[MBLaJolla]

A few weeks ago, I pre-ordered a CLA:

Mountain Grey Metallic
18-inch twin 5-spoke wheels
Brown Leather
Burl Walnut Wood Trim
Premium
Multimedia
Blind Spot Assist

In is scheduled to arrive next month.

In the mean time, I stopped by the dealership to see a white CLA in person. Saturday, I'll return to drive it.

In person, the vehicle is small with a very high belt line. This translates into relatively small windows, especially in the back of the car. Although I am not tall at all, when sitting in the back, I felt like I was sitting in the rear of a small 2 door sports coupe. The back seats sit very upright, there are no cup holders, armrests or pockets on the back of the front seats. In general, the rear passenger area seems like a huge afterthought.

The front seats, in contrast to the back, are very comfortable. The dash area is nice and the 7" screen does not look out of place. The trunk is ample and the 18" wheels look quite nice. Still, I admit I left the dealership conflicted about the car. For nearly $40K, I don't to feel like I'm driving around in a cheap knockoff.

I'll report more once I've driven the car this weekend.

Note: For those who ordered white, note that the color is not a pure white, but has a yellowish tint to it.

 

[Sharkfin951]

I test drove the CLA today, it was red w/ black and was nicely optioned with the Pano roof, premium pk and multimedia with black walnut trim. My first impression was hey this is not as small "tiny" as some on this forum gave the impression. I did not sit in the back seat but did open the door to have a look. I'm not planning to spend much or any time back there as I can count on one hand the number of times I was in my back seat or even sat back there so that is not a big deal with me. The drivers seat was nice and comfortable, but I think the seats in the new IS 250 felt better. I do like the all-one design of the seat with headrest. Everything feels like a proper German engineered tool and nothing was "weird" as for placement or function. The interior space felt open and I think not having a traditional gear lever opened up the space quite a bit. Once I put the CLA into drive (Non Eco mode) I was off to see what the driving experience would be. The first thing I noticed was you need to apply some pressure to the gas pedal as maybe it needs some time to break-in. The issue I had was it was close to 4:30pm and traffic was a bit heavy to do any dynamic driving. I did get onto a local highway for a quick 2mi run before the next exit. The car has nice acceleration and I was merging at 65mph with no high revving needed. The other cars I've been looking at include Audi A5, Infiniti Q50, Acura TL, new Lexus IS. I still have to drive the A5 but of the others the Q50 was the top of the list. I'v always been a big fan of the A5 and have had an A4 in the past. As for pricing the CLA is currently the lowest but I would need to wait for the 4Matic due to the places I need to drive for work. BTW I drive @30k mi/yr. My rating form 1-10 is a solid 8. I plan to get back out to get some additional seat time next week.