Oppo Reviews(quick spin): 2013 Mercedes C300 4Matic Sport

"Tom McParland" (tommcparland)
12/09/2013 at 09:12 • Filed to: Oppo Reviews, Mercedes, Benz, C300, Articles, Automatch, AutomatchConsutling

As a car buying consultant I help folks get deals on all kinds of cars. But for some reason the car that I broker the most is the Mercedes C300 4matic; I've done 4 of these in the past several months. Naturally, I was curious as to what makes these sport-sedans so desirable. This weekend I got a chance to take one out. One of my clients that landed a C300 happened to be my wife's cousin. She came by for a dinner party and brought her new ride.

(Full disclosure- Mercedes really could care less if I drove the 2013 C300, but I needed a ride to pick up my car and my wife's cousin offered to let me take her Benz for a spin.)

I maybe drove this car for a total of 15 minutes, it was also dark out so no pics (I will rely on other sources for that)

This is what I learned.

Exterior 7/10

Of the BMW, Audi, and the Benz I think the Mercedes has the nicer styling, especially in Sport trim. It's a sharp looking car. In luxury trim, it looks like a shrunken, dated, S-class. One dealer told me, "Only people over 60 buy the Luxury trim C-class.)

Interior- 6/10

Buttons everywhere, but nicely placed and that flat-bottom steering wheel is a joy to hold (to turn is another story more on that later)

Acceleration- 6/10

Despite the fact it says C300 on the back, this car does not have a 3.0L V-6 for 2012 (I think) the motor was upgraded to the 3.5. It makes 248 hp and tq. This engine is very smooth and pulls nicely. I would be really curious to see how it feels in the C350.

Braking- 6/10

Stops were confident not jarring. The front drilled rotors do a solid job of slowing this thing down.

Ride- 7/10

A nice balance between comfortable and sporty, leaning slightly more towards comfort. I also really like the ride-height of this car. You sit low, it feels good.

Handling- 6/10

It cornered nice and flat. I didn't push it too hard but I am confident you could blast through some exit ramps with ease. Now the steering feel I felt was overweight and had little feedback. After hopping in my Mazda3 immediately after, I am reminded how great of a job Mazda did with my car in terms of "feel."

Gearbox- 6/10

The auto-box shifts smooth, it's nothing special but you don't notice it either so I guess that is a good thing. There were no flappy paddles.

Audio- 5/10

This car was optioned with the Harmon/Kardon system, all I can say is it sounds better than the radio in my Mazda

Toys- 6/10

Holy mother of Nav screen! Yeah there are some other tech goodies as well, like back-up cam and satellite radio.

Overall- 55/100

So perhaps these scores are a little skewed because of the short drive, but from my limited wheel time, I can tell why these things are so popular. It is a really well put together German sport-sedan. If I could have three pedals I probably would enjoy this as a daily-driver. I should also mention the other reason they sell so well...zeDiscounts. After I landed this deal, my client told her friend who hired me to get him a lease on a BMW, but he had a limited budget. Now the cheapest lease I could land on $42k 320xi was about 420/mo. I got him a $46k, C300 4matic for 335/mo (same down payment, same terms). As "superior" as the BMW may be for most of us, for everyone else it is hard to argue with those numbers.

DISCUSSION (27)

Brian Silvestro > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 09:28

Almost on point with my score haha.

Tom McParland > Brian Silvestro
12/09/2013 at 09:30

At the end of the day it is a really nice car...not an awesome car. One of these was sold to a client that was going to get a loaded V6 Camry. I said for the same price I could get him a CPO C300. Given the choice between the two, I'd much rather have the Benz.

Brian Silvestro > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 09:35

I completely agree. It really is the Camry for people with enough money. I'd say the LEDs are the coolest part of the car in my opinion. Everything else is just....ok.

Victorious Secret > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 09:49

Kinja'd!!!

Halogen reflectors.

In 2013.

On a Benz.

I give up, this is ridiculous.

