AMHAB82

Thank you Lazarus Long, I will omit the GLA for sure, because I have a very steep drive and when it snows it won't work!

dieseldoc

There is nothing wrong with front wheel drive. It will work quite well in the snow and on steep driveway. On the other hand rear drives are a nightmare in snow. If you purchase a GLA or GLC get a 4 matic

Scott Little

Two points on this...one is that your residual value may look a bit different than what is on the contract due to the over miles. The money they will want you to pay will have to either be paid outright, or they might roll it into the new lease they are trying to sell you. This will bump your lease payments...

Point two is that the GLA is on first view a sexy little thing, but once you actually sit in it and drive it, it comes across 'entry' level as well as a tight fit for any American, much less a 6'1 250 pounder like me. I would only consider the AMG model, but now you are close to GLE money.

GLC has been well covered in it's resemblance to a Jelly Bean.

I am still of the opinion the GLK is the way I would go. Refinance to a lower payment...all of this again is subjective (except the lease numbers) and Me being a fan of the GLK I am a bit biased.

Good luck to you and will stay tuned to see how you come out.

wunderless

Why not just refinance the GLK and then you can own it? In 4 years (or how ever many you sign for) you own it and your payments are now nothing.

If you are looking for low payments right now, why not dump the GLK and get something more affordable? Not only could your payments be considerably lower your insurance may even be more affordable. Then when you have banked some money you can look back at getting an MB? Just another option to explore perhaps?

wunderless

Oh, one more thing.

My wife and I just bought a certified pre-owned GLK and the interest rate on the financing was 1.9%. That's pretty darn good. (This was also in Canada though.) So that could also aid you in your bargaining. See what specials they have for certified pre-owned cars now and use that during negotiations if you go the financing route.

AMHAB82

Lazarus Long, I went to MB today and found out that the GLA comes in a 4matic version which means it's back on my list ...

I took a close look at the GLC and again I really hate to say this but it looks like every other SUV, it is bland and I could get an accura and it would look the same, of-course it won't be the same drive!

I think the GLA, has better styling, and yes its smaller, I don't mind that. It looks like a sporty SUV ... I would rather go smaller then get the GLC .... Or stick with my GLK .....

The residual on my car is 36K .... Now the question is do I finance that ? or do I lease a new GLA

Now I just need all of you to give me advice and talk me into one or the other

Thank you Thank you Thank you

AMHAB82

Hello Scott Little, Thank you for answering, the fact that the GLA is small, doesn't bother me I am 5.1 with a small frame, so size wise the Car works for me.

I sat in the GLC today and honestly, it feels so much bigger than my GLK that it just added to my reasons to like it less! Your Jelly Bean description is perfect and I decided that I would either finance my GLK, or go for the GLA ....

You might laugh, but i even took a ding protection on my GLK which was for 2 years except they extended it to 5 years for the same price... Now they won't transfer that to the GLA !!!

So Scott, it all depends on the lease # on a new GLA which this time I will take for 3 years and 12k miles .... Or I have to buy my GLK ... Given that my residual is 36K I am wondering how much of a deal I can get from them to lower that, based on that they no longer make this model anymore ...

Another choice, I could buy a BMW X3, their leases are so much cheaper ... will i like it? maybe not as much as my GLK, maybe more than a GLA ....

I like the look of the GLA, I can see it being a small sporty SUV ....

Now please advise me, and I truly thank you sincerely and am ever so appreciative

AMHAB82

Wunderless YOU ARE SO RIGHT, except i need a decent car for work ... Plus it's a long story, it's a weakness and I am weak a flaw ... I have had a MB for most of my adult life, and I probably won't sleep thinking that I am willing to switch to a BMW ! Feel like a traitor .... I can give up the GLK for a GLA ... my question is will I regret it? Maybe I will go and test drive one ... As I said to Scott Little and others the GLC has to be out, unless they give me a great NO a Fantastic Lease and they could if NO ONE WANTS THEM .... LIKE ME! What were they thinking when they designed it !!!!!

