good sign.

Conclusion

The car is ok esp. on long motorway drives and the cabin is OK but overall the car is a massive disappointment - I guess would I buy another one and the answer is a resounding No - for the price and level of refinement it's just too basic - not sure what the automatic versions are like, but I would stay away from the manual models period - too stressful. In-fact if I'm completely honest, I simply can't wait to rid myself of this awful car.

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