Mercedes Benz cars are generally known as reliable and sturdy. That explains why they are leaders in used car market in many countries. The C-class is one of the most popular choices because it is affordable, which you cannot really say about other Mercedes cars, and reasonable steadfast and easy to maintain. Earlier models of the C-class W203 were known to lack a bit when it came to reliability.
The question is, how do they hold up now? Generally speaking, W203’s from 2004 onwards perform well in terms of their reliability, and you wouldn’t have much to worry about. In fact, the C-class came out at the top of the German Automobile Club’s breakdown statistics for mid-sized cars in a report released in May 2010, reflecting its low rate of breakdowns.
That said, no car is perfect, and there are a couple of things you may want to keep in mind. Firstly, they are quite camber sensitive and rough roads may mess with the alignment, which in turn gives your tyres a shorter lifespan. Other than that, the only other source of ‘worry’ that is reasonably commonly reported relates to the front suspension brushes, which may wear out due to uneven roads and speed humps. That’s why you should consider Mercedes car warranty to extend the original manufacturer’s car warranty and cut the repair costs. There are many different options covering just about any part.
In short, newer (2004 onwards) C-class W203’s are reliable, and should make for a fairly sound investment.