I have a 2012 E350 and a 2013 GLK. For everyday use, I do prefer the GLK. The ease of entry is important for many of us in our sixties. It is easier to load large objects in the vehicle, parks and maneuvers in smaller places, handles well when not trying to play "boy racer" on winding roads, and offers a better seating position and visibility. For an empty-nest couple there is more than adequate cargo area with the seats folded or does carry four people in relative comfort. If I needed to carry seven regularly, I would buy a larger GL series.

The CLA is an economic necessity for Mercedes. To balance the mileage requirements and to continue to build S Class style vehicles, Mercedes needs a volume product to maintain the corporate fuel average equation. Trying to compare the accoutrement's of a $30,000 CLA with a $60,000 E Class is just silly. It can better be compared with a loaded Camry, Kia Optima, or high-line Accord. When compared dollar to dollar with those, it is very competitive.

The CLA is proving to be a big winner for Mercedes in the sales numbers. A good thing for those of us who drive the larger models. It gives Mercedes a better economic base and a way to build the less fuel efficient vehicles. Something that all luxury brands are striving to accomplish with smaller entry level vehicles designed to sell into a volume market category.

 

The CLA is a good looking car. That is about where it ends however....

Interior is cheap
Cramped interior
Hard to get in and out of
Seats are too small
Engine is noisy and under powered


I guess if I was in the market for say a Fusion or Camry this would be a more fun car to own instead.

 

Correct. The C Class use to be that way as well. However, the C Class actually feels like a MB compared to the CLA.

 

Couldn't disagree more in your comparison of the cla to a loaded Accord. The Accord is a great product and great value proposition. I would take one in a second over a cla and the others that you mention as well. And you can get a loaded Accord cheaper than it would cost to buy a loaded cla. The cla is a fake Mercedes and terrible value from all perspectives. An Accord is a better vehicle in every way. Thanks. Regards. Ned.

 

first of all, the CLA was NEVER brought to market to compete for dollars from buyers at age 40+ and the fact that they are stealing business from the accord/camry crowd is probably horrible news for MB - they're supposed to be buying E vehicles.

second, i agree with Ned - the fully loaded accord is a much better vehicle than the CLA. i would maybe even take a loaded accord over a current c-class!

place yourselves at age 28, in the market for a vehicle priced around 30k-40k, and look over all the options out there (or on the horizon). it's almost a joke. if you want muscle than you can get a mustang. if you want a sports coupe than you can get a BRZ or a hot hatch WRX STi. there are fuel efficient models like the A3 TDI and Accord Hybrid.

also, i appreciate the ride-height and ease of something like the compact SUV GLK, or X3, Q5. however, my E250 has a tighter turning radius than the GLK 4-matic!!!! but the need to be bring even smaller iterations in the X1, GLA, etc. is just ridiculous.

 

I will take a used E550 Coupe or Convertible please

 

back seat for this car is ridiculous, anyone over 5 7 will hate it in the back, shouldve just made it a real coupe, overall i like the car, but id always complain about the ridiculous back seat

 

Well said!

 

This is one crazy thread. Here you have Mercedes owners in an E class thread criticizing the CLA and declaring an Accord is a much better car. All of this saying it is really not a Mercedes, is too small, and lacks quality. A car that is basically 1/2 the price of an E class. What really do you expect?

Despite the review of a magazine that does a great job comparing washing machines and once named a Renault as a best buy, the car is selling like hotcakes world wide and good luck finding the car of your choice or even thinking about a discount. Most all of the main stream enthusiast magazines have endorsed the car and flat raved about the AMG version. Probably the best way to tell Mercedes hit their mark is that the stuffy old line Mercedes crowd hate it. They built for a new and different market and sales results seem to prove they are spot on!

 

I took my car in for service the other day and I asked to see a CLA because I haven't seen it in person yet. The sales rep said "they come, they go!"
So yes, they are selling. How long that will last is the real question though.

Who the hell complains about the back seat in a COUPE?

 

Participants of this thread are not the target market for the CLA and that is to be expected. I agree with everything you said even the utility of an SUV for the older crowd. My dad who's in his 60s prefers SUVs now and my visiting father-in-law is not loving the whole getting in and out of the E-class either. But based on the bell curve of age distribution and the fact that SUVs are selling in significantly larger numbers than age and need would dictate there are a lot of morons driving around in a GL all by themselves for 90% of the time. As to why I'd rather have an E-wagon than a GL, first is the obvious price advantage of the E-wagon and second is that I rarely need 7 seats, maybe once a month so driving a 7 seater gas guzzler non-stop would be a waste. The fact that I hate the feeling of "I'm about to roll this ****" vs. "man, this thing is planted!" is also a huge deterrent for me.

