Mercedes GLC ?

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I've been looking at small/medium SUVs for a few months now and am 98% sure I fancy a Mercedes GLC. Nice looks, enough boot space for University trips, it (just about) fits into the garage, the 2.1D engine is supposed to be reliable (in fact out of the 3 german cars the Merc seems to be the most reliable overall)

I would be interested in peoples' comments about them (especially first hand experience)and, in particular, the one advertised below.

Merecedes GLC


Cheers

[cerb4.5lee]

Had a GLC350d AMG line premium plus(V6 3.0d) for 4 years in august from new and covered 82k miles in it now. It has been a great all round family car and it does the comfort and relaxing drive very well for me. I definitely recommend them, but just be aware that they do suffer from a bit of crabbing on full steering lock at slow speeds in car parks etc. It isn't a deal breaker for me but it is worth being aware of.

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Cheers

Do you think is it worth getting the panoramic roof?

[cerb4.5lee]

I do like the panoramic roof to be honest and it is good at lifting the interior a bit against the dark seats. I do quite often have it open as well, it can get pretty warm inside though if you have the blind open(roof shut) with the expanse of glass. When the roof is open it only opens as wide as a traditional sunroof though.

[cerb4.5lee]

Apart from steering wheel the interior on the one that you are looking at is identical to mine, and I find it a really nice place to sit. I've had a few Bmw's, but personally I prefer the Mercedes interiors far more. I don't have any plans to swap mine, which I think speaks volumes about how happy I've been with it.

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Thanks

Liking the side steps on yours but I've not seen many with them that are local to me.

I really want the Pan roof but heard a few things about them in terms of leaks...completely agree that the interior is too dark without it.

[cerb4.5lee]

Countdown said:

I really want the Pan roof but heard a few things about them in terms of leaks...completely agree that the interior is too dark without it.

The Pan roof has been absolutely fine on mine, however like you I have been a little bit nervous with it in some ways because I know that they can be problematic at times. The E53 X5 I had a few years ago had a reputation for a failing Pan roof but in fairness it was fine while I had it.

[Nick_MSM]

We had a 17 plate 250 from new for 3 years, and about 60k miles. No issues at all apart from a minor oil leak. The crabbing issue I did find annoying, Merc replaced the tyres which helped a bit but it was still there. Decent load space, comfortable, and a fairly comfortable ride on the AMG wheels. Could do a lot worse IMO.

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You both mention a crabbing issue. What exactly is this?

[cerb4.5lee]

Countdown said:

You both mention a crabbing issue. What exactly is this?

The front wheels skip(slide) very slightly on full lock at really slow speeds. Only the right hand drive models suffer from it I believe. It has dug my gravel drive up a bit where I turn right(on full lock) to get off it.

You also have to be aware of it in car parks on full lock(especially if it is wet).

[Nick_MSM]

Countdown said:

You both mention a crabbing issue. What exactly is this?

See post above, ours was particularly bad in cold weather. It did improve a lot with new tyres (bigger sidewall) but was still a bit irritating at times. Only gripe really.

[juice]

There's a steering knuckle fix for the crabbing. I had mine done under warranty and it completely eradicated it. (GLC350d PP)
It was worth doing as the outer shoulder on the tyres were wrecked, previous to having it done.

https://www.glcforums.com/threads/steering-knuckle...

[cerb4.5lee]

juice said:

There's a steering knuckle fix for the crabbing. I had mine done under warranty and it completely eradicated it. (GLC350d PP)
It was worth doing as the outer shoulder on the tyres were wrecked, previous to having it done.

https://www.glcforums.com/threads/steering-knuckle...

I've been lucky with tyre wear to be fair and I got 50k miles out of the fronts and 70k miles out of the rears on the first set on the car from new(vredestein quatrac 5 all season tyres). Mercedes changed the lower control arms on mine and that seemed to help a little bit with the crabbing. My current front tyres have done 32k miles but the front left tyre is wearing quicker on the outside edge though.

[sam greenock]

We ( well my wife ) had a late 2018 GLC 250 AMG Line Premium on a 2 year lease, she liked it.

My opinion was I thought it was pretty mediocre verging on very disappointing

- Dashboard felt as if someone had just threw a bag of buttons and switches at it
- Couldn't get a decent driving position
- Slowest moving electric seats I've ever encountered
- Nothing that even came close to BMW style iDrive, or even anything intuitive
- servicing costs were high - no condition based servicing
- Didn't like the faux-leather seats - reminded me of my dad's cars back in the sixties with their sweaty erse causing heat retention

On the positive side it was reasonably well kitted out, apart from no apple car play
No warranty issues or problems, apart from a software update which according to dealer took over 4 hours to download and install

Would we have one again - most likely not - X3 and Q5 are far superior

[cerb4.5lee]

sam greenock said:

We ( well my wife ) had a late 2018 GLC 250 AMG Line Premium on a 2 year lease, she liked it.

My opinion was I thought it was pretty mediocre verging on very disappointing

- Nothing that even came close to BMW style iDrive, or even anything intuitive
- servicing costs were high - no condition based servicing
- Didn't like the faux-leather seats - reminded me of my dad's cars back in the sixties with their sweaty erse causing heat retention

Also agree with you on those 3 points.

I'm a bit of a BMW fanboy(I've had 8 of them) but I much prefer the Mercedes interior overall and they do some nice touches I reckon. The GLC has an electric steering wheel that moves on the electric seat button, whereas the M4 I have doesn't(it has a manual steering column). Plus I like how the heated seats in the Mercedes start on the third setting and move to the second and last setting automatically. The heated seats in the M4 burn your backside off because they stay on the third setting!

[Countdown]

Thanks for the comments folks.

I've gone with the GLC mainly for perceived reliability. A freind of mine runs a garage and he considers them more reliable than either the Q5 and the X3. I also wasn't a big fan of the previous Generation X3's looks (although the current version looks nicer)

Still undecided (part of me would be happy with a RAV4 ) but the GLC is current favourite.

[fflump]

I would seriously consider the extra power, torque and smoothness of a 6-pot 350d version.
Far more in keeping with a premium SUV IMO.

[Sheepshanks]

Countdown said:

(part of me would be happy with a RAV4 )

I was tempted to make a comment on the posts that seemed to suggest the only possible options are Audi, BMW or Mercedes.

I've got an older C Class and wife has VW Tiguan, 4Motion DSG. Apart from the sat-nav being annoying, and that may be just that I don't use it much, I really couldn't fault Tiguan. We're not a VW fan family either - it's the first one we've had.

If you wanted bigger and wanted to spend a bit more and get a V6, owners rave about Touareg, although they seem to get iffy as they get older.

[fflump]

Sheepshanks said:

Countdown said:

(part of me would be happy with a RAV4 )

I was tempted to make a comment on the posts that seemed to suggest the only possible options are Audi, BMW or Mercedes.

I've got an older C Class and wife has VW Tiguan, 4Motion DSG. Apart from the sat-nav being annoying, and that may be just that I don't use it much, I really couldn't fault Tiguan. We're not a VW fan family either - it's the first one we've had.

If you wanted bigger and wanted to spend a bit more and get a V6, owners rave about Touareg, although they seem to get iffy as they get older.

Personally I'd get a Stelvio rather than anything German.

[Mo28]

If you can stretch the budget a little then you can also get yourself into a Porsche Macan