Mercedes GLC300 review

Ended up with a GLC300 as a rental car this weekend, which was a pleasant surprise.  It had about 29,000 miles on it and was white/tan.

It's a small CUV, I assume competing against the Porsche Macan and the like.

It's not a bad size, easily holding the carry ons for the 3 in our family with some room to spare.  Nobody complained about being in the back seat, even when I carried 5, two of whom were college kids.  

Interior is very nice, a pleasing mixture of materials and textures.  Very modern and clean looking with wood trim, leather and aluminum.  My wife really liked it.  I'm not a huge fan of tan leather, as I think it wears poorly and shows a lot of dirt.  Looked nice clean tho.

Performance was punchy, the engine was a bit course though.  Economy seemed good, took premium fuel.  I couldn't stand the auto stop/start and you had to turn it off every key cycle.  It was a very intrusive turn on/off, not subtle at all.  Apple CarPlay was wired and worked fine, screen integration was average.

There were some electronic glitches, it threw a check engine light that went away on the next key cycle and didn't come back.  The gas gauge would sometimes not read, or show three different levels at the same time.

I can tell my wife is thinking about one to replace her Cayenne Diesel.  The Cayenne is a bigger car and over all feels more solid.  Just like any of the German cars in this class and price, owning one under warranty is important.  I have more confidence in the Porsche Macan holding up better once out of warranty than this Mercedes, so if she really does want one we'll need to get an extended warranty....

She really likes hers. It's a GLC 300 Coupe AMG-line with 12,000 miles and has had it for 17 months. No issues so far. We've had it on a 5 hour road trip and at that point the seats were getting a bit uncomfortable. Seating for 4 is fine even with the roofline of the coupe. 
 

Forgot to comment, brakes felt reassuringly strong, good pedal feel.  Steering was totally numb and vague.  No steering feel at all, electric rack and it was over boosted.

Her AMG-line package gets the upgraded interior, big brakes, staggered wheels and a few other bits. It handles surprisingly decent. The engine sounds like an old Singer sewing machine, it's the fuel injectors, but to most people it sounds diesel-like. She's driven nothing but German 4-door sedan for 25 years but wanted a bit of a change. This time she wanted something a bit taller/bigger, so we began looking at smaller SUV/CUV's. We drove the Audi Q3 and Q5, BMW X3 and X4 and considered the Ford Mach-E and Tesla 3 & Y. I wanted her to look at the Porsche Macan, but trying to configure one on their website was so damn frustrating she decided it wasn't worth the hassle. She likes the look of the Audi Q5 Sportback and  BMW X4 rather than the traditional SUV look. After driving all of them, she liked the ride and look of the MB the best. It took 6 months from the order date to when it was delivered, but part of the delay was the chip shortage and COVID bs. This is her second "Diamond White metallic" Mercedes and the color looks great. Also, from a car-guy standpoint, the wheels on this thing are the nicest factory stock wheel I've ever seen! The design, depth and finish are simply gorgeous. My neighbor is a hard core Porsche guy and the first time he saw her new ride, the first words out of his mouth we how unreal the wheels are. His next compliment was about the red/black color combination of the interior. 
 

Overall she is very happy with it. I ask her all the time how she likes driving her first SUV and she likes the better visibility and winter driving confidence that comes with it. Her previous car was an Audi S3 and this GLC is a totally ride, but she is enjoying it nonetheless.