Rental Review: 2017 Mercedes-Benz C300

It’s a truism, but it’s true nonetheless: Every brand has a core product, and this is doubly true for automakers. The core product for BMW is the 3/4/whatever-Series of once-compact cars. If you buy a 3 Series BMW, it requires no explanation. Audi’s core product is currently in the process of Schrodinger-vibrating between A3 and A4; those are the cars that make the most sense in Ingolstadt’s lineup.

The core product at Mercedes-Benz, at least for those of us who don’t own G-wagens, is the S-Class sedan (in America) and the E-Class sedan (in Europe). They are the descendants of the almighty Seventies-era 240D and 450SEL that built the Benz brand around the globe. The values associated with that brand don’t translate very well to smaller cars. The 190E did a pretty good job in my opinion, but both it and its successors have long been the victims of color-magazine after-the-fact snark the minute the next model showed up.

The 2017 C300 that I rented in Las Vegas for a quick trip to Ventura, CA and back is, theoretically, the modern equivalent of the 190E 2.3, right down to the miserly specification and the characterless inline-four moaning under the hood. After several hundred miles behind its Benz-generic wheel, however, I’m thinking that Mercedes-Benz has finally succeeded in connecting its smallest Systeme Panhard sedan to a greater and more resonant tradition.

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Ask Bark: Two Doors Good, Four Doors Better

The commenter known as Economist writes:

Dear Bark,

I, like you, am a committed family man with two small children. Both of them are in car seats. I currently drive a 2007 Acura TL, but I miss the small cars of my youth.

I dream of getting a Miata like I used to have years ago, but I don’t know if I will get enough utility from it to make it worth the expense. I was also considering an S2000 or an older Corvette.

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  • Yuda Very dystopian. Not good.
  • EBFlex Yes. They don’t work.
  • THX1136 I remember watching the 'Wonderful World of Disney' back when I was kid. One program imagined the future. In that future one could get in their car, tell it the chosen destination and the car would take you there without any further intervention. As a pre-teen I thought that sounded pretty cool. Now I'd be more on the side of wanting to drive when I want and letting the car do the driving when I don't. Not scared of autonomous vehicles, not ready to completely abandon driving myself either.
  • Dave M. Always thought these were a great design, timeless in fact. But as a former Volvo owner who was bled to death by constant repairs starting around 40k miles, run far far away
  • MrIcky no