My residual is 36K, if I can knock that down a bit and take out a 5 year finance agreement at a low low interest rate, maybe the payments won't be too painful ...

Again I thank you for your advice and time and I am so so appreciative to everyone here ...

AMHAB82

Sorry, I didn't see this post before and I answered you previous one ...

Would you mind sharing, how many miles your pre-owned GLK had on it? and what kind of payments you have? because if you bought it recently and its the last version 2015, as mine is ... then a year away, surely my GLK should depriciate a little more, and I am hoping the MB don't want to be selling older cars especially discontinued models ...

Again I thank you

wunderless

I'll combine my answers into one reply.

Define 'nice car'? There are good cars that can be had for way less. They don't have to be an MB or BMW or another high end model.

I get the wanting to own one. It's why I bought one. But I had good cars that were not MB's too. I was just driving around in a new Honda HRV that we borrowed while shopping for the GLK. It had all the bells and whistles and the lease was about $200 less a month than the lease we are paying for a 3 year old GLK. Heck look at VW, it's basically an Audi, you might be able to get into a better lease there.

My point is, if you are trying to minimize the cost to you (since you have mentioned you want to lower your payments), maybe there are other brands that aren't of the luxurious high end, that offer the same type of amenities. Lease one of those for a bit till you can get back into your desired MB. Bank the cash you save and you can be back in the game in no time!
Maybe I read too much into your posts, but it sounds like your situation has changed from when you started the lease and now, due to that you need lower payments. This is why I am suggesting a different brand, so forgive me for making any false assumptions.

To your second question, the GLK is a 2013 BlueTec. It has 69,000 kms (so about 42,500 miles) on it. And our payments for financing the car will be just under $700 (so $525 US). We opted for the expensive extended warranty from MB as well as a set of winter tires and rims. We also put $14,000 down, and the taxes in Canada are 13%. Hence the higher payments. Our term is 4 years, but we will pay that off before then. The price, before taxes, we paid was $35,900 (so about $27,000 US).

The car though, has a tonne of options (back up, nav, blind spot assist, heated steering wheel, pano-roof etc.) and was off lease.
Not sure if any of that helps since mine will be older than yours, and we are in a different market (Canada VS US). The BlueTec's here are more expensive and harder to come by (that I've found), in good condition with low kilometres/miles.

If I were in your shoes, and had to have an MB, I'd buy out the car, for two reasons.

1. The GLK looks better to me. It is a bigger car, and has more cargo space. If you need to take people somewhere it will be more comfortable for them too.

2. I personally am not a fan of leases. I like to own my cars and keep them. A lease is basically a long term rental with no equity to you, and you are placed with limits of use on the car. At least with financing a car, you can drive where you want, as much as you want. You will get out from under a monthly payment (eventually) and you can save some of that cash for future repairs (since it's good to have an emergency fund) and the rest of the cash for you! To me that's win win!

Regardless of my winded opinion, good luck! I hope you can come to a decision you are happy with.

*edit*

I believe the dealerships around here basically don't like selling cars that are past 3-4 years old or not Certified Pre-Owned or have high kilometres/miles. There are exceptions I have seen, but generally that is the case. And the GLK seems to be a popular car around here. Good ones are not staying around long. It has taken me 2 months of proper searching to find ours, mostly due to the BlueTec though. (That was my requirement, I wanted the diesel.)

Scott Little

with Wanderluss on everything. I would buy out the GLK putting everything I could afford by way of cash into the deal. Financing is sub 3% and in fact if you are in the states, have good credit numbers you can get under 2% which is basically free money. You have a highly optioned, highly desirable car. Find a way to keep it and quit looking.

If you are a 'gotta have the newest' every couple years, get the GLA and plan on 650 a month for life.

oh, and I know about weaknesses. See my profile and the number of SLK's that I have. In fact going today to look at an SLK 32AMG. I know, I can only drive one at a time. But I have so much fun fixing them and cleaning them and driving them....I live in the mountains and top down driving is probably 9 mos out of the year.

