[Tarkan]

Hi Guys

I just came back from the dealer after test driving CLA250.

I don't want to be a kill joy person for the people who actually bought it,
but i felt that the car was too small for that price, it is almost like a compact car ! May be it is because its a four door coupe ..

I was about pick up mine today, but i am seriously in a confusion now, if i should consider other cars over CLA250 ... any advice ppl?

Did anyone else felt the same way? Isin't the car too small !?! ( please don't hate me, i am just trying to get an advice ... and its purely my personal opinion ).

Thanks!!

 

[larsib]

Hi Guys

I just came back from the dealer after test driving CLA250.

I don't want to be a kill joy person for the people who actually bought it,
but i felt that the car was too small for that price, it is almost like a compact car ! May be it is because its a four door coupe ..

I was about pick up mine today, but i am seriously in a confusion now, if i should consider CLA 45 or even other cars to that matter of fact over CLA250 ... any advices ppl?

Did anyone else felt the same way? Isin't the car too small !?! ( please don't hate me, i am just trying to get an advice ... and its purely my personal opinion ).

Thanks!!

What do you need the car for ? It's more then big enough for 1-2 persons , and as a 2nd car if you have an suv , but as your only family car it might be a bit small .

 

[milazzo]

Hi Guys

I just came back from the dealer after test driving CLA250.

I don't want to be a kill joy person for the people who actually bought it,
but i felt that the car was too small for that price, it is almost like a compact car ! May be it is because its a four door coupe ..

I was about pick up mine today, but i am seriously in a confusion now, if i should consider CLA 45 or even other cars to that matter of fact over CLA250 ... any advices ppl?

Did anyone else felt the same way? Isin't the car too small !?! ( please don't hate me, i am just trying to get an advice ... and its purely my personal opinion ).

Thanks!!

copycat, read the thread "just got back from dealer". I was, am, IDK yet ordering the CLA45. I'm going back thursday to have a better look, longer look.

 

[C45]

If the car is too small for the money then why would you upgrade to the AMG for even more money

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Mercedes CLA Forum mobile app

 

[CEB]

I think the size will work for me. The kids have their own cars now, fiance sits up front, and every once in a blue moon, there may be 1-2 people in the back. 80-90+ % of the time, I will be the only one in the car.

 

[C45]

While you guys are all at the dealership you should be sitting in the back of a C class just to compare I sat in the CLA and the C one minute after the other ...

The only thing I noticed is that I had to try unsuccessfully to hit my head in the c-class roof but on the CLA I just had to lift up lift my body up a little and i was hitting it.... knee space was similar.

that being said the c250 had a 43.6k sticker (still with mbtex! somehow) and i felt very happy when compared to my cla45 sticker

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Mercedes CLA Forum mobile app

 

[Tarkan]

Yea ..... you are right !! I want to go back one more time and take a through look at it .. !!
May be i was too conservative about what i want !

 

[C45]

yeah def go back and sit in the CLA , C, and E, and take a non-biased peek their respective sticker prices - they ARE quite in line i would say . . .

...

the pricing of the CLA is what is supposed to take ppl minds off the "smallness" of it.

 

[hbkid]

Yea ..... you are right !! I want to go back one more time and take a through look at it .. !!
May be i was too conservative about what i want !

Alright to have jitters when throwing down this kind of cash. Same thing happened to me! For me, my thing was, once inside, I felt perfectly comfortable, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

 

[JHOOPS02]

I thought that it was considered a compact car? Do you mean sub-compact? I'm coming from a 1 series, so I have a feeling that this car will seem immense to me.

 

[max pl]

i stopped by the dealer today to take a look at the cla and the car is not as small as people are claiming; from the outside that is.

i didnt sit in it so i cant give my take on that, but they had a cla next to the new e class and the cla stood strong next to it. it didnt leave the impression that its the yaris to a camry, but more a corolla compared to a camry.

the size is definitely in line with what i was expecting.

 

[milazzo]

i stopped by the dealer today to take a look at the cla and the car is not as small as people are claiming; from the outside that is.

i didnt sit in it so i cant give my take on that, but they had a cla next to the new e class and the cla stood strong next to it. it didnt leave the impression that its the yaris to a camry, but more a corolla compared to a camry.

the size is definitely in line with what i was expecting.

I don't think people are "claiming" its small, I just think that everyone's opinion on what is small to them and what they personally are comparing this to is different. Like superjak coming from a GTI, to him it will be bigger. Someone coming from a 3 series may see no difference, E class it would probably seem smaller. It's all about what it means to you.

