[myfirstmb]

Here is my story

Jan 2013 fell in love with one 250 CLA
Feb 15 2013 placed order for 1 250 CLA final price $38,950 (Premium + Sports package + Bi-Xenon)
March to July kept up to date on everything CLA I could find daily
Aug 2013 while in Europe went to see the CLA 250 in person love at first sight but not allowed to drive the CLA because I was a tourist. Thats okay

Today I Drove it for the first time and 1 hour later terminated my order for my CLA WHY ??????

Its simple and here is why

1) I lease my cars and here is the business case CLA $41, 300 @ 36 mths 18K per yr. 4.9% = $690 tax in or $670 tax in for 48 mths 6.4%

German completion = 328 IX , A4, Q5, and C300 4 matic fully loaded are all available between $575 and $645 tax in. That's a lot of car for the money compared to CLA and all are 4 wheel drive technologies.

Love and LOOKS only go so far after 1 year of use.

2) The drive was very disappointing the CLA lacks power and the transmission in 1st and second feels very strange almost like their is a lag and the CLA struggles to accelerate. On hard accel the CLA chokes for power compared with the above. On a positive note the braking, suspension and steering was tight and the high speed cornering was nice but no wow experienced.

3) I feel bad for the CLA because if looks where all that was required to sell a vehicle this is by far a gem, but unfortunately it’s the total package that one needs to consider, so bye bye baby until you grow up and are ready to play with the big boys

So I guess that's all for me and I wish you all the best of luck with your CLA's

This is only my opinion and based on my personal tastes and experience so please don’t shot the messenger

Historic Vehicles I’ve owned/leased

BMW 320i, 325is 328is
Lexus 250IS AWD
Volk Rabbit 2.5
Audi A4 Quattro

MY Age 45

 

[ayoo]

Thanks for the opinion. I've been dying to see this car in person. I can't believe it's 9/12 and the car comes out 9/23 and no dealerships have them or even know about them. I am fearful I will hate the car when i get to finally see it.

I got a call today from MB dealership asking me if i had a chance to come by and test drive the CLA. I was dumbfounded. Do they not know anything about their products?

 

[noellabella05]

Thanks for the opinion. I've been dying to see this car in person. I can't believe it's 9/12 and the car comes out 9/23 and no dealerships have them or even know about them. I am fearful I will hate the car when i get to finally see it.

I got a call today from MB dealership asking me if i had a chance to come by and test drive the CLA. I was dumbfounded. Do they not know anything about their products?

At this moment, I know I know more about the CLA than my dealer. Until she goes to the training, at least.

 

[noellabella05]

Here is my story

Jan 2013 fell in love with one 250 CLA
Feb 15 2013 placed order for 1 250 CLA final price $38,950 (Premium + Sports package + Bi-Xenon)
March to July kept up to date on everything CLA I could find daily
Aug 2013 while in Europe went to see the CLA 250 in person love at first sight but not allowed to drive the CLA because I was a tourist. Thats okay

Today I Drove it for the first time and 1 hour later terminated my order for my CLA WHY ??????

Its simple and here is why

1) I lease my cars and here is the business case CLA $41, 300 @ 36 mths 18K per yr. 4.9% = $690 tax in or $670 tax in for 48 mths 6.4%

German completion = 328 IX , A4, Q5, and C300 4 matic fully loaded are all available between $575 and $645 tax in. That's a lot of car for the money compared to CLA and all are 4 wheel drive technologies.

Love and LOOKS only go so far after 1 year of use.

2) The drive was very disappointing the CLA lacks power and the transmission in 1st and second feels very strange almost like their is a lag and the CLA struggles to accelerate. On hard accel the CLA chokes for power compared with the above. On a positive note the braking, suspension and steering was tight and the high speed cornering was nice but no wow experienced.