Tom McParland > Victorious Secret
12/09/2013 at 09:49

This was just a photo I grabbed, the car I reviewed had the HIDs

Victorious Secret > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 09:52

Crisis averted.

Rico > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 10:49

I've driven a 2012 C300 and found it to be pretty adequate in terms of styling and drive. However I felt the interior was overly plasticky, not sure if they fixed this on the 2013 model. Also in regards to the lease, yeah a $100 a month less difference over a 3 year (I'm assuming) lease is major.

How have previous C300 leases worked out for your clients?

Tom McParland > Rico
12/09/2013 at 10:53

Yeah I figured a score of 55 would be described as "adequate." In terms of your question I'm not sure I follow...

I currently have clients in C300 leases they are all happy.

Rico > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 10:56

Well the previous part of my comment meant the lease payments compared to the comparable BMW ($335 vs $420) and was wondering how your clients who were currently leasing a C300 were happy with the vehicle or if any of them regretted the decision/wanted a different car.

Tom McParland > Rico
12/09/2013 at 10:57

Gotcha...so far so good. Keep in mind most of my clients are not enthusiasts and just want a good deal on a nice car. Two of which were previous Benz owners so they like the brand.

Rico > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 11:05

Nice! I've got a soft spot in my heart for the C300 it was the first Benz I've ever driven, and while I didn't get to hoon it, I accidentally drifted when it was snowing out and was scared shitless the entire time it happened.

Tom McParland > Rico
12/09/2013 at 11:06

Well if you are in the NJ/PA area and want a good deal you know where to find me. :)

Rico > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 11:21

I'm in NYC, close enough! I've also visited your website before, I'm currently saving up for my first car looking to purchase maybe this Summer/Fall so let's see how things go.

The debate I have with myself is how much am I willing to spend (outright or lease) since I ride the subway M-F for work the car would only be for convenience/pleasure on weeknights/weekends. I'll be sure to keep AutomatchConsulting in mind as things progress.

Tom McParland > Rico
12/09/2013 at 11:25

If your miles are low, a lease would work well because you would have low monthly payments (relatively to buying a new one) and positive equity in the car at the end. For example lets say you lease a 44k Benz for 36 months at 12k miles a year. The projected residual value/buyout might be about 30k. But if you only put 5-8k a year your actual residual value might be closer to 36k. Now you can actually "trade" that car in and use the residual balance as a down-payment towards another car. Especially if you stick with the same brand, Mercedes is super aggressive with offering lease turnovers to their own people.

Rico > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 11:53

I definitely have to do more research on the ins and outs of leasing. Theoretically I should be able to stay under 10k mi annually rather easily (I don't take many trips out of state) but if I stayed around 5k-8k annually I'd be able to "trade" the car back in at around $36k and roll that into another lease, what exactly would that do? Lower the monthly payment?

One of my plans was that if I were going to buy a used car, it'd be CPO and I'd secure the financing for 60 months from my credit union, pay the car off in 3 years and sell it off and move onto my next car.

Leasing always intrigues me but my parent's are not fond of the idea and always try to dissuade me and a lot of the information on it is confusing. Also I'm under 25 so insurance especially NYC insurance rates are going to kick my ass, more so if I have to include GAP for the leased car.

Tom McParland > Rico
12/09/2013 at 12:10

When you get closer we will talk more. In the meantime this might help .

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Tom McParland > Rico
12/09/2013 at 12:12

In terms of your equity how it would work is every lease requires some type of down-payment, say anywhere from 1800 to 4000 grand. Your equity balance would eliminate that downpayment and/or reduce your monthly.

Rico > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 12:31

Ah gotcha, that makes sense. I recently spoke with a guy who is leasing a 2014 Mazda 6, he loves it and says "I'll lease forever, no reason to ever buy a car with a deal like mine, the dealership eats all the depreciation". When I hear stuff like that I say eh what's the point of being on the hook for $30k for the next 5 years.

Tom McParland > Rico
12/09/2013 at 12:49

I thought I linked this in another response but it must have gotten Kinja'd. Anyway that piece might help clear some things up on leasing.

