Vehicle: 2014 C300 sport 4Matic, 3.5L V6 - W204.
I initially heard a droning noise for a couple months so decided to take it in to a “german specialized mechanic” I’ve used a couple times for basic oil changes.
After getting the alignment done, the car feels highly unstable. when I brake hard over 100kmh, the car pulls heavily to the right and feels like it’s all over the place. It’s gotten quite scary and makes me nervous to now continue driving the car. Also when I brake at those speeds it feels like the car is fishtailing. The pull can be felt even at 60kmh
Long story short, I took it to a different shop I go to and they said the guy that did the alignment should’ve have loosened some bolts because they were really rusted? They said he probably wasn’t able to tighten so it’s contributing to these issues. They said the issue is the rear control arms and the bushing on the one side is completely gone which is causing that wheel to have a mind of its own essentially.
So replace control arms and bushings? I need to ask them what exactly they’re replacing. And they also recommended a camber kit?
I’m supposed to take it back in this week and over the phone the receptionist quoted me around 600 CAD. 3 hours of labour and rest parts. Sounds a bit high if it’s just for one bushing being replaced. Would the whole arm even need to be replaced?
At this point, basically just afraid that they’ll dk the work and I’ll still have the issues. What recourse is there if they misdiagnosed it after I take the car back? Can I ask them to put it on the hoist and show me exactly where the problem is? They’re a pretty busy shop and always have cars in so I don’t know if it’s okay to ask them to show me like that
You must log in or # to comment.
I’m a benz tech, im assuming they are talking about the rear toe being left loose, they require a special tool to hold the bolt in place while you tighten it, I can see this wiping out the bushing in the control arm, the camber kit is a thing yes but most of the time we don’t do them at the dealer because people just don’t want to pay for it, I’ve never actually done one that’s how rare it is, there is a tiny bit of doubt in my mind with the alignments, the 204 chassis has a extended warranty for the rear subframe, they rust and often develop holes in them, to the point I’ve even seen whole control arms detached from the car that will cause a shake like you describe, and I’ve seen this been missed by shops just because they don’t know what to look for on these cars just due to experience
Yeah now that you mention special tool… I also had to wait a few days to get this issue fixed now because they needed some other special part from the dealer to get this control arm fixed, sound right?
I’ve read that’s its best to do both control arms at the same time? If one bushing is going the other must be on the way. I asked about the other side and he said it looks fine but also that he might not be able to get to it because of where the fuel tank is. Would have to drop the sub frame maybe.
Does that price sound right also?
Just concerned if they change just the 1 the control arm and then it still drives like this or in 3 months the other one goes. I just jacked the car up to try and feel any movement in the tire and didn’t feel any. Not sure if that’s how you even check the control arm or not
Thanks for your feedback really appreciate it
Yeah now that you mention special tool… I also had to wait a few days to get this issue fixed now because they needed some other special part from the dealer to get this control arm fixed, sound right?
I’ve read that’s its best to do both control arms at the same time? If one bushing is going the other must be on the way. I asked about the other side and he said it looks fine but also that he might not be able to get to it because of where the fuel tank is. Would have to drop the sub frame maybe.
Does that price sound right also?
Thanks for your feedback really appreciate it