Lazarus Long

I don't know enough about the 4matic system to know if there are differences between front and rear wheel drive platforms. On the GLK torque is split 50/50. It may be front biased on the GLA, but I don't know. Most other front wheel cars send most of the torque to the front with their all wheel drive options.

I can't give any advice about leasing, I've never leased. I buy all my cars and keep them for a long time. My 15 GLK replaced my 97 Chevy Tahoe ( bought new) as my daily driver. I'm still keeping my Tahoe though, it's too good to get rid of.

I personally don't understand the reasoning behind leasing and trading in every 2 years with never ending car payments. My Tahoe is closing in on 20 years old. That's a long time with no car payments. It gave me a lot of time to save up for the next one.

My advice hasn't changed, I would keep the GLK. I think it is better than both the GLC and GLA.

AMHAB82

Hello Lazarus Long, and thank you. I agree with you on the 2 year lease, it was a mistake .... I will try and keep the GLK ... If The GLA works out much cheaper I will go for that, as I don't want a car that is bigger than mine and the GLC is, or at least it looks like its bigger.

I have till February to think about it, so I am going to get a GLA as a loaner and drive it for a day maybe even two .... I'll make sure that I like the car before I switch. Otherwise I will try and buy the GLK that I have ...

Thank you again...

AMHAB82

Hello, Im not sure if I can still post on this thread or if it gets closed after no no activity.. I would rather continue posting here then start a new one .. Hopefully you guys will reply.

I finally have to make a decision on my GLK. Mileage 15K , lease ends Aug thats 3 months. I will go over mileage by around 2,500K ... They will charge me unless I buy the car.

They have made some changes to the 2018 GLA which is what I would be getting ... GLC, is out as I just don't want a bigger car and no matter that everyone says it's only slightly bigger, to me it looks a lot bigger than my GLK ..

Scott Little , if you see this, I really would like an SLK, thats been my dream car except i need a bigger car as well, so maybe one day I can get a second car and have the SLK

For now I have to keep my GLK , go and buy a BMW X3 apparently a new shape is out, I still haven't seen it ... OR get the GLA in 4WD .... thats not a front wheel drive according to the dealer its's an all wheel drive ...

Im taking my GLK in for its service B and am going to get a GLA as a loaner... I love the Matt gray color, except I have been told NO CAR WASH!!!! dings in that paint cannot be removed and painting an entire panel even might not match the rest of the car!! Scary ...

I wish I could get the GLA with Red Breaks like the AMG version and Red seats ... with gray exterior ... Im deciding between the Blue one, not the turquoise one, the darker one rose to midnight blue... or a Gray .. as in mountain gray ... DO MB let one buy an extended warranty?

I am sitting on a fence between leasing the GLA or buying my GLK. As so many people keep telling me 'NEWER TECHNOLOGY, BETTER GAS MILES, etc etc ...including cheaper lease..

Thanks as always, hope you see this so I can return with what they tell me at the dealership is the cost to me on both ....

Bob338

If you drive the GLA a bit your decision will be made for you. By comparison, the steering is much heavier and the car feels like a cheapo, which is what it is. It's NOT a Mercedes. It's tinny, interior sound insulation is bad and it just didn't feel like a Mercedes to me.

I drove one recently as a loaner for a couple of days while getting mine serviced out of town. Drove it a pretty good distance. I'd never even rent a GLA if given a choice when I rent a car. Without a doubt I would keep my GLK, which I did when my lease ended.

dieseldoc

Would get a GLC. Once you drive it. You will fall in love. No comparison to the GLA.

AMHAB82

Bob338 .. Thank you for your response, I do love my GLK, the shape the drive and also the visibility which is so much better that the GLA. my sons, (millennial's) are telling me "you will have to repair and pay for expensive service costs on the GLK including finance payments ....