3) I feel bad for the CLA because if looks where all that was required to sell a vehicle this is by far a gem, but unfortunately it’s the total package that one needs to consider, so bye bye baby until you grow up and are ready to play with the big boys

So I guess that's all for me and I wish you all the best of luck with your CLA's

This is only my opinion and based on my personal tastes and experience so please don’t shot the messenger

Historic Vehicles I’ve owned/leased

BMW 320i, 325is 328is
Lexus 250IS AWD
Volk Rabbit 2.5
Audi A4 Quattro

MY Age 45

If the CLA doesn't work out for me, I plan to buy the IS 250. You liked yours?

 

[CanesXXIV]

@ Noella: I test drove the IS350 F the other day. The car is extremely nice and the new IS is much larger than the previous years. Great car. They also have a 62% (15k miles) and a 59% (18k) residual making this car pretty nice to lease. Drive them, they really made a much better car then years past.

 

[Superjak95]

Personally I can say my experience in test driving the CLA 250 was far more different, but thats probably because I`m used to driving a GTI

 

[outsider]

Here is my story

Jan 2013 fell in love with one 250 CLA
Feb 15 2013 placed order for 1 250 CLA final price $38,950 (Premium + Sports package + Bi-Xenon)
March to July kept up to date on everything CLA I could find daily
Aug 2013 while in Europe went to see the CLA 250 in person love at first sight but not allowed to drive the CLA because I was a tourist. Thats okay

Today I Drove it for the first time and 1 hour later terminated my order for my CLA WHY ??????

Its simple and here is why

1) I lease my cars and here is the business case CLA $41, 300 @ 36 mths 18K per yr. 4.9% = $690 tax in or $670 tax in for 48 mths 6.4%

German completion = 328 IX , A4, Q5, and C300 4 matic fully loaded are all available between $575 and $645 tax in. That's a lot of car for the money compared to CLA and all are 4 wheel drive technologies.

Love and LOOKS only go so far after 1 year of use.

2) The drive was very disappointing the CLA lacks power and the transmission in 1st and second feels very strange almost like their is a lag and the CLA struggles to accelerate. On hard accel the CLA chokes for power compared with the above. On a positive note the braking, suspension and steering was tight and the high speed cornering was nice but no wow experienced.

3) I feel bad for the CLA because if looks where all that was required to sell a vehicle this is by far a gem, but unfortunately it’s the total package that one needs to consider, so bye bye baby until you grow up and are ready to play with the big boys

So I guess that's all for me and I wish you all the best of luck with your CLA's

This is only my opinion and based on my personal tastes and experience so please don’t shot the messenger

Historic Vehicles I’ve owned/leased

BMW 320i, 325is 328is
Lexus 250IS AWD
Volk Rabbit 2.5
Audi A4 Quattro

MY Age 45

A few big points:
1. Someone is ripping you off. The CLA250 you have ordered is a $35900 car. How you are paying a $5400 mark up I don't understand. I am expecting a $1000 discount at a minimum so you are in fact paying $6400 over market - hence the high lease. I would expect a normal, not so attractive new model lease on that car to be $476 + tax for 12k miles or perhaps $50 more a month for 18k and NO cap reduction.
2. Gutless acceleration is almost certainly because you have the car in "E" mode Why do you think the car gets 38/26 mpg ? Put it in "S" and you will see a significantly more eager vehicle with much faster kick down. In "E" mode, you are rolling off on 2nd or 3rd gear in a 4-cylinder car. Of course it feels sluggish.
3. 328iX is a much more expensive car than $35900. A4 is also much more than $35900 and it is an older model. Q5 is an SUV - so I won't even get into it and C300 is the last generation inefficient six cylinder car MB will do whatever it takes to get rid of as the new replacement model is coming soon.

The small 4 door saloon is a murderously competitive market. You are king one day and be out on the street the next. How many years BMW 3 series managed to stay on top is a true testament to how good the cars were. The Audi A4 is another example. I personally do not think Mercedes did such a good job introducing the CLA. May be they will flood the market with ads when there are cars in the dealerships for the consumers to see and buy. They have one shot to place a contender in this tough field and I am very much looking forward to seeing how this CLA looks and drives.

 

[CanesXXIV]

I'm not even sure how you run numbers without the res known. A 3-5% swing can add quite a bit of money to a zero cap cost lease.

