PsychDoc

Drove in my friend's MB GLK tonight and I have to say I was monstrously underwhelmed. I have always liked both the styling and ride characteristics of the E350 (which he also owns). This, however, was a whole different story.

First off, it's small. I mean really, really small inside. The rear seat is almost unuseable with the front seat positioned to give the front seat passenger any room whatsoever. It's much narrower than the TL annd it gives you a kind of claustrophobic feeling. The instrumentation (never a strong point for MB) is horrible and the lighting for the buttons and switches is clearly inadequate.

The nav is as bad as previous MB attempts in this area....which is to say, awful. The maps don't even give you the names of major streets or highways other than the one you're on and the overall level of information and detail is simply a joke compared to the TL's nav system. The car did not have to keyless proximity sensor door unlock feature (whatever that's called) that we get standard with the tech package and it didn't have xenon headlights. It did, however, have rain sensing wipers and (I believe) an electronic tilt/telescoping steering wheel. Ipod integration? Nope. Traffic/weather? Nope.

Now on to it's drive. This thing sucks gas like nobody's business. 21mpg HIGHWAY!!!! It didn't feel anywhere near as fast or responsive as the TL and the engine sounded labored under acceleration. The ride was good as it is in pretty much every MB I have driven in so it looks like they got that part right at least. But for a list price of ~$45k you'd have to be nuts to get this unless you absolutely had to have an SUV (CUV?). Even then, there are far better choices out there for that kind of money.

Now I know I'm comparing this small SUV/CUV to a sedan but my understanding is that the GLK is almost indentical to the C350, upon which it is based and I know many have referenced the C-class as one of the TL's direct competitors.

How anyone can even compare this to the TL is simply beyond my understanding. Unless, of course, you absolutely, positively must have that three pointed star.

Tennshoes

I was thinking the same when I was looking for a new vehicle. I was dead set on the GLK350 and nothing could change my mind until my wife and I drove by the Acura dealer. The MB dealership never had the GLK350 in stock at the time and I finially saw one after buying the TL. I drove straight to the showroom when I saw one from the street and a salesman looked confident in his product until I said it was too small. The salesman said he has been told that alot about the GLK. I'm glad of my choice and would not change.

SebringSilver

I think you just answered your own question.