Avg. Price Paid:$18,087 - $20,304
Original MSRP: $31,600 - $36,900
MPG: 18 City / 26 Hwy
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2008 Mercedes-Benz C Class Review

Review Last Updated: 8/28/08

These scores and this review are from when the car was new.

Scorecard

Overall: 2008 Mercedes-Benz C Class U.S. News Best Cars 8.8
Critics' Rating: 8.8
Performance: 8.4
Interior: 7.6
Safety: 8.8
Reliability:
How we calculate scores
Research analyzed for this review

Pros & Cons

  • Sport and Luxury trims let buyers choose sporty or soft ride
  • Updated styling
  • Powerful V6 engine
  • Plenty of safety features
  • Mercedes has recently had reliability woes
  • Limited backseat space
  • Still bested by BMW 3-Series' performance

Research Other Years

The redesigned Mercedes Benz C-Class offers superior handling, updated style and good safety features, but it still trails competitors like the BMW 3-Series in performance and overall appeal.

The 2008 Mercedes-Benz C-Class has an updated exterior and interior, a sportier suspension and streamlined trim options. The result is a sedan that reviewers say competes effectively in its class, but might not always come out on top -- especially when compared with the performance stamina of the BMW 3-Series. The 2008 redesign, by all accounts, improves an already competent sedan, prompting Motor Trend to say "this new C should easily hold its own against its formidable sport-sedan competition."

The C Class is available as the 300 or 350 sedan, and each has a luxury or sport trim.

  • "Overall, I've got no complaints. In fact, I think this is an excellent automobile and a credit to its breed. The C-class feels precisely like what you would hope, as if Mercedes had invented a shrinking ray and turned it on an S-class." -- Los Angeles Times
  • "It wasn't always so, but the least expensive Mercedes-Benz now is, in some ways, the most desirable. … It offers the practicality of a sedan combined with the light-on-its-feet agility of a sporty coupe." -- Newsday
  • "But did Benz go far enough? We're not sure, especially with BMW's 335i, the top-tier Audi A4 and Lexus's coming IS-F all poised to ambush the new car." -- Motor Trend
  • "While the Mercedes-Benz C-Class is still not in the same performance league as the BMW 3 Series, the Sport models close the gap a bit, while the Luxury version softens the car up for the benefit of motorists who prefer a comfort-oriented driving experience." -- Forbes
  • "If you're interested in a C because you are looking for a low-cost Mercedes, you won't be disappointed -- the C offers the stately manner and solid feel for which Mercedes is famous." -- About.com
  • The 2008 C Class is "an entry-level sedan to invite people into the luxury segment who Mercedes hopes will stay when they can afford something at $50,000 or more." -- Chicago Tribune

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