I will look at the GLC and drive it and see what the lease payments are, either way this time around I will lease for 3 years ... or buy the GLK. They are also telling me that I can get an AMG GLA with red seats for the same price as the finance on my GLK ... So confused ... Thank you for taking the time to answer me. Really appreciate it ...

AMHAB82

I will definitely go and try it again for drive and size, it just feels so much bigger than my GLK ... Thanks for your response ...

Bob338

The AMG GLA is still a GLA. That should be a no-brainer. Kids want the AMG designation which does NOT necessarily make it a better car. My GLK is an AMG. Means nothing. It's still a GLK.

I found hardly any difference in the feel of the car. My concern was the slight change in dimensions for wheel base and track, both changed slightly from the GLK to provide a bit more room for larger body dimensions. The couple of inches didn't feel any different for me and I'm pretty critical about handling.

AMHAB82

hello ... Ok so now I have decided it will have to be a GLC simply because I don't like the view from the windows in the GLA. I am stuck with deciding what options that are a must vs what I can live without. I don't want to order a car and wait, I need to get one that they have and I can get a better deal on it. Living on the east coast it must be an AWD and I have a steep hill. It must also have heated seats and heated steering wheel as well as keyless start and rearview camera plus the Sun roof ... Maybe they do winter packages ... Color I was thinking of the darker Blue, i have a gray car now and a color change would be nice except the gray doesn't show any dirt what so ever so my choice is between the the selenite gray or their darker navy, don't like any of the other colors. Any thoughts on what else I should look for ? Or ask for ? and then I can negotiate with them I can try to ... Thanks in advance.

dieseldoc

Make sure you get LED headlights and Burnester stereo.

AMHAB82

I had the LED lights in the 2013 GLK I had ... Im not sure if they are worth the cost.. I could hardly tell the difference, don't do a lot of night time driving. The Stereo for sure .... I will try and get that.

Color: I don't know how the dark blue will keep, I see so many Black cars and they always look dirty unless they are just cleaned ... The gray I have now always looks clean, I literally force myself to go to the car-wash because I have a monthly membership ... they have a selenite gray, which is close to the one I have now .. I might stick to the gray ... I do like the dark blue i think its called lunar blue ...

Thank you for responding ...

dieseldoc

GLK had halogens or HIDs. The LEDS are different. Work great and look better the halogens. The blue is nice. Gray works well. My C is silver. my GLC is brown . I just go to the car wash.

AMHAB82

hello everyone,

First off thank you for all your help and advice and responses. I am truly grateful.

I finally had a GLA as a one day loaner and unfortunately I didn't like it at all. I liked the look, except when I drove it, and you will laugh! I felt claustrophobic in the car ! The windows were small and i had that exact same feeling when I test drove a Range Rover E-Vogue years back.

SO GLA is OUT .... Then I test drove the GLC and now I am back to that ! It drove much like my GLK and I suppose its the drive that is important the look I'll have to grow to like ...

I can buy my GLK if I certify it with payments of $750 over 60 months ... The residual is 36K I would have paid $ 14K in lease payments ... The car is a 2015 and and has 15K miles on it. I will get the 1.99 % interest rate if I buy the car ... Am I correct in thinking that the lease I would have paid with the outstanding residual value, might be a good idea? As it won't be like I threw away the money? I also think I got a really good on the GLK because I only put $1000 down when I leased it with payments of $589 for a 7500mile lease per year for 2 years ... Oh $32 a month of that lease payment was DING Protection which they extended to 5 Years instead of 2 years ( at the time i thought that would be transferable ) Its not ....

Buying a new GLC my payments will be $650 with an up-front cost of $3500 approx ...

I am also self employed ... and am thinking a lease is more easily deductible ....

Thanks ... cannot tell you how much I appreciate everyone's advice ...

dieseldoc

What was the MSRP of your GLK new and what did you actually pay for it? Loaded 15 GLK originally 50,200 going for 34,000 here in Dallas.