Category: Compact Executive 
Price Range: No data available
Good to drive, plenty of luggage space, high levels of crash safety.
Patchy cabin quality, staid looks, pricey.
Best small premium estate on the market.
Mercedes insists the C-Class will top the compact executive class in this arena.
The brand has introduced a system of virtual engineering to its development process and has tested real cars in the harshest conditions for more than 15 million miles. The firm claims it is working even closer with its suppliers and has shifted production from South Africa back to Germany in a bid to keep a close eye on quality.
Despite all this hard work, we've heard some owners are already suffering the odd electrical problem.
However, a simple once-over tells you that this is vast improvement on the old model, with more expensive plastics fitted in almost every area of the cabin. There were a few flaws: we weren't impressed by the black plastic that surrounds the stereo, nor the horrible flip-up panel that hides the sat nav or trip computer.
