Category: Compact Executive 
Price Range: £19,672 to £52,675
Robust quality, reliability, good secondary safety, comfort.
Value for money, equipment levels, high servicing costs, awkward parking brake.
Good, but a bit stodgy - lacks all-round excellence of 3-Series, liveliness of Alfa 156.
Automatics are best - opt for the manual, and you must deal with a notchy gearchange and worse, a foot-mounted parking brake that makes hill starts a challenge. Rear visibility is restricted too. In other respects, the C-Class is easy to drive. You do not buy a sober Mercedes saloon to get your driving kicks - even the supercharged 230 Kompressor is not as exciting as its name suggests. Instead, the C-Class pleases more subtly, with its comfort and aura of discreet quality.
Not a strong point, if you opt for the 180 or 200, but things perk up with the supercharged 230K, the 240 V6 and the 280 V6. But it will cost you. 250 diesel performs well.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mercedes C-Class
wrote on 14 11 2006