It's a car for everyone

Our car was big enough for all of us, with enough left over to impress everyone. The three-pointed star heralded our arrival in £25,000 of Merc estate.

Alastair and Nancy were impressed. They wouldn't have been pleased if we'd arrived in a Lexus; no Japanese cars for him, because of his wartime memories in the Far East, but he doesn't seem to mind German cars.

A Mercedes Benz is a car for everyone.

Eh? Hang on (I hear you say), how can such a posh limo costing thousands of pounds be a car for everyone?

Well, just think about it.

Presidents, statemen, ambassadors, Archbishops and Popes, surgeons and psychiatrists. Top businessmen and bosses of big companies. Bosses of small companies. Market traders carrying their stocks of women's dresses, videos and CDs, DIY tackle . . . Everyone, OK?

Myself, I've never been able to get excited about Mercs. There's no logic to this. If you tell me they're the best cars in the world, with near-faultless engineering, I'll believe you. The warranty covers rust for an amazing 30 years.

But I still don't care much for them. They simply don't light my emotional touch paper.

A Bentley would. An old Jag probably would. A dear old Alvis certainly would. But I've no ambition to own a Merc.

Ironically, I remember a dealer in classic cars like those mentioned, whose own everyday car was a Merc estate. He explained: "It's the only car I can buy, drive for 300,000 miles, and still sell for what I paid for it."

OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point: Mercs are wonderful cars. They just don't appeal to me and I make this point in case you expect me to fall on my knees and lick its tyres.

So you will understand that if I say this C220 impresses me, it really does.

C220 is one of the mystifying collection of names in the Mercedes catalogue. It is divided into classes, which may not mean much to the outsider.

A-Class is the mini-MPV runabout which lets any aspiring Mercedes owner get his heart's desire for around £13,000.

C-Class seems to be the main collection of 'ordinary' cars, though the prices start at over £20,000. Then you move on to E-Class, which runs from £24,000 to almost £80,000.

There's also V-Class, and M-Class which is a smart SUV, as well as CLK, CL Coupe, and SLK.

Add all the variants together and Mercedes offers you almost 80 choices. Once you learn to speak Mercedes, you'll be familiar with names like Speedtronic (cruise control, the Comand operating and display system, Linguatromic voice-operated control system, and the Thermotronic top-notch air-con. It's something to talk about in the pub. I'll switch off.

The previous C-Class went on sale in 1996 and sold around 250,000 cars. Today's version arrived last autumn.

Mercedes don't get ultra-snooty about the cars they produce; they recognise that from top to bottom of the range, they please a range of buyers, and inevitably many of these are just ordinary Joes who simply want a good, reliable car. That's why Mercs are often used as taxis, especially when you're on holiday in the Costas.

I guess this C-Class rates as the everyday model, not as big as the chairman's S-Class and a lot cheaper, depending on which of the six models you choose; there are six engines (four petrol, two diesel).

These are identified in the model names, though it's not necessarily as simple as you might suppose. The C180 is the starter, but it's not a 1.8-litre engine it's 1998 cc. The C200 is a two-litre and the C320 is 3.2 litres, but the C220 is 2,148cc, C240 is 2,597cc, while the 2,685cc engine almost matches its C270 name.

Let's move on. The cars are built to make life easy, of course, unless you choose one of the top models which I'm told has 66 buttons and switches on the fascia, eight on the steering wheel, six in the roof and 14 more on the driver's door.

Each to his own, but in my view, that level of 'assistance' makes life more complicated rather than easier.

My test car brought no such complications. It was more of an everyday version, especially when you add its other two workaday features estate car and diesel engine.

In many ways you'd not be aware that you were travelling in such a well-regarded car.

That's not a criticism. It's just that so many of today's 'ordinary' cars can match this Merc for ride, luxury and sophistication.

You are surrounded by an aura of poshness, though the Merc idea of polished wood always seems plasticky, and the seats, despite being multi-adjustable, aren't very comfortable.

Mercedes Benz

C220 CDi estate

Body: 14ft 11ins by 5ft 8in, five-door five-seat estate car.

Power train: 2148cc 4-cylinder 16-valve 143bhp engine driving rear wheels through five-speed auto gearbox.

Performance: 0-62mph in 11 seconds, top speed 130 mph.

MPG: 39.8 overall

Servicing: 9,000 miles

Price: £24,645.

Warranty: 3 years/unlimited mileage, 30 years anti-rust and 3 years roadside assistance