Packagingpro

What do you guys think of the Mercedes CLA Sedan as a replacement for our aging TL's? Looks like a decent value!

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicl...models-compare

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^would be a step down.


the CLA is an entry level vehicle. and with the same "options" you have in your TL, it would bring the price of the cheap CLA closer to $39-40K

amill

meh, front wheel drive. Plus I see sooooo many C-class cars on the road everyday. This will be even more prevalent.

wreak

Anything Mercedes is stupid expensive to maintain at the dealer, at least the BMW's come with free maintenance.

hadokenuh

Agree the base CLA is a step down but the CLA AMG 45 looks darn good for 45-50K. I am generally not a fan of MB but this one is an exception. We all know about German reliability so for me, it would be a 2nd/weekend car.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

now, that we're talking about the beast CLA AMG, it would be an upgrade with all wheel drive and 450hp.

Mr Marco

Never been a fan. Additionally, neighbor owns a Merc and I've seen it towed from their driveway 3 times in the last year.

mugen_kid

I was actually at the MB dealer yesterday taking photos of the new w222 S-Class for work. Went to lunch with a friend that is in service, he explained to me they have sold 4 CLA's and 1 has come back to have the tranny replaced at 150 miles and one has a rear seal leak. I would never own a Mercedes, but that me. The CLA to me seems cheap compared to others in the line up. What would you expect at this price point. Actually MB corporate was training the sales guys on the new CLA and S-Class and they had a decked out Honda Accord to compare to the CLA for training.

potmilkz

my dad had a ml450, never again would he lease.. within the 3 year lease, his car died roughly about 10 times.. 6 of which the dealer replaced the battery.. error notification that pop up when there is really nothing wrong with the car..

carz0159

I would never get a CLA, it doesn't look that good IMO. The base is overpriced and small. I've been in a friends C 300, there's no legroom or headroom in the back, my other friends Challenger has more headroom and legroom than the C. The CLA will be even smaller. Theres a reason they put it in the coupe section of their website.

The CLA AMG is a different story. It's a quick car, but its still small.

I would put the reliability slightly below that of an Acura. (IK IK, its a honda, but for a honda, it isnt that reliable (at least mine wasnt, but i might have gotten a lemon)

sluzynsk

It's decent looking, but man, look at the navigation system. For that kind of of money I expect more than a TomTom clone screwed to the dashboard.

My wife is looking to upgrade her Civic; she was interested in the CLA until she saw that janky crap. Still looking at ILX, G37x, IS250... full day of negotiating tomorrow.

JM2010 SH-AWD

We were just talking to friends who are on their 2nd MB. They now acknowledge they should have learned their lesson with the first one, which was an utter POS. Now she's been driving a loaner for weeks while the second POS is in the shop for some sort of major work. It's about 18 months old. German engineering!

Once it's fixed they are going to dump it and buy a Lexus/Infiniti/Acura.

Rocketsfan

I don't trust German reliability yet and can't stand that cheesy interior. If I recall correctly, I think the non-AMG one is woefully underpowered, too. By the time you get to the one that has a good engine, you're talking about a not-so-cheap vehicle again.

That being said, these things are selling like crazy. In their first week they sold about as many as they thought would sell per month.

Edward'TLS

^^^^^

Most don't care about the car, as long as it has the "3-point star" badge.

The CLA's low entry cost in owning a Mercedes, offsets all the issues with German reliability, low quality, and underpowered engine.

However, no such luck for the lackluster brand name "Acura", with it's low cost ILX.

That's why Acura MUST do everything to build up it's premium image, but which so far has still failed.

parasitius

It's mind blowing-ly beautiful and would be extreme temptation if it weren't for the fact that I googled MB and it seems they are owned by DaimlerChrysler. I don't by anti-capitalist bail-out brands. Any company that got a special privilege / special government handout that wasn't extended to me, a citizen of the same nation forced to pay taxes, has no right to exist on the face of this planet as far as I'm concerned and is dead to me.

gkon

I don't think that is true anymore, MB is owned by Daimler AG and Chrysler is owned by Fiat. They broke off that union back in 07 or 08.

