German engineering, and a maintenance reality worth being honest about
carlots.ng editorial · 23 Oct 2026
The C300 delivers exactly what the badge promises on the road -- a composed ride, a cabin that feels a tier above its Japanese rivals, and the kind of driving manners that make the price difference feel justified the first time you drive one. What it does not come with is Nigeria's dense Toyota-and-Honda parts-and-mechanic network, and that gap is the real cost of ownership, not the purchase price.
Sensor faults on this generation are common enough that a full diagnostic scan before buying is not optional, the automatic can hunt for a gear in stop-start Lagos traffic in a way that announces itself clearly, and routine parts -- a headlight assembly, for one -- cost several times what the equivalent Honda part does. Buyers who budget for that reality going in tend to enjoy the car; buyers who do not tend to resent it by the second year.