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Rico > Tom McParland
12/09/2013 at 14:50

Great post, really cleared up a lot of questions. I read through the comments section as well which kind of led me to think of more questions such as

If the car you own goes way down in value should you trade it in before the end of your lease? and What affects the cars market value, is it unreliable components like known faulty fuel pumps, coolant lines, water pumps etc. or is it that everyone hates the car?

Tom McParland > Rico
12/10/2013 at 19:47

Good questions.

When you lease you have a projected value, how they do that is some type of weird math combined with witchcraft, I honestly could not tell you other than reliability, and perceived quality are large factors. If the residual value of your car dramatically drops before the end of your lease but you are still under miles, don't worry because the pay-out is the pay-out. You just turn it in and walk away. Now if you are over miles that is another story...you either have to pay the mileage penalty or buy the car out. Turning it in early only works within a few months if the manufacturer is offering it, if not you will have to make up the balance of the lease payments. Now some dealers especially if you are getting the same brand will absorb those last few payments to get you in a car sooner. But really what they are doing is reducing the sale price of the car you are getting by whatever is left on your lease.

TheRidge > Tom McParland
12/11/2013 at 19:24

Every time I have driven one of these C-classes I am really underwhelmed(Drove a C63 once and that was a different beast). I kept thinking to myself, why would I ever want this over a 3 series or even an A4. To me a lot of the switch gear felt cheap, the "MB Tech" felt cheap, the seat padding felt off/cheap, power felt maybe adequate but economy was marginal, and the infotainment was annoying. I sold a few of them (used). The buyers were new to the luxury auto market and I think they were essentially buying the brand prestige.

Tom McParland > TheRidge
12/11/2013 at 19:25

So a 55 score is about right no?

TheRidge > Tom McParland
12/11/2013 at 22:25

I'm tracking closer to a 50 flat.

His Stigness > Tom McParland
12/16/2013 at 22:21

I went for a quicker jaunt than you did in a C250 Sport and drove it much harder than you probably did (read: flat out as long as I could) and the things that stood out for me were the following:

The steering sucked! The steering wheel was nice, along with the rest of the interior, I really enjoyed it. But that steering just sucked, but this to be expected from a luxury car.

The engine sounded great. With the windows down I could actually hear the turbo going and the waste gate, and the induction noise in the cabin was excellent for a four cylinder luxury engine, much better than some other manufacturers...

The gearbox was a typical Mercedes box in that is was excellent, but slow to respond. As I own a Mercedes this is less a critique as an observation.

And last but not least: Holy shit the tire noise! There was more tire noise coming from the Continentals than on my Golf, or even my own Mercedes with Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Did you observe excessive amounts of tire noise?

Tom McParland > His Stigness
12/17/2013 at 07:53

Yeah I agree on the steering, nice to hold, crap to turn. So you think a 55 score is about right then?

His Stigness > Tom McParland
12/19/2013 at 04:26

I don't know how I feel about the 55 score. I've always found Jalopniks "scoring" to be rather dumb and really arbitrary. There's nothing scientific about it, and the German side of me does not like that. I think if we're going to use a scoring system with numbers it should be scored with the other cars of it's class in mind. If we do it that way the numbers will go up and then be a better representation of the car.

For example let's just take the interior. Scoring it 6 out of 10 makes it seem like it's kind of crap, but you and I both know compared to other cars it's not, like say even my Golf. I like the interior of the C Class much better than my Golf, but do I like it better than the interior of a 3 Series? That's a tough one, I'd say yes, but not by much, maybe 1 point. If I were to score all three Germans I would put the Audi at 9, the Mercedes at 8, and the BMW at 7. So now none of them are crap, but we have defined parameters of what's a good score and what's not.

But personally I like my own rating system better, which goes in the following order (going from worst to best): "what a piece of crap" "didn't really like it" "it was okay" "that's pretty nice" and the best score is: "that's frikin awesome!"

What do you think of that?

Oh and for reference I hated the steering so much in the C250 it gets it's category of "complete shit," because I hated it that much.