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C300 Buying Advice (Bay Area)

First, apologies if this is not the right place to post this :) Searched a bit and couldn't find a separate "help me buy" section.

We're in the Bay Area, and looking at leasing either a CLA250 or a C300. This will be our first MB.

Hopefully someone can help us out with these :

1. Is there any advantage of getting a 4matic?
2. I test drove the CLA250 and found the ride extremely rough, felt every single bump in the road. There was also a surprising amount of wind noise when driving it on the highway. Is this just a matter of one bad apple or this a general CLA issue?
3. Any Bay Area people recommend any particular dealer?
4. If anybody has purchased either recently, and willing to share how much they paid, would be more than grateful.

Rant : I can't believe the C300 doesn't have android auto/apple car play, and neither has a touchscreen.

See below

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebends (Post 7003207)

First, apologies if this is not the right place to post this :) Searched a bit and couldn't find a separate "help me buy" section.

>>>

We're in the Bay Area, and looking at leasing either a CLA250 or a C300. This will be our first MB.

Hopefully someone can help us out with these :

1. Is there any advantage of getting a 4matic?

>> 4 wheel drive if you plan to go to the snow - but more reliability issues and slightly worse fuel Econ

2. I test drove the CLA250 and found the ride extremely rough, felt every single bump in the road. There was also a surprising amount of wind noise when driving it on the highway. Is this just a matter of one bad apple or this a general CLA issue?

->>> what wheels and tires ? Lower profile tires will give you worse ride

3. Any Bay Area people recommend any particular dealer?

>> I had good experience with beschoff on capitol expressway in sj it changed name now - but see below

4. If anybody has purchased either recently, and willing to share how much they paid, would be more than grateful.

>>> use truecar.com website . If you don't like to haggle- you will get decent price that way. Lease is more compliacated ... you might want to use a broker if you don't know how to negotiate yourself

-----

Rant : I can't believe the C300 doesn't have android auto/apple car play, and neither has a touchscreen.

My 2 cents: buy the C300. Much, much better car than the CLA. 2013 and 2014 C300s have the 3.5 liter V-6 motor. They also have a spare tire and no run flats. You can even drive them on road trips.

Stay away from CLA. Would get CClass. The W204 and W205 are different cars. C300 w204 is a 6 cylinder. The new c300 w205 is a turbo 4. You do not need 4 matic in the Bay Area

Stevens Creek Mercedes has been recently renovated, so that's nice. Beshoff mercedes has always been grand as far as I know. My family has been buying our mercedes from Stevens creek for the past 20 years, and more recently, from Beshoff mercedes as well.

I am only familiar with south bay dealers, mainly those two. I have had good experiences at both.

I also went car shopping with a cousin recently and stevens creek let her test drive the C43 AMG and CLA45 AMG, no questions asked. She got a C300 in the end, but I appreciate the respect they gave us. That gets two big thumbs up from me.

1. If you're living in the bay area i would suggest going with the RWD. I find the RWD handles better and less chance of transmission failure. Personally i only got the 4matic because i see lots of snow.

2. Never driven the CLA personally but love the look, which years are you looking to buy? If you're looking for a smooth comfortable ride i'd suggest a c300 luxury.

4. I paid 29,800 CAD last month including taxes for a 13' c350 4matic.

CLA is new entry level Benz. Run flats plus cheapest quality = worse ride.

Small cabin space, and really lots of people like to say its "not a Benz" because its such a lower quality.

Go for the c300.

Just bought a 2016 C300 yesterday(12/28). Service loaner originally titled summer 2016 and 7K miles. Highly optioned it listed for $49K and I paid a little more than 15K less with 2% financing. PM me for more info

There is a significant difference between the CLA and C300 with the C300 being a much nicer car on the inside.

Great job. No comparison between C and CLA. C is beautiful.

CLA was my dream car, until i test drove C300. The ride was bumpy for CLA, i was not happy at all. While trying C300, i felt it is on the better side. More smooth ride. I bought it from Stevens Creek Mercedes showroom. They are nice people and good service too. One of my friends bought the car from Fletcher Johns Fremont showroom. He got slightly better deal than me, also was offered with a few other benefits like, complementary paint repair for scratches in parking lots and something else, i forgot