Cheers,

Nick

BEAR-AvHistory

I like the CL 63 AMG 507 Coupe. About $76K MSRP. Nice alternative to the BMW M4 Coupe.

KeithL

Daimler divested Chrysler a while back, bad marriage and MB let them go after a few short years.

JDBaumbach

German cars are soooo different from Acura cars! Good to see most prefer their Acuras here as would be expected. My experience has been that the German cars are much stiffer riding, having boring interiors & isolate the driver. Whereas my Acuras involve me in the drive, have a more comfortable ride, and are just plain generally fun to drive! And all my Acuras have been extremely reliable. I have ventured into other brands over time, but always came back to Acura. Stick with another Acura is my answer from my experience!!

parasitius

So Wikipedia only said "DaimlerChrysler" has been renamed to just "Daimler" etc. so maybe it gave me the wrong idea. So now Daimler owns MB and they are just some German company totally unrelated to USA and bailout? And so USA now has a company called Chrysler still? And that's who makes my dad's Chrysler 200 etc.?

Thanks for the info.

boe_d

Funny, someone makes a good looking car and they become prevalent. I don't care if my car is prevalent or not - as long as it is really well made AND good looking. Acuras are well made but IMHO the "controversial" design has got to go. People can say the beak is gone all they like but it is a silly grin or beak or bucktooth - it's just a rose by another name.

Rocketsfan

Daimler-Benz bought Chrysler and became DaimlerChrysler years ago. They dumped Chrysler but held onto some ownership of Chrysler via shares and became Daimler. They later sold those remaining shares of Chrysler. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy immediately afterwards. The Italian car company, Fiat, then bought majority ownership in Chrysler. Fiat still owns Chrysler.

gkon

I believe that's right; Daimler is totally unrelated to the bailout. Chrysler still exists, but now they're owned by Fiat, which I think happened after the bailout.

Cheers,

Nick

docboy

I took a peek at the online brochure for the CLA because I was curious.

I noticed that it has front leg room of 40.2" and its rear leg room 27.1". This thing sounds tiny and CRAMPED. Add in the panoramic roof and front headroom decreases 2.2". Factor in the AWD system, there may be additional humps and cabin intrusions.

As someone mentioned above, what the CLA has going for it is the MB badge (and style and good marketing). Most buyers out there are probably going to snatch the CLA like hotcakes b/c of the entry price point and the MB badge. The AMG version helps give it the wow factor.

But no way I would consider the CLA over the TL. It's just too small and cramped considering its a sedan. MB advertises it with a $29.9k starting price point, but by the time I put in a few options comparable to what we have on the TL, it came out to $47k and that's without AWD and AMG. Plus there's no MT on the CLA.

The E class would be a better comp size wise compared to the TL.

Objectively speaking, I would not consider the CLA over the TL unless I was a very small frame and short person with no kids and care about the MB badge.

BEAR-AvHistory

Agree. Who would want a boring, non driver involving isolating German car when they could be driving a TL?

Linmk2

Daimler Benz purchased 92% of Chrysler in 1998. Daimler was especially interested in how Chrysler could get a car from the drawing board to showroom in about 18 months. One of the fastest turnaround in the industry. They were also interested in minivan technology. This purchase was a fiasco for both parties involved. Much of the styling staff quit because the Germans would not give them the free hand that the enjoyed as an independent company. Very little M/B technology found it's way into Chrysler products and about zero Chrysler technology found it's way into Mercedes-Benz. The only two products to be almost fully developed under Mercedes-Benz was the Chrysler Pacifica (anyone remember that one?) and the Chrysler Crossfire. Parts of the suspension design in the current 300 is derived from the E Class. Chrysler was bleeding so much money that Chrysler-Daimler sold the Chrysler side to a venture capital firm called Cerberus Capital (by the way Cerberus are the names of the dogs that protect the gates of hell). Under Cerberus Chrysler really took a dive. The company had absolutely no experience in running a car company. They hired a guy to run the operation who had by fired from Home Depot. During this time is when Chrysler along with GM filed for bankruptcy. Fiat currently holds about 61% of the company. The rest is spread out between the US Government and a UAW trust fund. As you can see the current Daimler company as no interest in Chrysler. As an aside, Daimler is the oldest car company in existence. It's roots go back to 1883.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Eh. Considered leasing a CLA before getting my Fusion Titanium, but there just is absolutely no value there. The Benz badge commands money, and to me, its just not that big of a priority. The thing would sell like moldy dog shit if it didn't have a German luxury badge on it.

