This is the first part of a two part opinion; I've decided to purchase a Mercedes C-240, but the information here so far only reflects my test drive and what I learned while in the showroom. Still, I discovered things that were news to me, and might be useful to anyone else considering a C-240.

I've never owned a foreign car before, not even one of the "foreign domestics", like the VW Rabbits that were built at the (now defunct) plant in Pennsylvania. Part of the reason was I'd had so much trouble with some of the domestic cars I'd owned, that I was unwilling to push my luck with something that wasn't even built here. Frankly, part of the reason was, until recently, just about any foreign car was out of my reach.

The Mercedes C-240 is a compact luxury car; though not as generous with interior room as its larger siblings, it does not short the owner on the luxuries of the Mercedes line. Thus you get real wood on the dashboard, and real leather in the interior. Of course, those are probably things everyone already knows about. What was news to me? How about the things below?

The C-240 has not only a large trunk, but, surprise, a full-sized spare tire! I haven't had that in a car in about 20 years. And speaking of a spare tire, if you have a flat, you are expected to make use of the "call" button in the C-240; don't change the tire yourself, have someone else come and do it! While that may seem like a trivial thing to some, I've never had that kind of service with any car I've owned, nor the assumption that I use it. Stupendous!

A few other bits of information I found surprising follow. Though Mercedes advertises a manual transmission is available for the C-240, as the sales staff put, "good luck finding one". It seems that not only is the automatic transmission standard for this model, but so few are built with the manual transmission that you'll never find one in a dealer's inventory....unless you ordered it. That's fine by me, but I also found that a similar situation exists for the sunroof. With American cars I've always regarded sunroofs as options; with the C-240, almost all of them to come from the factory are standard with a sunroof. Don't want one? (Like me?) Don't expect to find a C-240 on a dealer's lot without a sunroof, you have to special order one without it.

Speaking of ordering, especially without a sunroof, the dealership I visited laid this on me while I was there. Their normal policy is to get a $1,000 deposit on a C-240 when it's ordered....unless you order one without a sunroof. Then it's a $5,000 deposit. And by the way, the $1,000 deposit is refundable, the $5,000 deposit is not. Why? The explanation is that a
C-240 without a sunroof is so difficult to sell that the dealer will take a loss to get rid of it. Add to that a
C-240 without a sunroof will have a lower resale or trade-in value than one with (so they say). Ah well, the price of being different.

If, by the way, you object to the partial leather interior that's standard on the C-240, you can order a full leather interior, for $1,400. That means you'll get full leather seats instead of just leather on the surfaces where your body actually touches, and you'll also get leather to line the door panels inside. Again (you guessed it), few people order it.

I got a few other pieces of useful information while discussing the C-240 with the staff. One thing is while the C-240 "requires" premium unleaded, you can run it on a regular diet of regular unleaded. That doesn't void the warranty; it seems you may only notice a marginal decrease in performance and fuel economy. As for oil changes, the car requires synthetic oil, nothing else will do. That's one reason to have the oil changes done at the dealership, and not at a place like JiffyLube.

Speaking of seats, I have read many reviews where people complain about the firmness of Mercedes seating. Often, I've read that it's like a park bench, or something like that. I can certainly say that while they are firmer than a typical American luxury car, they are not hard or uncomfortable. Maybe some people just react badly to new things.

Driving the C-240 makes it abundantly clear that this car was assembled differently than typical domestic iron. The cabin interior is almost whisper quiet, even at expressway speed, and over rough pavement. The solid feeling to the car is worlds away from an American car its size; my Ford Tempo rattled and vibrated even when it was new, the Mercedes did not. The supreme sense of isolation from the outside world's annoyances even extends to the car's engine; you can barely hear it. The transmission is even quieter, with the radio playing at a barely audible level, I could not hear the transmission shift.

There are many nice touches about the C-240. Ever worry about being pinched by the power windows as they close? Again, that's happened to me on American cars; the
C-240 recognizes when there's an obstruction, and not only stops the window, but backs it off by about 1/2". There's also a power sunscreen for the rear window; when activated, a small mesh screen rises up from the rear deck to block most of the sunlight from getting in the car's rear window, though you can still see through it to drive.

Reserve power in the engine, despite it being just 2.4 liters, seems endless, and even pushing the car produces only a barely audible growl from the powerplant. No matter what the speed or road surface, there's an incredible sense of safety in driving this car. Ever feel intimidated in traffic in a small car? Not anymore.

I also have this final observation for those considering purchasing a C-240. The staff informed me that the markup on the car is 7%; typically, you can get a 5% discount from the sticker price. The 2003 models are supposed to be identical to the 2002s, but with a 2% price increase. Finally, if you're interested in financing, you can get loans up to 8 years. (Argh!)

Now all I have to do is order the car (remember, I don't want a sunroof), since I'll be getting a 2003 model. Besides the deposit, all I have to do is wait 'till September.
Amount Paid (US$): 34,000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: Automatic