Owner quotes — Cluster S — Wave2 C

Published · Researched 2026-09-21

Cluster S Wave 2C raw quotes

pcauto.com owner-discussion summary (citing owner forums): early electronic and software niggles reported — intermittent air-conditioning failures and electronic error warnings, mostly resolved by software updates or battery charging.
Carwow review (2026): reliability "impossible to estimate" — too new, too few sold — but notes the warranty is unusually strong for a luxury car: 5 years / 100,000 miles.
Green Cars Compare: lists "unproven long-term reliability" and "lacks official safety ratings" as reasons-not-to-buy.
Qualitative web pulse (research file): early adopters skew positive about the charging speed and the drive, cautious about software maturity; nothing resembling mass owner enthusiasm or mass complaint.
Negative evidence: no owner-facing Facebook group and no English-language forum with extractable owner content surfaced in searches (Sept 2026); social-platform extraction returned an infrastructure error, not owner posts.

Former owner: "Was out of warranty and did give problems (windscreen leak, 2 charging modules). Was worried the 'next thing' was going to be damn costly. ... Winter motorway driving I was getting absolute max 250km (typically lower then that). And the depreciation was horrific (over 70% in 3 years, and I bought it 2nd hand 2 years old)."
Former owner: "Jag relaunching into very high end (cost) model so these will either be classics or worthless in long run. I moved to BYD Seal."
Current owner (~60k km): "other than I had to get a charging unit replaced, it was faultless. I'm sad jaguar are going in the direction they've decided as this car really was the best in class 5 years ago and is still not out of place today."
Parkers owner-review summary: "owners report reliability issues, particularly with the charging system. But that doesn't stop many owners loving their cars."

What Car? Reliability Survey: C-Class "finished in last place out of 23 cars in the executive car class, with a disappointing score of 76.3%."
What Car?: "Thirty-nine percent of faults were serious enough to stop cars from being used... 38% were in the workshop for more than a week."
team-bhp W206 owner: "Regarding the 12V battery, even I had issues with mine on my C220d. I got it changed under warranty. Now it's okay."
team-bhp W206 owner: "I replaced all four shocks, worth a total of ₹3.2L, free of cost under standard warranty from Mercedes."

carchecker.pro: "Most issues experienced by early owners are software-related and resolvable under warranty, but used buyers outside warranty should budget for potential electrical and software interventions."
carchecker.pro: "The M254 engine itself is a modern unit with no widespread catastrophic failures reported, but the integrated starter generator and 48V electrical system add repair cost potential that simpler predecessors did not have."
Gumtree owner (UK, 2026): "Mercedes' servicing costs are notably higher than Audi or Lexus, with routine maintenance often exceeding £400 per visit."
TrueCar (2026): "If you want a compact luxury SUV that does everything well, this is the easy answer."

Autoblog (Sept 2026): "early signs from owners indicate that it is following the same trend as its predecessor, with lowish scores that place it below the average for its class."
NHTSA complaint 11683944 (2025 Q5 owner): "The car floods with excess fuel after idling for a short period of time resulting in multiple misfires and violent vibration... Apparently, it is a known issue with the new Audi Q5 and they do not have a viable solution."
CarComplaints owner: "Audi needs to fix the issue. They should be sued. I'm sick of spending money on oil."
usedcaryear (2025–2026 analysis): EA888-family concerns carry over — timing chain tensioner failures reported as early as 60,000 miles, turbo failures ($2,500–4,000), carbon buildup needing cleaning every 50–60k miles, S tronic hesitation/shudder at low speed with replacement at $5,000–7,000.
Lemon-law aggregator: electrical system malfunctions (alternator/starter-generator warnings, sudden power loss), transmission complaints, and coolant leaks on 2021–2025 cars.

AudiWorld senior member: "The B9 A4 generally gets very high reliability ratings... The 2020 has the IHI turbocharger which has incurred failures with a loose wastegate. 2021+ cars have a Garrett turbo assembly which so far seems to be immune to the problem."
AudiWorld senior member: "High oil consumption and timing chain issues have not emerged as issues on these cars unlike the B8."
AudiWorld member: "the measure of whether a car is 'reliable' is to be taken over the long haul — what has the thing been like for 7 years/85,000+ miles?"
What Car? owners: "keeping a close eye on coolant levels and oil usage is highly recommended."