KeithL

May 2007 is when Damiler sold 80% to an investment firm. And as other have posted Fiat now is they owner.

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

I just got back from driving a CLA250. This one was almost loaded 35k ( navi, blindspot detection, rain sensing wipers, ect)

It drove really nice. Feels like it has a lot more than 200hp. The 7AT was quick to shift and responded well to the paddles. It rode really nice over choppy country roads and had zero torque steer under heavy acceleration.

I think MB has a winner on their hands.

charliemike

The new S3 may end up being the end of my days with my Focus. I'm trying very hard to not be annoyed at the little shit dealers won't fix because they employ deaf techs.

Shoofin

I'm delivering one tomorrow, MSRP is closer to $38k.....I have cars that are over $40k...Problem today is the dealers don't know what customers want, so they have the car 25 different ways in their inventory. Then I get a customer pissed off that it's too expensive and why can't I get the car for "$29,900" as MB advertises, when I'm trying to sell them a more expensive one because a cheap one doesn't exist!

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

There was a fully loaded one inside for 41k. The one I drove was one of two that were outside. The salesman told me that they can't keep them on the lot and a lot of people are ordering them to spec.

One guy special ordered one, didn't have the funds, so it sold an hour later.

My fiancée really wants one once she is done with school. She just wants the pano roof, AMG wheels, and lighting package.

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

Crazy Bimmer

Pricey! Makes the 1M look like a bargain!

Really do like the looks of it though.

Next Gen 1-series is suppose to be FWD as well.

oo7spy

Looks like a CC fucked a Sonata. $58k? Ouch.


Sounds like AMG borrowed SH-AWD without the torque vectoring.

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

Yeah, the S3 is going to be pretty sweet. I've always liked the A3 and we have had two Audi's previously (although I wish the S3 came in a hatch)... loved them both and loved the dealership. They treated us like royalty.

Example... a couple of times when bringing the car in for scheduled maintenance they'd have an A4 lined up as a loaner (pretty standard regardless of if it was our A4 or A6). They'd notice she had a small cooler and she'd tell them she was doing an ice cream social for a client (she's in BD). Without saying anything they'd pull the loaner around and suddenly it was a new Q5 or Q7. They would swap it out b/c it was easier for her... and they just did it. They would also swap her stuff into the loaner for her (not all the time, but especially when she had extra items like a cooler or extra bags, etc). That's just one of the small things they would always do. First class all the way around. And as much as she loves her E350 and that dealer has been great too... something tells me she'll be in a new A6 within the next 12 months or so

charliemike

The only difference between the two are the number of cylinders. Certainly not performance. I think I'm as guilty of it as anyone but in the future, we aren't going to be able to use cylinders as a differentiator.

Yumcha

Going to test drive one soon. One of my best friends is looking to get the CLA...likely AMG.

Yumcha

Although, for the price of the AMG, he MUST consider the S4...

oo7spy

Starting MSRPs for performance luxury sedans with 300+ HP:

335i: $45.4k
R-Spec: $47.7k
S4: $48.1k
CLA 45: $48.3k
M Hybrid: $54.7k
535i: $55.1k
C 63: $57.2k
IS-F: $63.3k
550i: $63.9k
CTS-V: $64.5k

I just don't see how someone looks at that list and picks out the FWD biased CLA. That AWD drivetrain has the most loss in it too.