C350e owners club

[C350ezoom]

The car has always had OAT on the mileage page, but the contrast of the OAT area is poor and it's not the page that a driver would have displayed as default. I'd expected that any modern car would warn me if the temperature got into the freezing range; very surprised and disappointed that MB don't bother to do that.

Are there any independents around the W.Midlands or Welsh borders with the STAR software and ability to run it in "developer mode"?

 

[Dodgy]

I don't know anything about STAR - what (apart from the obvious) is the "developer mode" that's mentioned?

STAR is a diagnostic tool and I guess developer mode is a bit like regedit in Windows - not for the faint-hearted.
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[Dodgy]

Despite the above, I like the car very much. It's just about to reach 3 years old but I'll probably keep it for a couple more years and then get another hybrid with lower performance, more electric range and more baggage space. Any suggestions?

The three main alternatives to the C350e are the Mercedes diesel hybrids (I believe it comes in the C and E-class), the VW Passat GTE and the Mitsubishi Outlander. BMW do one in a 3 and a 5-series. There’s the Prius plug-in and an ever-increasing list of Volvos.

I’d probably check out the Volvos first, but from memory they were quite expensive. If money is no object, there’s a Porsche or two on the market!

 

[Sraj]

I’ve been driving mainly dual carriageway for work and was intrigued by something.

I filled up the car with £20 on Friday and it only lasted until today. Overall miles was 120.

when driving on electric it doesn’t use petrol. Out of the 120 miles I did, 60 was from the battery.

Does this mean £20 petrol gives you 60 miles? (120 miles - 60 from battery).

 

[Dryce]

I’ve been driving mainly dual carriageway for work and was intrigued by something.

I filled up the car with £20 on Friday and it only lasted until today. Overall miles was 120.

when driving on electric it doesn’t use petrol. Out of the 120 miles I did, 60 was from the battery.

Does this mean £20 petrol gives you 60 miles? (120 miles - 60 from battery).

Did you actually get 61 miles on the battery? Depending on what you paid the 120 miles for £20 is something like 36 to 40mpg (unless buying from motorway servce stations or the like).

For mainly dual carriageway travel cruising at 50 to 70mph then I'd expect a lot better than 120 miles for £20 quid of fuel unless the journey involved queuing and stop start.

 

[Dodgy]

I’ve been driving mainly dual carriageway for work and was intrigued by something.

I filled up the car with £20 on Friday and it only lasted until today. Overall miles was 120.

when driving on electric it doesn’t use petrol. Out of the 120 miles I did, 60 was from the battery.

Does this mean £20 petrol gives you 60 miles? (120 miles - 60 from battery).

No - that’s not what it means. Mercedes have decided to claim the electric part of their hybrid system is miraculous by allocating any time you are coasting or braking to the battery, even though it was possibly (probably?) the engine was the source of the energy that allowed the coasting or braking.

It’s a shame the car is not working for you. Those numbers sound like about 35mpg, which would only be understandable if you hadn’t charged in the period.

 

[Sraj]

I haven’t been charging the car, just been filling up and driving.

what I’ve been doing is getting up to the speed and taking my foot of the pedal to get the meter to zero and then trying to maintain that by keeping on the white bars.

No - that’s not what it means. Mercedes have decided to claim the electric part of their hybrid system is miraculous by allocating any time you are coasting or braking to the battery, even though it was possibly (probably?) the engine was the source of the energy that allowed the coasting or braking.

It’s a shame the car is not working for you. Those numbers sound like about 35mpg, which would only be understandable if you hadn’t charged in the period.

 

[Sraj]

I paid £1.27 per litre for petrol. The 61 is from the trip computer, as shown on the picture.

I used cruise control and that started to drain my fuel


QUOTE="Dryce, post: 2848293, member: 8096"]Did you actually get 61 miles on the battery? Depending on what you paid the 120 miles for £20 is something like 36 to 40mpg (unless buying from motorway servce stations or the like).

For mainly dual carriageway travel cruising at 50 to 70mph then I'd expect a lot better than 120 miles for £20 quid of fuel unless the journey involved queuing and stop start.[/QUOTE]

 

[Dodgy]

I haven’t been charging the car, just been filling up and driving.

what I’ve been doing is getting up to the speed and taking my foot of the pedal to get the meter to zero and then trying to maintain that by keeping on the white bars.

Ah - then you’re getting roughly the economy I’d expect.

You’re driving the car like a “self-charging” hybrid. But is has a 200+ kg battery in the boot, which is massive compared to the battery in a self-charging hybrid. You have to plug it in, or you’re always going to have rubbish economy.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

It’s a bit like having a couple of fat blokes in the back seats who occasionally get out and push if you don’t charge it.

 

[CaptainChaos]

I haven’t been charging the car, just been filling up and driving.

Have you been able to have it mended yet?

 

[Deleted member 126969]

I meant to ask that too. A stuck thermostat had a pretty bad impact on mpg on my old Alfa. I’m certain such a fault will be even more significant on a hybrid.

 

[Sraj]

Have you been able to have it mended yet?

I haven’t changed the thermostat because I haven’t got the money. The cheapest quote I had was £400. Most garages I spoke to told me they are not interested in working on my car because it’s a hybrid.

 

[CaptainChaos]

Sorry to hear that. It's a great shame because I am sure you would feel very differently about the car if it was working properly. Fingers crossed you can get it sorted at some point.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

That is a shame. Seems shortsighted of the garages though - hybrids of one form or another are becoming an increasing part of the market so they'd best get with the program.

Not that the stat is in any way hybrid - there are no HV parts on that side of the engine at all.

 

[Sraj]

Service is due in March. Last service was done at 57000. At the moment the mileage is 65128. Do I need to service in March or wait until 72000? I bought the car in August and it did 61777

Sorry to hear that. It's a great shame because I am sure you would feel very differently about the car if it was working properly. Fingers crossed you can get it sorted at some point.

 

[Sraj]

Very disappointing

That is a shame. Seems shortsighted of the garages though - hybrids of one form or another are becoming an increasing part of the market so they'd best get with the program.

Not that the stat is in any way hybrid - there are no HV parts on that side of the engine at all.

 

[CaptainChaos]

Service is due in March. Last service was done at 57000. At the moment the mileage is 65128. Do I need to service in March or wait until 72000? I bought the car in August and it did 61777

Assuming the car has been serviced correctly and the service counter reset, the car will tell you when it needs a service. It's based on time and/or mileage. i.e. if you do low miles it will come up at 12 months. If you do high miles it will come up before the 12 months.

As you are doing low miles, the service is due in March.

 

[Sraj]

Thanks for that looks like I’m going to struggle a lot because of the service, thermostat and I have no idea how much my insurance is going to be come April.

Assuming the car has been serviced correctly and the service counter reset, the car will tell you when it needs a service. It's based on time and/or mileage. i.e. if you do low miles it will come up at 12 months. If you do high miles it will come up before the 12 months.

As you are doing low miles, the service is due in March.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Thanks for that looks like I’m going to struggle a lot because of the service, thermostat and I have no idea how much my insurance is going to be come April.

Being so tight for cash is going to suck all the joy out of owning this car for you. Maybe time to move it on and get something that gives you a bit of breathing room for now, until you can get yourself on stable ground, so to speak?