 

[Yoshi]

yup the car is a a COMPACT car so those of you who were expecting a E class size are looking in the wrong place. It's basically the same size as the C with less headroom.
Agree for some reason maybe because of the round rear end it does not look small. Across the parking lot from a CLS it's almost hard to tell. If you park exactly next to it you will notice the slightly smaller dimensions. To me the size is PERFECT. It's about the same size as a civic and corolla but with less headroom and possibly legroom in the rear.

Also to the above post it's a definitely noticeably smaller and tighter than a 3 series on the interior and you will notice it

 

[baadmon]

Well, I stopped by the dealer to do a test drive; AMAZING! I'm definitely satisfied with the vehicle, although there are some minor things that I dislike.

 

[veekahtoh]

Hi Guys

I just came back from the dealer after test driving CLA250.

I don't want to be a kill joy person for the people who actually bought it,
but i felt that the car was too small for that price, it is almost like a compact car ! May be it is because its a four door coupe ..

I was about pick up mine today, but i am seriously in a confusion now, if i should consider other cars over CLA250 ... any advice ppl?

Did anyone else felt the same way? Isin't the car too small !?! ( please don't hate me, i am just trying to get an advice ... and its purely my personal opinion ).

Thanks!!

After being in a confusion for a long time.
I've finally came with with a conclusion.

If you like the look of CLA then buy it.
If you like it's Interior then buy it.
If you need rear seats all the time, then consider to get CLS lol.

i don't think you should ask yourself if it's worth the money, or get a 328 with the same price.

because, after all.. you are driving a car you like the most.

 

[AlexG]

Just got back from test drive. MB Seattle got one polar silver CLA250 with black MBTex + pano roof + sport package + P1 + multimeida + bi-xenon lights. Total MSRP was $40,7xx.
Few thoughts -- keep in mind, those are just my opinion
1. Polar Silver on this car is UGLY. As I told to my wife -- if I would be ordering the car in this color, I wouldn't be taking a delivery for sure
2. Black interior is nice, and car feels right size to me (I am 5' 6'').
3. Test drove it for ~20-25 minutes. Tried all modes. The best one to drive by far is "S". "E" is nice, but nothing special. One thing bothered me a lot -- ECO mode. It was enabled and engine stopped every time when car stopped for more than 5 seconds. It also takes 1-3 secs to restart the engine and while the engine sound almost silent, I felt the vibration from it start. When it happens in stop-and-go traffic (as we hit on our way back to dealership) it is not something I will be using. I ended up turning it off.
4. The ride wasn't too stiff (even considering the fact I am coming from SUV)
5. Front seats are very nice and comfy
6. Rear seats - nice for someone around my height; I had no problem to get in and out as I am aware about low roof line already. There are NO WAY to sit more than 2 adults in the rear. I am suspecting that 2 adults and a kid might fit there, but it wouldn't be a most comfortable ride
7. The car misses few features I saw on pre-production vehicles and European models:
7.a. Automatic mirrors folding is not there, same apply to reversing mirror position (the nice feature when passenger side mirror adjusts down after shifting to R gear). I tried to set it up by UK manual - so I believe it is simply absent on US cars. Not a deal breaker, but was nice to have.
7.b. Auxiliary hearing feature is not there -- at least the button is not present where it should be and dealer has no idea about any additional remote control which operates it (again, the info is from UK manual). Again not a biggie, but it is something I will probably miss on hot/cold days.
7.c. Backing camera is just a camera (with yellow guide lines) and has no parking sensors, which means doesn't beeps when approaching something. While it is not a real deal breaker, I was hoping to have it.
7.d. Rear seats are missing middle armrest piece and thus missing cup holders. Not a deal breaker from my point of view, but definitely something really missed in the car.
7.e. The much discussed gap between door plastic parts is there - both front and rear doors has it. Personally - didn't mention it before looked specifically. Not bothers me too much as well...
7.f. No Intelligent Light with Bi-Xenons. Much discussed on other threads, nothing to add..
7.g. Dashboard is plastic. I was under impression it is covered as simple plastic makes it look pretty cheap. Hope my E1 comes with dashboard cover by MBText with yellow stitching as it would be a deal breaker for me...
8. With all above, the build quality of the car IS very nice and materials feels pretty good.

So, after the ride I've got mixed feeling about the car -- from one side there are many "small" features which are missing and while every single one is not a deal breaker, all of them together might be. From other side -- the car made good and drives nice.
Will wait to see my E1 hopefully next week and decide then.

Some images:


Comments/questions are welcome

Enjoy,
Alex

 

[AlexG]

Some more images


Enjoy,
Alex

 

[milazzo]

Great review,OMG the rear door gap looks hideous. Could of did without that last picture.

 

[BenzWish]

Honestly, until these pics I didn't really understand what you meant by "gap". Ughhhh....it is pretty bad.

 

[PJL]

Alex, does the Polar Silver look "blue" to you? (ex. the diamond silver on E). or more White'ish? thanks