The contact owns a 2002 Mercedes Benz C240. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift out of first gear and was leaking transmission fluid. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the transmission was leaking fluid in six different places and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.

- Salem, OR, USA

This is a C230 kompressor coupe. The rear differential made a loud noise and then locked up after being driven slowly to a shop. It was later learned that this is a very common occurrence with the early 2002 C class cars but as usual, there is no recall. I contacted mbusa and they offered no assistance. This car has also recently shown evidence of rusting. I contacted mbusa about that and learned that the mb corrosion protection in the U.S. is merely four years. I also found that most of the other german luxury automakers have used galvinized steel for decades, unlike the manufacturing practices of mb. Overall, between built-in mechanical failures and the rust, and the fact that mbusa does not stand behind their vehicles, I will certainly steer clear of Mercedes in the future.

- Mentor, OH, USA

While driving my C-240 between 30 & 60 mph I can feel a vibration on the shift lever & the steering wheel & if put my hand on top of the instrument panel. You can sense the vibration around you. It seems to come from the power train, via drive shaft, trans. Or differential, the dealer replaced & balanced all four tires, and it I thuoght it was corrected but the problem still persits sometimes it is more noticible than others, I took the car back to the dealer to have it checked out but on a test drive the service man said he can't feel anything wrong & that it might be me....

- Bayside, NY, USA