Well, I've had my car for a month, and their have been some pluses and minuses.

The pluses are this car is a great GT, comfortable, fast and luxurious. Great off a straight line, beautiful inside and out, one of the best looking Mercedes in the lineup by far.

This is the first automatic car I have owned, all my other cars have been manuals or SMG/F1 type cars. I have to remember when I am in stop and go traffic that it's okay to creep, that there is no clutch to burn! And the car is great over our bad Toronto roads.

The minuses, this car is definitely not a sports car. It is heavy in the turns, not a car for the track. Rapid turns? No thank you. Big curvy hwy on-ramps at ridiculous speeds? Now that's more like it.

The manual mode is horrible, the gear changes are slowww, but then I am comparing that to a Maserati or Ferrari, or BMW SMG. I don't think it's just the speed of the gear shifts, it's the feel.

I also think Mercedes has some technology for technology's sake. I have night view assist, which is a waste, how am I supposed to look at the screen when I am looking at the road? Makes no sense.

And now for the worst part, Mercedes reliability. Since I have had my car, I have taken it in three times to get things fixed. First, I could not put the car into park, the switch for electronic parking brake failed, 2 visits to fix, finally replaced the switch/ gear lever mech. Second, keyless go intermittently failed with one key. Third, night view not operational. All fixed now, however. (I have another issue, car will not let me get into Race Start. As I have my winters on, this is something I can wait to get fixed in the spring.)

This is my first Benz, and I am disappointed with Mercedes reliability, they need to get their act together in this regard. Most of my problems have to do with electronics, however, and this is usually produced by third party vendors. Perhaps cost-cutting at Mercedes has affected the end product.

But all in all I like the CLS, it is a good daily driver/ GT, a car I can live with for the next 3 years (until my lease is up).

 

Nice write-up. I've only had the car a week so far so *knock on wood* no reliability issues (yet). Great GT, not a sports car, nor did I expect it to be. I never drive it in manual mode, way too annoying. My 09 C63 was very reliable, though.