And that is all that matters. The market eats it up and I'm very happy for it.

WTF is a fake Mercedes? Are you really this stuck up? Your mentality is the reason why MB was ashamed to bring the Sprinter over as a Mercedes and put it under the Dodge moniker first.

There is no Mercedes that is a good value, fake or not. A good value is a Hyundai or a Kia. No Mercedes owners justifies their purchase as a good value or if they do they're delusional.

 

I was going to chime in about the "fake" claim, but someone beat me to it. Damn

It's every bit a real MB. Not one that I particularly want, but it's a MB, just an A-class (which sells like hotcakes in the place where MB is from) with a trunk.

I've liked every car I've owned, and none of them would be touched with a 10 foot pole by CR. Funny how that works.

Funny about the low entry/exit complaints. My 60-something mother also doesn't like getting in and out of my car, but is fine in her Camry. Doesn't take much.

 

i have to call a little

did a quick search and found 23 available at one dealership in all kinds of colors. there's no reason to be a blind brand loyalist. a good model is a good model, and a turd is a turd.

lol at CR and washing machines!

 

The term fake Mercedes may be a little harsh, but in spirit it is not harsh. The Mercedes brand IMO should have certain standards of quality that they do not go below. Just as Lexus is upscale Toyota, there is a point at which Mercedes should use another brand to describe a product like the cla, period. I do consider the e class to be good value. IMO it is the best made with best materials vehicle of its class, period. It is clearly better than the class of vehicle below it whether that be a Honda Accord or an Acura TL. They all will get you there, but that doesn't make the e class bad value. There are all kinds of Mercedes at many different price points. The cla is the first one that many agree doesn't deserve the Mercedes badge. It is not just me. Is there no level of product and quality that you think shouldn't have the Mercedes star? How about bringing back the Chevy Vega and calling it a Mercedes. Where is the line. My opinion is that they crossed it with the cla. Feel free to have and keep your own opinion, but this is mine and some others on the board. Regards. Ned.

 

I'm glad you got that opinion piece out. Opinions are line a-holes. We all have one and nobody is interested in the other's.

But your opinion is just that. An opinion. The hard facts that Mercedes has been successful selling lower quality and lower price point vehicles, even as low as the A-class, in other parts of the world. Hell, they're selling vans and trucks with fabric bench seats and they charge extra for a sunglass holder or a map light!



Mercedes Benz is not a luxury brand! It's a full line manufacturer that chose to market only their luxury segment in the US for the longest time. Are you suggesting that the CLA should be sold under the Smart brand in the US? Why? A CLA is way further from a Smart than it is from a C-class. The fact that they're bringing over the CLA is no different than VW bringing the Phateon. Both manufacturers are trying to expand their coverage and breadth. Nothing wrong with that. And the DINK yuppies looking at the CLA will find it attractive. Someone who had 3 generations of E-class will probably find it underwhelming and that is the way it should be otherwise we're really getting ripped off on the E-class, even more than we already are.

Let me rephrase that. The E-class is not a good value. It never will be, it never was. It is the highest profit margin vehicle in the entire MB lineup and that is OK. It can be the nicest, most luxurious, most technologically advanced, best riding mid-size sedan in the world and it would still not make it a good value. It would make it a great car to have but not a good value. You need to look up the definition of the term good value. I guarantee an E-class is not pictured next to it.

And before you start thinking oh-so-highly of your amazing luxury car, don't forget that you're just driving a glorified cab MB-Tex and all:





The hard fact that CLA sales have been strong and surpassed every and all estimates and forecasts that MBUSA had with the vehicle just shows that nobody cares about what you think. It is not my opinion, these are the facts backed by market and sales results that came after extensive market research and prepareation by one of the largest car manufacturer in the world not some douche on a message board.

Oh, and no, I don't give a flying cr-p about the star badge on my car, if Kia would make and sell a wagon this big and this nice with the same technology I'd drive that instead and laugh at every MB owner who is only paying for the badge because they are pathetic. M'kay, thanks!

 

My "local" dealer has a listing of 5 of them out of close to 400 cars so they're not exactly overflowing the dealer lots here in Texas...