 

[outsider]

I'm not even sure how you run numbers without the res known. A 3-5% swing can add quite a bit of money to a zero cap cost lease.

It is an educated guess but a pretty good one. It is not exactly rocket science. Even if you don't know the residual percentage, you can make a good guess and know how much 1% difference will make in your payment.
For example, 1% residual difference in a $40000 car is $400. Over a 36 month lease, you will be paying $400/36 = $11.1 per month either more or less plus a small amount of interest. A 3% difference will just be three times that.
Cap reduction is mostly something one should avoid unless you have to qualify at a lower payment. That up front money is lost if you have to terminate your lease early for whatever reason or if you got into an accident and the car is totaled.

 

[myfirstmb]

no I dumped it after 8 mths amazing car but it will never ride like a german car

 

[myfirstmb]

outsider I drove the CLA for over 1 hour and in every mode the 250 has no balls needs serious power and the turbo is not smooth the BMW rock with power and smoothness

i'm pulling the drigger any day now just waiting on my last offer to come in

 

[Superjak95]

outsider I drove the CLA for over 1 hour and in every mode the 250 has no balls needs serious power and the turbo is not smooth the BMW rock with power and smoothness

i'm pulling the drigger any day now just waiting on my last offer to come in

Well the BMW does cost more and does have more torque and hp. So is that truly surprising? The CLA wasn't designed to compete with the 328. Truthfully personally its main competitors are the GTI and CC which in my opinion it wins against them. So thats why the BMW is better.

 

[JoeyO]

i'm pulling the drigger any day now just waiting on my last offer to come in

What's a "drigger"?

 

[outsider]

What's a "drigger"?

 

[Cla16.]

Im a little worried about this because I refuse to pay that much for a car. If all fails I will get a 2013 sport C class. I dont want to pay more than 450 a month and I was told my payment would be about that. With the 2500 usaa discount and the 3500 I have coming from my trade I have 6k going towards the car I feel as if 450 shouldnt be that bad.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Mercedes CLA Forum mobile app

 

[Cdubya]

It's a trigger you can only pull with a drill...

 

[Endaar]

The CLA wasn't designed to compete with the 328. Truthfully personally its main competitors are the GTI and CC which in my opinion it wins against them. So thats why the BMW is better.

For someone who's leasing, it's really the payment that determines what it competes with. And if a CLA leases for what a 328 does (and I suspect it will), then it does compete with a 328, for good or bad. I'm not really familiar with the GTI or CC (zero interest in either), but what kind of lease payments are typical for them? I doubt they are upwards of $400/mo, let alone potentially $500+.

(OK, just checked. VW is running a lease promo on a CC which, if you do the math and back out the down-payment they show, is around $350/mo, 36 months, 10K/yr.)

 

[Superjak95]

For someone who's leasing, it's really the payment that determines what it competes with. And if a CLA leases for what a 328 does (and I suspect it will), then it does compete with a 328, for good or bad. I'm not really familiar with the GTI or CC (zero interest in either), but what kind of lease payments are typical for them? I doubt they are upwards of $400/mo, let alone potentially $500+.

(OK, just checked. VW is running a lease promo on a CC which, if you do the math and back out the down-payment they show, is around $350/mo, 36 months, 10K/yr.)

No idea because I have never lease. I always finance or well baloon finance (Going to be my first time doing this), but when it comes spec wise price wise etc etc then the CLA's competition is the GTI, CC, Audi A4, Bmw 323.

 

[D&G]

That really sucks to hear. AMG is really the way to go for more power. Or settle for a 2013 C class or the new IS looks pretty promising.

 

[outsider]

That really sucks to hear. AMG is really the way to go for more power. Or settle for a 2013 C class or the new IS looks pretty promising.

C250 sedan is a pretty nice car. A huge discount means a terrific lease. I do think a judiciously optioned CLA250 would be attractive to lease with the intro terms.
As much as I love the look of the IS250, it is expensive and using an old engine. I would wait till they come up with a turbo four. BMW 320i is a decent choice in the CLA250 lease range without the looks.