EuroGermantown

Germancar1

Are they here now, on sale? I don't see how MB salespeople keep track of all the cars you sell now. New G63s in now, the AMG GT 4-door soon and now the A-Class in addition to the other million models you all sell. My goodness.

M

ZacMatic

I think the comfort seats look more premium that the sport seats. Have you been able to sit in both? If I could get AMG Line with the comfort seats, I would consider that package.

Also very happy to see the black upholstery coming with the black headliner. In the Dealer Order Guide and the build page on mbusa.com, it shows white headliner with black, unless you do AMG Line or leather.

BVC500

Looks good! Thanks for sharing the pics.

ZacMatic

My dealer got a demo car as well!

Kenyon1976

Test drove two cars today, none for sale yet. 1st dealer couldn't give me date for when inventory is coming in. 2nd dealer said it could be until April/May before they get stock in which is a bit too long for me. Looking at possible alternatives.

ZacMatic

What did you think about the test drives? Anything noteworthy?

rustybear3

What do you guys think about the loss of the rotary in deference to the scratch pad? Love the dune silver metallic and the bigger and wider screens!

LogicalApex

Looks like a nice car. It looks more exciting as an entry level Benz when compared to the CLA which I really didn't like inside and out.

Interesting that it gets the replacement for Comand sooner than the C, E, or S classes. I'll hold onto my 2014 C300 for a few more years to see how MBUX looks in the C and E refreshes. The biggest complaint I have had with Mercedes has been in their inability to keep up with in car tech and this has a lot of promise. What remains to be seen is if it will hold up and if it works well. The DLC stuff that is coming doesn't give me promise. Hopefully, the car won't turn into constant prompts to buy more upgrades once you leave the showroom.

ZacMatic

I got to play with the system for maybe 10 or 15 minutes. Whereas the dial is probably the easiest thing to use completely by touch and with no training, and a trackpad requires some practice to get used to where and how much to swipe, the trackpad does have nice haptic feedback that gives you a little buzz when you swipe enough to move the on-screen selection. I think this might be the best that can be done to emulate the feel of turning a dial that clicks as you turn. The thumb operated, BlackBerry Pearl style trackpads on the steering wheel have the same functionality as the center trackpad. You swipe your thumb across the pad on the wheel one time to move the selection once, so I think it's more intuitive when using for the first time. The only advantage the center trackpad has over this is you can do a big swipe and scroll across the screen or down a list instead of only moving one item at a time. Personally, I imagine I would use the thumb pad most while driving since my right hand is always right there on the wheel.

ygmn

$42,0000 for that little car?

WHy buy it when C class is bit larger for roughly same price.

Kenyon1976

I have never owned a Mercedes, did drive the A model hatchback in Europe (A180).
Nothing really noteworthy, steering is nice and tight, cabin noise is quite low compared to the A180 (I actually like to hear the engine a little) and acceleration is not bad for the horsepower.
The interior is slightly cramped so the car is ideally suited I think for shorter people, it's the perfect size for me. Overall build quality is excellent with the exception of this which feels a little cheap:

Kenyon1976

C Class is about 3-4,000 more for just a base version and it doesn't have the new systems which will make it even higher. I've heard nothing but bad comments about the C class over the years.

ygmn

Prices of cars today are crazy...
no wonder the youngins are not buying and just using Ride shares...
check out what you can get from other manufacturers for the same $42K....

ZacMatic

I don't think it's fair to compare this particular configuration with the C-Class base price as it has two packages and a bunch of options. The A-Class base price is $32,500 and C-Class is $41,400.

If you add all the technology packages to the two cars to give them equivalent features (Premium Package, Multimedia Package, Driver Assistance Package, and Parking Assistance Package), they look like this:
A220: $38,540
C300: $48,940

With just those packages selected, the C-Class doesn't have a panorama roof (+$1000) or digital instrument cluster (+$750). A220 has the panorama roof standard and the instrument cluster is always digital, however, the Premium Package upgrades both screens to 10.25".

I don't think any other car in this segment has auto-driving (adaptive cruise control + steering) or auto-parking (parallel parking in/out and back in parking) for MSRP $38,540. And nobody has the augmented reality navigation feature.