 

Ok, so now because I have an opinion about what Mercedes means in the US market I'm a douche on a message board. You are not someone I need to converse with. Have a nice life. Regards. Ned.

 

Oh no, not at all! To quote you: "feel free to have an opinion and keep it to yourself". As for discussions stick to the facts. The fact that you end every message with "Regards. Ned" is what makes you a douche... Are you sure your last name is not Ryerson?

 

As a die hard MB fan. Family has had them since 1980. Owned almost 15 or so of them now. However I am not a fan of the CLA. I will say that it will sell. It will make MB lots of money. They are a corporation after all and they do need to make a profit and due to EPA regulations they need cars like this in their line.

No matter what I feel the CLA is not a good model. I was not a fan of a couple MB Models.

CLA
W202 C
W163 ML
W168/W169 A Class
R170 SLK

Those models I would never own or go near. They do nothing for me and I consider them just bad vehicles.


Every car manufacture out there has made a couple bad models. Does not matter how high or low you go on the scale. This is coming from a die hard MB fan as well and I consider MB to be the best car company. Unfortunately everyone makes a mistake once in business when it comes to quality.

 

Have you ever been to Germany or elsewhere esp in first world Europe, and examined the MBs there? Lots of sparsely equipped plain cars (and buses and trucks etc) I seem to recall people did moan about the W201 upon introduction, and certainly did about the W203 hatch.

A-class has been sold in several mature markets for what is heading for 20 years now, the brand hasn't failed, and if anything, is better than some points in the not too distant past. It has been accepted as a real MB in places where, frankly, people understand the brand better than in NA. CLA is just an A with a trunk, as goofy Americans don't love hatches. B class has been accepted as a real MB, too. So why not CLA?

If you want to air your opinion, cool, just don't tell others to keep theirs (if that was your intent). Anyone is entitled to think the CLA isn't a real MB, but thinking might be as far as it goes. Bring up a Vega is a weird kind of red herring.

My local dealer has 7 in stock, but at intro couldn't keep them around, and it seems I've seen a few dozen on the road here. Eventually the hype will wear off and sales will slow. It's still a new model in a honeymoon period.

 

Exactly! Only in US I think MB is known as stricktly a luxury car manufacturer. To the rest of the world it's a car company that has been doing it all. From base cars with rollup windows and cloth manual seats, to garbage trucks and freight liners! That also manufacturers really high end cars!

 

Yes, how true ! And don't forget those first rate buses and Europe's favourite taxis, also made by MB !

 

Of course I want everyone to be able to share their opinion on this board in a civil manner. And I am fully aware of the global reach and span of Mercedes outside of the USA. But in the US they have positioned themselves as a luxury brand and I simply made the point that IMO the cla fell below what I expect from Mercedes, crossed the line. My example of the Vega was to use an extreme comparison to bring the discussion around to where is the line. I don't need some jerk using lines like "WTF, your mentality, delusional and stuck up" in banter on this forum. I've been on this forum for three years and luckily he is an exception to the rule. Thanks. Regards. Ned.

 

I can see that. But, I think for better or worse, MB product planners have changed their mind and are moving more mass market in the US, maybe closer to what they are at home - moving away from a sole luxury focus. Perhaps as the socio-economic spectrum continues to devolve, it is time to take advantage of what exists now, and that former upper-premium buyers might have a tighter budget today. The design language shows this, too. The strong monolithic styles seem to be vanishing again, for more curvy pseudo-sporty designs that focus groups probably see as "friendly".

It wasn't always this way, either. I have an old MB with no power accessories, no AC, a low torque engine, etc. And it's probably more of a MB than many new ones.

 

yes - market is shifting here. so much continued downward pressure from employers going "cost-effective" and federal/state budgets getting trimmed along with higher taxation.

my opinion remains that they could have done a streamlined a/b class with diverse power options, while still retaining the brand's essential highlights. instead, they brought an appearance-only CLA to dupe the herd, and then an electric-only B at the other extreme. and there's this strange GLA. i know they all share the same basic chassis, so they could have just done 1 solid down-market vehicle instead of 3 so-so offerings. this tells me MB is very concerned with their image over here. they are resisting being lumped into competition with more "common" brands by tip-toeing in niche markets with audi and bmw.

C280 - that W163 ML was terrible!

another note of interest is that the leases on the brand new CLA's were coming in quoted as higher than those of a new E-class. WOOOOOWWWW. marketing and appearance are so powerful....