FWIW, the Panorama moonroof is an option on all other Benzes (for varying prices).
But yea- the $29.9k MSRP of the CLA, namely the "
it's a Mercedes under $30 thousand!" is a bit of a chicanery. There is the $905 destination-charge (to be expected) but then the $1,200 for leather-interior, $720 for metallic-paint, and $850 for BiXenon headlamps... so about +$3.5k to the $30k MSRP to get it where it's purported by MB to be (an entry-level premium / intro-lux' sports-sedan).
I can totally see myself doing a "bare-bonez" build, standard paint, MB-Tex, reflector headlamps, etc for $29.9k. But, I want (
read:
need) the automatic climate control (a $2,200 Premium Package dealio, grrr!). If that was a stand-alone option, I would so go for it! A Jupiter Red CLA w/ black MB-Tex for $29.9k (plus $905 destination-charge) discounted by 10% (dreaming, I know- ha!) would be $28k pre-TTL. Add'in $50 D2R Xenon HIDs, some $500 pre-owned AMG wheels/tires (which are available for pennies-on-the-dollar), $75 replica trunklid lip-spoiler (via ebay), done! Talk about-bang-for-the-buck! Hmmm...
I think there's a sweet-spot for the CLA looking downstream, at about $35k'ish out-the-door. If going bare-bones/no-frills at $30k pre-TTL (no options/packages), might as well get something else for less but end up getting
more, so to speak. If going fully-loaded/spec'd at $40k+ pre-TTL, then it'll not translate into residuals upon resale & lead to disappointment if expecting such (but offer a lot of smiles-per-miles!).
With all that said, I can see the CLA MSRP going up in the U.S. by a few thousand dollars within a year or two of release of subsequent model-years. Which, in turn will preserve residuals on the release-year examples that started at $29.9k.
